Conference Session

Engineering Ethics III

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Birmingham, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

AC 2008-1665: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE AND ITS APPLICATION TO ETHICSWilliam Birmingham, Grove City College Page 13.1294.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Towards an Understanding of Artificial Intelligence and Its Application to Ethics1. IntroductionArtificial intelligence (AI) is a broadly defined discipline involving computer science,engineering, philosophy, psychology, political science, and a host of other disciplines. BecauseAI is so broad, it is hard to succinctly define; for the sake of brevity, we will use the handle of“thinking machines,” without commitment to depths of this thinking.The

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Niewoehner, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

responsibility? Does environmental responsibility extend beyond simple pragmatism? A case can surely be made that environmental responsibility can be posed as an expression of extended self interest. Why should one care about environmental impact of one’s work, particularly if the environmental impact is delayed many years beyond the engineer’s life? Why would it trump the engineer’s financial interests or those of their clients? Is the environment invested with inherent value? If so, how and why? • Why be civically minded? • If these duties are genuine, and transcendent, how can they be known? • Some would assert that the engineer bears an aesthetic responsibility of ethical import. What’s the

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Theis, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott; patricia watkins, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Library; Mary Angela Beck, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

collect information that supports the topic of sustainability in the library? 2. Has the topic of sustainability, climate change, or other environmental topics been included as a topic for research in instruction classes for students? 3. What kinds of media, books or other materials are actively being collected on the topic of sustainability across the curriculum in the university?Staff 1. What does the word “Sustainability” mean to you? 2. What other words or ideas come to mind when I say “sustainability” or “engineering sustainability”? 3. How has the issue of sustainability or other environmental factors been addressed at ERAU? 4. What experiences have you been involved in on campus that have incorporated

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

AC 2008-1791: PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN TEACHINGENGINEERING: AN ETHICAL MANDATE TO PRODUCE RESPONSIBLEENGINEERS.B. Kyun Lee, LeTourneau University B. KYUN LEE is a professor in the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology at LeTourneau University, where he taught since 1988. He received his B.S. degree from Young Nam University, M.S. and PH.D. from Oregon State University in mechanical engineering. Prior to joining LeTourneau University, he was a research and development engineer at Hyundai Motor Company. His professional interests include system dynamics, control, and applied mechanics. Email: kyunlee@letu.eduPaul R. Leiffer, LeTourneau University PAUL R. LEIFFER

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York-Binghamton

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Page 13.799.10process of observation for ever changes the observed. The observer and the observed are interacting.Heisenberg writes: ”We can no longer speak of the behavior of the particle independently of the process ofobservation.” The laws we formulate are not about the nature itself, but about our knowledge of it.the essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes. Inother words, borrowing from Buddhism,4 the essential nature, the Buddha nature, istaught to be a truly real, but internally hidden, eternal potency or immortal element withinthe purest depths of the mind, present in all sentient beings.Let us then consider the implications of this view for engineering. According to Berry,our new community is a

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Papadopoulos; Andrew Hable, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

(e.g., the purchase of paint)defense-related goods and services. However, these estimates do not include defense-related purchases by agencies other that DOD, such as DOE or NASA; whether or not thedata reflects effort related to defense sales to foreign governments is unclear. Furthermuddying the data is the fact that some of the engineering effort reflected in the DODdata is provided by engineers in foreign countries under contract with US companies.With these caveats in mind, our complied data indicates that about 8.8% of professionalengineering effort is devoted to defense-related activities – about 3 times higher than forthe overall workforce defense effort (2.8%). Some specializations, such as aerospaceengineering and electrical

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Travis Rieder, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

AC 2008-1159: ETHICAL THEORY FOR ENGINEERS: AVOIDING CARICATUREAND INFORMING INTUITIONSTravis Rieder, University of South Carolina Page 13.569.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Ethical Theory for Engineers: Avoiding Caricature and Informing Intuition1A professor of engineering ethics recently commented that she finds it difficult to teachethical theory to engineers, as many students are strongly attracted to an intuitionistmodel of ethics – intuitionist here meaning that the students tend to make ethicaljudgments based largely on how a situation strikes their ‘moral sensibilities.’ One reasonfor this may be that