I believe that professionals from any branch of engineering are –basically- creators, and as such they are always faced with ethical dilemmas such as:

+ Will it (what I am creating) be "good" or "bad" ?, what for?, for whom ?, for how long?, under which circumstances?

+ What are the consequences of its operation (positive / negative)? How will it affects the environment in which it operates? (Environment understood as the mechanism / organizational environment / market / physical environment in which what is being created operates)

+ Will it affects positively or negatively to other creators? ( other engineers who are creating similar or related systems)

+ How far you –as a creator- are responsible for the effects / consequences associated with your creation?

These are the questions that my students and I use to generate a debate, when we study the ethics associated with systems design, and I think it might apply in your area. Usually, I present examples of specific situations where ethical aspects were taken into consideration during the systems design process, and also the problems faced or resultant advantages. There are no "good" or "bad" responses in this debate, because the idea of what is good or bad, changes according with time, location and culture. The important thing here is that this deliberation must be made when they are designing a system, and these designs should take into account the conclusions achieved thru this deliberation.

I hope my experience will be useful for you. Good luck.

Greetings from Acapuco, Mexico.

Man can tell lie, but machines never ........and fuse would blow out, with wrong connection, overload or fault.....

This is indeed an intriguing  question.For an effective  response would you like to elaborate further on "Ethics In Engineering"? To my mind Ethics conjures up many different ideas..1 morality  ,2 religious 3 innate sense of right / wrong 4 just adhering to present laws .. etc . for example windmills are aesthetically unappealing, so is heat / electromagnetic fields which affect life ..etc... The ideal generation of electricity would be to use bio- solar (photo synrhesis ) and animal waste products.. if green sustainable economy is accepted as the correct .. ideal. any other generation would be unethical (perhaps excluding  a hydro system which does not affect the eco system )

Cheers

I agree with the second answer that you can speak about engineering ethics. Actually main point of any activity of the human, the same may be paraphrased from the  Hippocratic oath, the same may  be found in the "first law in robotics"  - First - do not harm. 

Regards,

J.

In the U.S. there is the Order of the Engineer, that lays out the ethical standard for engineering as such,

"It is an obligation to turn to practical use the principles of science and the means of technology…to serve humanity by making the best use of earth’s precious wealth."

In transmission, you can make ethical decisions about power factor and safety precautions in the event of force majeure, environmental impact, etc.

Demonstration of the human effects of good vs. bad (ethically) decisions through case studies was effective for me to gain understanding.

http://www.order-of-the-engineer.org/

Perhaps you could examine the balance struck between concentrated power generation (as in a power station) with wide area distribution versus local generation with interconnected minigrids, and ways of choosing which is the best for any particular community. Have the students widen their vision to encompass the societal and long term effects of each approach, and how to strike the right combination in some particular scenario.

You can test the ethics by some practice as below:

Just give a student 5 more marks wrongly in an assignment than whatever his total marks. Then while distributing the answer sheet you can notice how many of them are reporting to you. 

But the same practice you can employ once it is well known

A mathematical measure would be perhaps to estimate only the negative consequences of engineering systems (not the positive ) in some defined terms . For example in a model world let life =100 years , Suppose we consider  an invention and we find there is a probability with .0001  that it could reduce this to life=80 .One could say it is unethical absolutely but if we want to water it down .. use probability

E(life ) = (1-.0001)*100 + .0001*80  = 99.998  

[ Of course we can also extend this by assuming other events such as probability of extending  life to  110 ..etc..]

 we now have a measure for a decision... hope it helps..

 Cheers

At  SJSU we integrate ethics with  our into freshman engineering, class and our senior design class.  I think integrating it directly into your class is a fantastic way to let the students know you care about ethical issues and it is not just some throw away topic.

Note: the philosophy department  does not "own" ethics.

I would look at the ieee code of ethics:

http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html

and then try to find a news story that relates to transmission.  IEEE spectrum has a good one about collusion on light-bulb lifetimes.  If you could take a fundamental concept of transmission and show how the ethical implication that would be great.  

Sorry I have no concrete examples.

I believe that professionals from any branch of engineering are –basically- creators, and as such they are always faced with ethical dilemmas such as:

+ Will it (what I am creating) be "good" or "bad" ?, what for?, for whom ?, for how long?, under which circumstances?

+ What are the consequences of its operation (positive / negative)? How will it affects the environment in which it operates? (Environment understood as the mechanism / organizational environment / market / physical environment in which what is being created operates)

+ Will it affects positively or negatively to other creators? ( other engineers who are creating similar or related systems)

+ How far you –as a creator- are responsible for the effects / consequences associated with your creation?

These are the questions that my students and I use to generate a debate, when we study the ethics associated with systems design, and I think it might apply in your area. Usually, I present examples of specific situations where ethical aspects were taken into consideration during the systems design process, and also the problems faced or resultant advantages. There are no "good" or "bad" responses in this debate, because the idea of what is good or bad, changes according with time, location and culture. The important thing here is that this deliberation must be made when they are designing a system, and these designs should take into account the conclusions achieved thru this deliberation.

I hope my experience will be useful for you. Good luck.

Greetings from Acapuco, Mexico.

Thank you very much for your inspiring answers.This helps a lot and encourages me to go on with this project of integrating ethincs into my lecture.

I think that I will not give them fixed solutions for certain problems but I want to increase there consciousness for ethical questions which are related to their future work.

In most cases the world is too complex for one right solution. It is important for engineers to think out of their conventional borders and see side effects fo their decisions.

I think that psychologically healthy student (he / she) knows that the knowledge gained must not "do harm". But to "unhealthy" students probably nothing helps. Yet, we have to point out the potential dangers (in the context of expertise).

PS

Rather curious situation may occur in technical courses at military schools.  :-))

Thomas,

Perhaps one should start off with the 'Big Picture' of understanding why we need technology in our lives and then highlight the pros and cons of technology use-Under use, abuse and overuse to educate students on the ramifications of technology use.

May I point you to my question here on RG?

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_it_time_we_shift_emphasis_from_technological_solutions_to_climate_change_focus_on_the_Human_Dimension#view=55355568d3df3e725b8b45b0

MfG

Engineering solutions to ethics as a process!!! Interesting!! In the field of communications engineering trustworthiness is an important dimension and this is possible if Tx, Rx and the medium are  ethical!!! 

You can add a topic on power theft in the course and give students an investigation assignment on it. Students conclusion statements may be linked to an ethical test.

Good to hear ethics in hard science courses - it is needed. From the outside engineering seems to address the problem of "What can I do" so possibly down playing the question of "What should I do?". As examples you can look at the development of nuclear weapons in WW2 and the link between technical progress and the use to which engineering solutions are put. Look at the controversy about the Tibetan railway - engineering marvel or another nail in the coffin of Tibetan autonomy? Again in China - look at the collapse of gov't built schools in recent earthquakes - someone somewhere failed to ensure they were built to code, what do you do if you are asked ot cut corners, or disciver faults on inspection? Engineering fits very well with a consequentialist account of ethics and the metrics of benefit, but duty based ethics should also be introduced (truth telling, promise keeping, valuing people just because they are people).

Have fun with ethics and make it real

One interesting challenge for students-and something they tend to enjoy--are ethical case studies.  See for example: http://ethics.tamu.edu/Portals/3/Essays/ethics.tamu.edu_ethics_essays_professionalism.pdf

A crucial thing is to introduce ethical concepts, not just dilemmas/case studies. So Jeffrey Evan's suggestion above mentions consequentialism and duty-based views of ethics. You could teach these as two (sometimes opposed) ethical frameworks and then consider different cases or ideas in light of these.  Other rights-based concepts might be useful, depending on the context. I'd recommend browsing textbooks on ethics and engineering for inspiration. See http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Technology-Engineering-An-Introduction/dp/1444330950?tag=duckduckgo-d-20

Or this MIT course: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/engineering-systems-division/esd-932-engineering-ethics-spring-2006/index.htm

Another thing would be to elicit from students all the possible ethical issues they can think of in a given concrete choice situation for engineers and then see what sort of tools could be used to work out those issues. It's also worth considering how figures out what the ethical issues are. One issue is always going to be whose interests are noticed and represented v. who is affected by one's choice. 

(There are also legal issues which will often arise in engineering so it's good to separate out the legal from the moral issues.)

[I'm an ethics professor but don't know much about engineering ethics. However, I am curious to know how this turns out for you and what you do end up doing.]

Thomas, I would suggest to bring up some discussion around ethics and economics. Engineers in commercial settings will sooner or later be confronted with economic pressures that run counter to good and responsible engineering (e.g. using cheaper parts that are less safe or less durable/sustainable).

You might want to discuss the dilemma situation of businesses in highly competitive settings where competition compromises the freedom to act responsibly, pointing out (as I see it, based on the St. Gallen approach to business ethics) that competitive pressure is no all-purpose excuse providing a blank check for morally questionable choices.

Greetings, Johannes

Engineers in commercial settings will sooner or later be confronted with economic pressures that run counter...

So this is unfortunately a reality.

Especially in mass production, where each saved penny is good. And a genius solution is rarely available.

:-))

Engineering is an important and learned profession and has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and engineers must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Thus, engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. The National Society of Professional Engineers is a good source for Professional Engineers.

Well, a course such as Ethics for Engineers could be conducted as a separate course to  engineering students. Similarly, IUKL is offering  courses such as  Business Ethics  as a core paper to all business students.

The enclosed pdf has some interesting quotes

Cheers

The example I have is on "chemistry and the engineer" but can be reworked as a real dilemma faced at work  electrical, civil and other forms of engineering, i.e. almost any where in the world because of the term of "practical engineering" (for which I don't have a good definition).

My example

 Here in Salalah, Oman two years ago a Filipino technician was asked to do samples on new concrete/cement being used for anchoring large cranes at the Port of Salalah.  According to the technician's training, the chemical, substance,water and compound mixtures were well over/past the acceptable limits for laying the concrete and anchoring the cranes.

The engineers explained the young technician that due to the heat of Indian Ocean area and desert--as well as due to the needs of the materials and crane--and in line with the practices of "practical engineering", it was still ok to lay the foundation/cement with the materials as currently being mixed. 

There was a give and take as the young technician felt he had to take his concern to other management and overseers.  They sided with the engineers--and the technician was relocated to work on a different project far away from Salalah because of his concern and sense that something wrong was being permitted in the laying down of cement at the new port. 

The young technician is fairly certain he was sent to another project because he had blown a whistle ethically and properly.

Was something unethical going on here?

Should the young technician have just kept his mouth shut and accepted what he was being told about practical engineering?

What are the ethical concerns here and what is or should be the relationship between technicians, management, and engineers on this or any other project? 

Just to share with you:

Rob Lawlor, a lecturer in applied ethics at the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds was one of the contributing authors of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Engineering Ethics in Practice: A Guide for Engineers.

wrote: ‘Engineers don’t just work with machines, designs or circuit boards, and engineering doesn’t only require a good understanding of science and mathematics.Engineering needs to be understood in the context of its role in society, and the role as an engineer has to be understood in the context of your work within a company, and ultimately within society.

As an engineer, one may be involved in negotiations; one may become a manager, supervising the work of a team of engineers; or may have special responsibilities to ensure that work is safe, or to ensure it is not damaging the environment’.Others include a lot more  responsibilities such as making  financial decisions and ethical

judgements, as well as mathematical calculations.

So, as an engineer he or she cannot say:" well, this is an ethical issue, but it isn’t my job to make the decision. I am just an employee in this company and I have a duty to do what my boss says”.

 Try asking your engineering students whether or not they think that engineering is a profession, and majority of them I believe will said engineering is a profession. Among other common responses:..." it is common to appeal to features like having specialist skills, a lengthy education, and professional qualifications". In addition to these features, however, it is also common to talk about a role of providing a service to the public, being in a position of trust, being part of a professional body and having a code of ethics.

I believe that offering  a separate course such as Engineering and Society incorporating Ethics in Engineering is the best solution. Asking ethical questions in an engineering lecture is not sufficient compared to understanding the Code of Ethics in Engineering as a whole.

.

Good luck:)

Mr.Surducan

Please address me as Noor.Thank you.

Perhaps, you could conduct an empirical research related to  ethics among engineers since you have identified the" huge discrepancy between what an engineer should do and what he/she is really doing".

Engineers are aware of making choices during their professional practices and ethics involves the moral choices made by individuals as they interact with others. In  fact most engineering educational institutions include discussion of ethics in their curriculum. As a matter of fact the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology has mandated that engineering educational programs include ethics in their undergraduate curriculum. thus, it is important for engineering students to study engineering ethics so that they will be prepared to make (sometimes difficult) ethical decisions during their professional careers.

Most case studies in engineering ethics do not have a single clear - cut correct answer, but they may have many correct solutions, where some solutions are better than others. Therefore, ethical problems can be similar to open-ended engineering design problems, where multiple solutions exist. Engineers need to manage( how, what, who, where and why in meeting  different )needs of  clients, public, society having different sets of  values and cultures in accordance to the Engineering Ethics.

For further reading refer to:

a)Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research by Caroline Whitbeck. Cambridge University Press.

b)Professional Codes of Ethics : The Basics by Arthur E. Schwartz, Deputy Executive Director & General Counsel, National Society of Professional Engineers, Alexandria Virginia.Alexandria,Virginia.  [email protected]

c)The University Of Missouri College Of Engineering.

Thomas, I don't have experience of your specific field, but when faced with a similar problem, I try to find a connected question that is the focus of public attention.  This may be an example in the same field or a similar fiels,  it doesn't really matter.  In your field, there are health questions about overhead transmission lines, and also questions about mobile phone masts etc.  What matters is to find a technical issue that has engaged public attention and this will usually engage your students, opening the way to an intuitive discussion on ethical aspects of the controversy.  Once this connectedness with public concern is engaged, I have found students to be very responsive, and they often complete exceptional assignments on a technical ethical issue starting from this point.

Noor- sadly there are a large number of engineers employed in "defence" many of whom are making offensive (in both meanings of the word!) weapons. I hope that your sensible comments might inspire others not to embark on employment in such companies.

Vasile - I am saddened that one of the vetererinarians attending your poor dog commented that the creature was torturing itself. What on earth did he mean? Is a person dying of advanced cancer torturing themselves? How? What alternative do they have apart from medication is such strength that it kills them . . . ?

There are Managers who want to get the job out. And they may be at the higher position because of other properties, but weak on engineering principles. Or a non-engineer running the engineering group. They may demand their misconceptions be implemented. There are business people who don't want to lose money because of a few numbers. And the engineer may be fearful of losing their job. Slaves rarely have power, so a proper legal system and professional organization are both essential. But it is also not the engineer's money that is being spent.