Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Jordan, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

AC 2009-1684: ETHICAL ISSUES RELATED TO INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENT PROJECTSWilliam Jordan, Baylor University Page 14.586.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Ethical Issues Related to International Development ProjectsAbstractInternational service learning within engineering education is increasing in amount and visibility.There has been much work dealing with the legitimacy of service learning in engineeringeducation. However, there has been less work dealing with ethical issues involved withengineering service learning. While there are ethical issues related to any engineering project,this paper concentrates on ethical issues inherent in the international

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ochs, Lehigh University; Lisa Getzler-Linn, Lehigh University; Margaret Huyck, Illinois Institute of Technology; Scott Schaffer, Purdue University; Mary Raber, Michigan Technology University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

including Boeing, JetBlue, VHA, HomeAid America, and the U.S. Navy in areas such as needs assessment, testing, evaluation, process analysis, and instructional design.Mary Raber, Michigan Technology University Mary Raber currently serves as Associate Director for the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of the Enterprise Program at Michigan Technological University. This program focuses on undergraduate technical and professional skill development by providing a multidisciplinary team environment in which students address real-world projects for industry, community and government organizations. Ms. Raber has overseen the implementation and growth of the Enterprise Program at

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Didier Valdes, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; Erika Jaramillo Giraldo, University of Puerto Rico; Jorge Ferrer, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; William Frey, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

construction engineering and Research Assistant in the GERESE project. Her research interest include construction engineering issues and ethical issues related to research, construction and safety.Jorge Ferrer, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Jorge J. Ferrer is Professor in the Humanities Department of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Dr. Ferrer holds a doctorate in Theological Ethics and specializes in Bioethics. He has authored or co-authored 4 books and numerous scholarly articles in his field. He has been PI of the NSF funded GERESE (Graduate Education in Research Ethics for Scientists and Engineers) Project.William Frey, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez William Frey

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Nelson, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

discussions of „found Page 14.1221.3objects,‟ which were biological objects and organisms identified and researched by the students.The remainder of the course alternated between guest lectures on various technical topics withinBID, such as locomotion and materials design, and continued discussion of found objects orstudent design projects. Guest lecturers were faculty members from various departments whowere actively researching the BID topics on which they lectured.Outside of class, the primary assignment was a design project in which the students chose abiological system to mimic and translate into a manufacturable conceptual design. Students

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Portland; Donald Chinn, University of Washington, Tacoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Page 14.190.4that the product gets out the door in a timely fashion. Program managers generally have enough technicalskill to be able to do development, and they understand enough about the technical details to appreciatethe difficulties with developing software and can estimate how long it takes to fix bugs, provide morefeatures, etc. Note that program managers are not normal “managers” in that they have no direct reports(people who are subordinate to them in the company’s organizational chart). Instead, they manage theflow of information between various people on a project so that people are working together towards theend product. They derive their authority through their ability to do this, rather than through a company’sorganizational

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald McEachron, Drexel University; Sheila Vaidya, Drexel University; Stacey Ake, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Page 14.60.2introduction to each philosophy. In Phase II, students are given a set of ethical issues andasked to address those issues as these philosophers might have done. For each issue, astudent would use one persona’s perspective, thinking as Aristotle about one issue and asBuddha about another. In Phase III, each student would write a paper for submission to aprofessional journal or conference.Once trained, tutors would be assigned as ethics consultants to undergraduate engineeringdesign teams. At Drexel, there are freshman and senior design projects. The tutors wouldwork with those teams on matters of ethical concern. Eventually, we hope to expand thisprogram to other disciplines within the curriculum.Introduction Recently, a

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Skvarenina, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

judgement to projects that may be large and expensive, high risk, andaffect the public safety. While some choices are black and white, many are “gray.” As a resultsometimes the choice is between two “right” solutions and sometimes it is the “lesser of two Page 14.720.4evils.” Failing to act ethically can have legal and disciplinary consequences, such as the loss of “Proceedings of the 2009 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2009, American Society for Engineering Education”personal or corporate reputation, loss of a job, failure of a company, or personnel

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salvatore Marsico, Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

agency expressing concerns over anupcoming project21. In the letter he refers to himself as an engineer and later a complaint is filedwith the licensing board with respect to is practice of engineering with a license. He agrees thathe is not licensed to practice engineering in any jurisdiction and that he is employed by amanufacturing company and has “engineer” in his job title. The board sanctions him for theunlicensed practice of engineering. He appeals the board’s decision to the courts and claims thathis First Amendment rights to free speech were violated in that he was speaking out about apublic project. The court reasoned that his comments were not sanctioned but his right to makethe comments as an engineer expressing an opinion was being

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

corollaries in the expectations for practicing engineers. There are additional questionsbased on the case studies and the engineering exemplars on the Online Ethics website. Ethics arealso discussed in the context of the course projects such as the CVEN exploration ofcontroversies and disasters and the EVEN drinking water evaluation project.Student perceptions of cheating behaviors were indicated by their anonymous responses to 18questions from the PACES-1 survey1. Students rated each behavior as either: cheating; unethicalbut not cheating; neither. The demographics of the students in the courses and the respondents,if known, are summarized in Table 1. Each course had about the same number of students, witha significantly higher percentage of female

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shobi Sivadasan, Stevens Institute of Technology; Brian Sauser, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

. Overall, the survey results clearly revealed that students are aware ofacademic plagiarism and its resulting consequences. Regardless, academic plagiarism Page 14.1296.3continues to be a major problem.Plagiarism in the academic environment has plagued universities for a long time. Whilemost commonly committed by students, professors and researchers have been guilty aswell. According to R. Murray Thomas4, Professor Emeritus, University of California,Santa Barbara, “Students have plagiarized book reports, term papers, essays, projects, andgraduate-degree theses. Teachers—including college professors—have plagiarizedjournal articles, course materials, and

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York, Binghamton; Caroline Baillie, Queens University, Kingston

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

various cases and your responses as an engineering professional and anengineering educator. Case: The Next Generation Landmine Part I.Ms. Jane Enaj is a project manager at a multinational corporation which has just beenawarded a contract to develop and produce the next generation land mine. She is also amember of the Design Review Committee. The committee’s responsibilities includereviewing and approving design changes, procedural changes and submittingperformance reports to various U.S. Department of Defense agencies withrecommendations.Today Jane finds herself in a difficult situation. DRC is meeting to finalizerecommendation concerning the new land mine. It offers significant

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Oliver, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

prosecution of Mr. Siemaszko was met with skepticism by many. For example, theUnion of Concerned Scientists claimed that Siemaszko was “being used as a scapegoat" and that"[FENOC] and the NRC deserve the blame, not an engineer who was simply trying to do his joband keep the plant safe."21 Even the federal judge that presided at Siemaszko’s trial had hisdoubts stating that the conviction was "a close case".22 For its part in the deception, FENOC “agreed to pay $28 million in penalties, restitution,and community service projects as part of an agreement to defer prosecution of the company”23. Case 2: Boeing’s Purloined Papers In the late-1990’s McDonnell-Douglas and Lockheed Martin were in competition over along

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Boston case is a discussion of contemporary building codes andwhy such large storage containers were not considered to be structures and hence did not requireengineering expertise for design and maintenance.Likewise, in the IMO case, the NSPE code is not applicable, although Mexican engineers cancross-register professional status in the state of Texas and the code is thus applicable acrossinternational boundaries. The actual problem with the storage tank was not engineering-orientedbut rather a bad management decision to hold more molasses than the tank was designed to store.The engineering problem was an environmental one, so an examination of sustainability issues isappropriate.Finally, in courses that require a term project or other major

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Leiffer, LeTourneau University; R. William Graff; B.Kyun Lee, Le Tourneau University; Martin Batts, Le Tourneau University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

morally deep ethics must substitute “the benefit of the environment”or “the benefit of the integrated community” for “the benefit of mankind.” Many engineers faceissues of public safety, honest reporting, and conflict of interest. Relatively few will be requiredto consider the broadest aspects of the environment.Catalano provides an example of identifying the integral community in an engineering decision.The scenario involves a project in the area around White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico:“Johnson would challenge us to first identify all the members of the community. For thisexample a listing would include the following: • Wolves • Prey animals including domestic sheep and cattle as well as deer, rabbits, coyotes,and others • Desert lands

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brock Barry, United States Military Academy; Matthew Ohland, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

listed above, are being measured. Evidence that may be used includes, but is not limited to the following: student portfolios, including design projects; nationally normed subject content examinations [emphasis added]; alumni surveys that document professional accomplishments and career development activities; employer surveys; and placement data of graduates.2, 17-19The FE Examination is the only nationally normed, engineering-specific examination that couldsatisfy that statement. Notably, the entire section quoted above has been struck from the ABETCriteria beginning with the 2004-2005 version.20-23 In addition, starting with the 2004-2005ABET Criteria, all such lists of suggested accreditation methodologies were