Conference Session

Engineering Ethics III

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Durfee, Eastern Washington University; William Loendorf, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

department uses this exam in the senior capstonecourse in order to get an overall picture of the depth of professional ethics understanding amongour senior class of students. The capstone course combines students from multiple disciplines,including: Mechanical Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering Technology,Technology-Design, Technology-Manufacturing, and Technology-Construction Management.The use of the exam accomplishes a few objectives. First, it provides an assessment on studentunderstanding of professional ethics for students that are nearing graduation. As such, itprovides feedback as to the efficacy and depth of coverage of ethics principles that students havebeen taught throughout their four year academic career. Second, it creates a

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Papadopoulos; Andrew Hable, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

. Following Peace Corps service he plans to attend graduate school in the United Kingdom for a degree related to his primary career interest, engineering for international development. He is 23. Page 13.725.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Including Questions of Military and Defense Technology in Engineering Ethics EducationWe review the strong historical inter-relationships between the discipline of engineeringand the military, and provide additional data to illustrate that these ties persist today.With the association to military and defense-related enterprises comes a host of

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B. Kyun Lee, LeTourneau University; Paul Leiffer; R. William Graff, LeTourneau University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

arelessening the likelihood of Gen Yers sticking around. Growing up with computers, cell phonesand being able to immediately upon impulse connect with friends and family around the worldhas made this group accustomed to keeping in touch at all times.”8“Because they are used to a world in which they can be doing multiple things at once, and whichtheir minds are always very active, they’ll come to expect the same degree of heightenedstimulation in the workplace. This means they’ll have to be provided with a regular stream ofnew projects and varied assignments and responsibilities. Not only that, but they will have to beprovided a career path that allows for multiple different jobs and careers throughout theirlifetime.”9“Progressive organizations are

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics III

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Borenstein, Georgia Tech; Matthew Drake, Duquesne University; Robert Kirkman, Georgia Institute of Technology; Julie Swann, Georgia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

likely bring the engineer into a potential conflict of interest. Yet students sometimeshave trouble seeing this as an ethical matter at all, casting as a matter of mere personalpreference. In this light, ethics education can be seen as an effort to give students’ eyes somepractice, as it were. Case studies and other materials can serve to demonstrate, for example, howaccepting what seems to be an innocent gift may lead to further temptations, which then lead inturn to a career-ending conflict of interest. The idea of ethical sensitivity overlaps with some aspects of the idea of moralimagination, as developed by Mark Johnson, Patricia Werhane, and others.[5-7] One aspect ofmoral imagination concerns the ways in which people use conceptual

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brock Barry, Purdue University; Vincent Drnevich, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

performedby a private contractor.While assuming the role of the protagonist, the students are asked to consider and respond tothree separate scenarios. All three scenarios relate to acceptance of gifts and what could beconsidered bribery. Responses are recorded as simple “yes” or “no” answers to a total of 10questions.Although, the instrument addresses a single aspect of professional ethics, it is an aspect that thatthe authors anticipate will be encountered by graduates of their program. Many, if not most,practicing engineers will be faced with a bribery-related scenario during their career. Thesituation and hypothetical scenarios represent very realistic circumstances. As Herkert 11suggests, a realistic situation is a better instructional tool than

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York-Binghamton; Caroline Baillie, Queen's University; Donna Riley, Smith College; Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Engineering: When Personal Values and Engineering Careers Converge,Lakeshore Press, 2005.iii H. McDonald, “Origins of the Word ‘Engineer,’” ASCE Transactions, 77, 1737. Reproduced in ASCECommittee on History and heritage of American Civil Engineering, 1970, Historical Publication No. 1.iv Aarne Vesilind, Peace Engineering, Lakeshore Press: Woodsville, N.H., 2005, pp.1-2.v Social and Economic Justice,” World Centric, http://www.worldcentric.org/stateworld/military.htmvi Daniel A. Vallero, “Just Engineering: Peace, Justice, and Sustainability,” Peace Engineering, LakeshorePress: Woodsville, N.H., 2005, pp.41-56.vii Krista E.M. Galley, ed., Global Climate Change and Wildlife in North America, Technical Review04-2, Bethesda, Md

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Niewoehner, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, professional Page 13.917.15ethics would no longer describe the avoidance of evil, but the pursuit of the noble,excellent and good. We should explore beauty as an ethical duty, and virtue as the pursuitof beauty in our products and the effect they have on people. Hence, we might then notonly proscribe the unsafe and environmentally reckless, but also disdain the tawdry, dirty,ugly, or maliciously destructive. If Christians going into our fields were imbued with thissense of an engineer’s calling, it might shape their career choices and projects to whichthey devote their lives. If Christian scholars sought to further develop this understandingof