Transcript ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I ECE 495 - INTEGRATED SYSTEMS I Ethics Timothy Burg.

ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
ECE 495 - INTEGRATED
SYSTEMS I
Ethics
Timothy Burg
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Career Note: Professional Engineer
• Professional Engineer is an engineer who is
registered or licensed
• Procedure
(almost)
– Engineer-In-Training (EIT)
• Graduate from ABET accredited four-year program in engineering.
• Complete a standard Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) written
examination (offered twice per year on campus)
– PE
• Accumulate a certain amount of engineering experience ~ four
years.
• Pass Principles and Practice in Engineering('PE') examination,
testing knowledge and skills in your field as well as engineering
ethics.
ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Career Note: Professional Engineer
• Five Reasons to Get Licensed (NSP)
– Prestige: PEs are respected by the public and are seen in the same light
as licensed professionals in other fields.
– Career Development: Shows commitment to the profession and
demonstrates heightened leadership and management skills. May be a
necessity for rising to increased levels of authority and responsibility.
– Authority:
• Only PEs can sign and seal engineering drawings
• Only PEs can be in responsible charge of a firm in private practice
or serve as a fully qualified expert witness.
• Many government agencies and educational institutions are
emphasizing licensure among their engineers as well.
– Flexibility: Have a PE license opens up your career options.
– Money: Studies have shown that most PEs earn higher pay throughout
their business careers.
http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/WhyGetLicensed/index.html
ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Example: Engineering Decision
• As an electrical engineer (with no facilities design
and construction experience) you are designing
process automation for the current assembly line,
which spans two buildings.
• You are asked by your boss to use the new Megadesk
structure design software to "design a walkway to
connect our facilities". "It is fully automated" she
says, "just enter the length and maximum weight".
What are the issues in this decision?
What is the basis for making a decision?
ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Example: Engineering Decision
• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
has been supportive of the concept that a qualified
individual engineer, regardless of his or her particular
area of technical discipline, should be licensed as a
“professional engineer”.
– Doesn’t mean engineers are free to practice
without restriction in any and all areas.
– Engineers should only practice solely within his or
her area(s) of competency.
Answer: It is unethical to perform work for
which you are not qualified
ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Generic Design Process
Retire
Identify
Need
Maintain
Use by
Customer(s)
Distribute
and Sell
Manufacture
Testing
Some design
Research
decisions can have
impacts
that
Specifications
extend beyond
technical,
Concepts
financial,
marketing
resolutions; that is,
Design
there may be
Prototype
ethics to consider.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Professional Ethics
• The professional carries additional moral
responsibilities to those held by the population in
general.
• This is because professionals are capable of making
and acting on an informed decision in situations that
the general public cannot, because they have not
received the relevant training.
• The client places trust in the professional on the basis
that the service provided will be of benefit to them.
Professional Engineer is a certification
that you earn through work experience
and passing examinations.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Codes of Ethics
• What is the basis for moral criticism?
– A well thought-out code of ethics
• All engineering societies have promulgated a version
of a code of ethics. They are all very similar.
• Statement of a code of ethics is an explicit
recognition of the implicit contract between the
professional and the society in which she/he
functions.
• Some specific Ethical Codes
– IEEE
– ABET (NSPE)
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
IEEE Code of Ethics
• IEEE
– Internationally recognized standard for electrical
engineers
– Non-profit organization
– The world's leading professional association for
the advancement of technology
• As per IEEE Bylaw I-104.14, membership in IEEE in
any grade shall carry the obligation to abide by the
IEEE Code of Ethics (IEEE Policy 7.8).
– Agree that you have read the Code and agree
during membership renewal.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
IEEE Code of Ethics
1. Accept responsibility for their actions.
2. Avoid conflicts of interest whenever possible, and
disclose them when they exist.
3. Be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates
based on available data.
4. Reject bribery in all its forms.
5. Improve the understanding of technology, its
appropriate application, and potential consequences.
6. Maintain and improve technical competence and
undertake tasks only if qualified by training or
experience.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
IEEE Code of Ethics
7. Seek, accept, and offer honest criticism,
acknowledge and correct errors, and credit
contributions of others.
8. Treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as
race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national
origin.
9. Avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or
employment by false or malicious action.
10. Assist colleagues and co-workers in their
professional development and in following this
ethical code.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
NSPE’s Code of Ethics
• The Fundamental Canons:
– Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health
and welfare of the public in the performance of
their duties.
– Engineers shall perform services only in the areas
of their competence.
– Engineers shall issue public statements only in an
objective and truthful manner.
– Engineers shall act in professional matters for each
employer or client as faithful agents or trustees,
and shall avoid conflicts of interest.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
NSPE’s Code of Ethics
• The Fundamental Canons (cont):
– Engineers shall build their professional reputation
on the merit of their services and shall not compete
unfairly with others.
– Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold
and enhance the honor, integrity and dignity of the
profession.
– Engineers shall continue their professional
development throughout their careers and shall
provide opportunities for the professional
development of those engineers under their
supervision.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Applying Ethics
•
David Monts, an experienced, licensed electrical (and nuclear) engineer, worked for
PPSD. His department was responsible for building construction and renovation.
•
His boss Schambach, without consulting his engineers, underestimated the costs for
certain jobs. When these projects threatened to go over budget, Schambach insisted
on various cost-cutting measures. In some cases, these measures entailed improper
practices that put people at risk.
•
Monts repeatedly objected to these tactics. In particular, he protested when fire
alarms were deleted from plans to renovate certain space and the omission of
emergency exit lights. A less obvious hazard involved a design with inadequate
circuit overload protection. These, and other instances of corner-cutting, involved
more than a difference of opinion as to what was required for safety. They violated
state building codes.
•
Monts was fired, claiming that “Monts had a negative attitude with regard to his
employment and that he disrupted weekly staff meetings by complaining and
arguing about non-project related matters.”
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Applying Ethics
• After 10 years and multiple court cases, the court
supported PPSD. Monts never regained his job. PPSD
is suing him for court costs.
• Doing the “right” thing may have a personal cost.
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Summary
• Professionals have a contract with society.
• When there is a dilemma between the interests of
their client (or employer) and those of the public, the
codes of ethics are clear:
– The health, safety and welfare of the public comes
before all other considerations.
• More often than not, ethical decisions come as
dilemmas and the choices are not easy to make and
must be carefully thought out.
• Being thoroughly familiar with a code of ethics aids
in deciding.
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Developed and
Presented by the
National
Institute for
Engineering
Ethics
Characters in Incident at Morales
Dominique - French corporate liaison to Phaust
Fred - Chemical engineer hired by Phaust to
design a new plant to manufacture a new paint
remover
Wally - Fred’s supervisor at Phaust
Chuck - Vice president of engineering at Phaust
Maria - Fred’s wife, an EPA compliance litigator
Characters ...
Hal - Market analyst at Phaust
Jen - Research chemist at Phaust
Peter - Project manager of the construction firm
that builds the new plant in Morales
Jake - Plant manager for the SwisseChem plant in
Big Springs, Texas
Manuel - Plant manager for the new Phaust plant in
Morales, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Tests That Were Considered
(Davis, 1997)
• Harm test - Do the benefits outweigh the
harms, short term and long term?
• Reversibility test - Would I think this
choice were good if I traded places?
• Colleague test - What would professional
colleagues say?
And ...
• Legality test - Would this choice violate a
law or a policy of my employer?
• Publicity test - How would this choice look
on the front page of a newspaper?
• Common practice test - What if everyone
behaved in this way?
• Wise relative test - What would my wise
old aunt or uncle do?
Basic Ethical Concepts ...
• Ethical obligations do not stop at the United
States border.
• Wherever engineers practice, they should
hold paramount the health, safety, and
welfare of the public.
• How an engineer fulfills those obligations
may depend on the social and economic
context of engineering practice.
ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Incident at Morales – Discussion Questions
• Video shows real pressures on engineering decisions
• Shows how “small” decision can initiate a chain of events that
can lead to catastrophic failures.
• Shows how a company may respond to employee concerns.
• “This is how it works, we did the best that we could” Should
you negotiate for safety?
• Is it ethical to move a plant to Mexico knowing the
environmental regulations are less strict? Are legal
requirements your only obligation?
• Was Fred threatened to do the wrong thing? Was he pressured?
• Is it ethical to change jobs and work for a competitor? Can you
“forget” what you know about your previous employer’s
business?
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
Incident at Morales – An Engineering Ethics
Story
• Quiz
– Fred was warned not to use the cheaper controls, was using
the cheaper controls unethical?
– Who are the villains in the video? Who are the heros?
– Is it “better not to know too much”?
– What decision caused Fred the most trouble?
– Is it ok to “pad the budget”?
– Is a perceived conflict of interest different than a real
conflict of interest?
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ECE 495 – Integrated System Design I
References
• NAE On-line Ethics Center:
http://onlineethics.org/CMS/edu/instructguides.aspx
• http://beta.onlineethics.org/
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