2. Why study Engineering Ethics? 3. The scope of Engineering Ethics 4. Case studies in Engineering Ethics a. Killer Robot b. C ! 1" c. Whistle #lo$ing d. Citicorp #uilding e. The Challenger case 1. %a&ple Codes a. 'a&&urabi(s code b. )#ET code 1. *urther case studies a. #hopal b. Three +ile ,sland c. Chernobyl -. Concluding re&ar.s WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS
Engineering Ethics is the study of moral issues
and decisions confronting individuals and organizations engaged in engineering.
The Study of related questions about moral
ideals,character,policies and relationship of people and corporations involved in technological activity. WHY STUDY ENGINEERING ETHICS
What is the point in studying engineering ethics?
What can be gained from taking a course in ethics?
Engineering ethics course is not about preaching virtue
rather, its obective is to increase your ability as engineers to responsibly confront moral issues raised by technological activity. THE SCOPE OF ENGINEERING ETHICS %cope of Engineering Ethics !oral "easoning # Ethical Theories Engineering as Social E$perimentation The Engineers "esponsibility for safety Engineers and !anagers, %onsultants and headers &lobal 'ssues "ights of Engineers "esponsibility to Employees ENGINEERING ETHICS CASE STUDIES CASE 1 : THE CASE OF THE KILLER ROBOT (ane !c!urdock, prosecuttting attorney for the city of Silicon )alley, announced today the indictment of "andey Samuels on charges of manslaughter. Samuels employed as a programmer at the Silicon Techtronic*s 'nc. The charge involves the death of +art !atthe,s, ,ho ,as killed last !ay by an assembly -line robot. !atthe,s ,orked as robot operator at %ybernetics 'nc.,in Silicon .eights. .e ,as crushed to death ,hen the robot he ,as operating malfunctioned and started to ,ave its hands violently. The "obot arm struck !atthe,s, thro,ing him against a ,all and crushing his skull. !atthe,s died almost instantly. /ccording to the indictment, Samuels ,rote the particular piece of computer program responsible for the robot malfunction. 0There1s a smoking gun23 !c!urdock announced triumphantly at a press conference held in the hall of (ustice.4 We have the hand ,ritten formula ,provided by the proect physicist, ,hich Samuels ,as supposed to program. +ut he negligently misinterpreted the formula leading to this huge gruesome death. Society must protect itself against programmers ,ho make careless mistakes. The Sentinel - observer has obtained a copy of the hand,ritten formula in question. There are actually three similar formulas ,scra,led on piece of yello, legal pad paper.
Each formula describes the motion of the robot in one direction5 east6,est, 7orth6south and up -do,n. The Sentinel68bserver sho,ed the formulas to +ill 9ark a professor of physics at Silicon )alley :niversity. .e confirmed that these equations could be used to describe the motion of a robot arm. The Sentinel - 8bserver then sho,ed 9ark the program code ,ritten by the accused in the programming language. We asked 9ark ,ho is fluent in % and several other languages, ,hether the program code ,as correct for the given robot - arm formulas. 9arks response ,as immediate. .e e$claimed, 0+y (ove2 't looks like he misinterpreted the formula. .e*s guilty as hell, if you ask me3. The Sentinel - 8bserver ,as unable to contact Samuels for comment. 0.e is deeply depressed about all this,3 his girl friend told us over the phone,4 but "andy believes he ,ill be acquitted ,hen he gets a chance to tell his side of the story. 'ssues5 CASE 2: DC 10 JUMBO JET The fuselage of the ;% - <= (umbo et of ,hich the cargo door is a part ,as developed by %onvair, a sub contractor for !c;onnell ;ouglas. %onvair1s senior engineer directing the proect, ;an /pplegate had ,ritten to the )ice president of the company5 0The %argo door could burst open, leading to crash of the plane. .ence the door has to be redesigned and the cabin floor has to strengthened3. Top !anagement at %onvair neither disputed the technical facts or the predictions made by /pplegate. The liabilities and the cost of redesign ,ere to high. T,o years ,ent by. 'n <>?@ the cargo door of ;% - <= (umbo burst open and the et crashed near 9aris killing A@B . 'ssues5 CASE 3: WHISTLE BLOWING
;efinition5 Whistle blo,ing is alerting relevant persons
to some moral or legal corruption, ,here 0"elevant persons3 are those in a position to act in response.
7o topic in Engineering ethics is more controversial than
,histle - blo,ing.
%arl .ouston ,as a ,elding supervisor for a nuclear
po,er facility in )irginia C<>?=D for Stone # Weber .e sa,
'mproper ,elding procedures
:se of ,rong materials
Welders ,ere not trained properly
The Situation ,as dangerous
.e reported to Stone # Weber1s !anager, ,ho ignored him. .e threatened to ,rite to Stone # Weber1s .eadquarters. Shortly thereafter he ,as fired on trumped - up charges. Einally he ,rote to Senators .o,ard*s +aker and /lbert &ore. The Senators prompted the /tomic Energy %ommission to investigate, ,hich confirmed his allegations. 'ssues 5 Structural Engineer +ill Fe!essurier faced a big design problem ,hen he ,orked on the %iticorp %entre, 7.G - fifth highest skyscraper in 7e, Gork. The >== feet bank ,ould rise from >6storey C<<@1D high columns. The columns are positioned as follo,s5 one at the center and the other at the %E7TE" 8E E/%. S';E 8E T.E T8WE" and not at the %8"7E"S 8E T.E T8WE"S Cas is usualD This ,as because of a corner of the plot belonged to a church and the church had to be accommodated there. The building ,as completed in <>??. /n engineering student like you questioned5 ,hat ,ill happen ,hen the ,ind loading is oblique? CASE 4: CITICORP BUILDING y x %alculations should sho, that in %ase CcD the resultant force is @=H larger. While Fe!essurier designed ,elded oints, the contractor, +ethlehem Steel changed them to bolted oints. "ecalculation ,as not done to check ,hat the construction change ,ould do. Wind Tunnel Tests proved that the diagonal ,ind loading C,ith a return period of <B yearsD can lead to the failure of the critical bolted oints and therefore the building. (a) (b) (c) Fe!essurier ,as deeply troubled. .e considered his options
Silence
Suicide Then he told himself5
' have information that nobody else in the ,orld had.
' have po,er to effect e$traordinary events that only '
could initiate. .e e$plained the problem to his client %iticorp. The building ,as strengthened by ,elding t,o6inch thick steel plates over each of the I== bolted oints. With only ,elding half the number of bolts hurricane Ella ,as threatening to strike the building. Fuckily Ella1s direction changed. ;espite the fact that nothing happened as the result of the engineering gaffe, the crises ,as kept hidden from the public for almost I= years. Fe!essurier ,as criticized for
'nsufficient oversight leading to bolted rather than
,elded oints.
Eor misleading the public about the e$tent of the
danger during the reinforcement process
Eor keeping the engineering insights from his peers
for decades.
.o,ever his act of altering %iticorp to the problem
inherent in his o,n design is no, used as an e$ample of ethical behavior in several engineering te$tbooks. 'ssues5 /fter a lot of delays %./FFE7&E"1S J th flight ,as set up for IJ th (an <>JB /llan !c;onald of !orton - Thiokol ,ho designed the solid-rocket booster kne, the problems ,ith the field oints on previous cold ,eather oints. /nd IJ th (an ,as e$pected to be cold. CASE 5 THE CHALLENGER CASE Seal e$perts /rnold Thompson and "oger +oisoly of !orton - Thiokol, e$plained to 7/S/ representatives ho, upon launch the booster rocket ,alls bulge and the combustion gases can blo, past one or even both of the 86 rings that make up the field oints. The rings char and erode, as had been observed on many previous flights. 'n cold ,eather the problem is aggravated because the rings and the putty packing are less pliable then Cmore brittleD Senior )ice 9resident (erry !ason told +ob Fund C)ice 9resident EngineeringD 0T8 T/KE 8EE G8:" E7&'7EE"'7& ./T /7; 9:T 87 G8:" !/7/&E!E7T ./T3. The managers Cnot engineersD voted that the seals %8:F; 78T +E S.8W7 T8 +E :7S/EE. The count do,n ended at <<.AJ /!. The temperature ,as AB degrees. /s the rocket carrying the %hallenge "ose from the ground, cameras sho,ed smoke emanating through the 8 rings. Soon these turned into a flame that hit the e$ternal fuel tank and a strut holding the booster rocket. The hydrogen in the tank caught fire, the booster rocket broke loose, smashed into %hallenger1s ,ing, then into the e$ternal tank. /t ?B seconds into the flight, by the time %hallenger and its rocket had reached L=,=== feet, it ,as totally engulfed in a fire ball. The cre, cabin separated and fell into the ocean, killing all abroad. !ission %ommander5 Erancis Scobee. 9ilot5 !ichael Smith. !ission specialist5 &pegory (arvis, "onald !c7air, Ellison 8nizuka, (udith "esnick. Teacher in space5 %hrista !ac/uliffe C%hosen from <<,=== applicantsD 'ssues5 +abylon1s +uilding %ode C.ammurabi1s %odeD 'f a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his ,ork sound, and the house ,hich he has built has fallen do,n and so caused the death of the house6holder, the builder should be put to death MMMMM SAMPLE CODES CODE OF ETHICS FOR ENGINEERS T.E E:7;/!E7T/F 9"'7%'9FES Engineers :phold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering profession by5 '.:sing their kno,ledge and skill for the enhancement of human ,elfareN ''. +eing honest and impartial, and serving ,ith fidelity the public, their employers and clients5 '''. Striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering professionN and '.Supporting the professional and technical societies of their disciplines. F!"#$%&"'$( C$")"* <. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and ,elfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties. I. Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence. A. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an obective 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. L. Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and shall not compete unfairly ,ith others. B.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.
CONCLUDING REMARKS When you leave this Fecture .all today you must leave ,ith the kno,ledge and conviction that you have a professional and moral responsibility to yourselves and to your fello, human beings to defend the truth and e$pose any questionable practice that ,ill lead to an unsafe product or process <. !artin, !ike # Schinzinger, "onald5 Ethics in Engineering, A rd Ed. !c&ra, .ill <. http5OOtemp.onlinethics.orgOcasesOrobotOarticle6 <.htmO REFERENCES