Ethics Essay

Chance Webster
EE 394
April 24, 2020
Ethics Essay

The code of ethics is very important for engineers because it gives them a template to follow
when designing and testing new technology. It is important to follow this code because it better for
everyone. It allows the product to be safe for people to use and it protects the engineer from getting
accused of criminal activities. For example, in class we discussed the Pinto issue. The Pinto issue comes
from a break in the code of ethics by Ford, when designing a new car. The car was designed to be
smaller than other cars but more affordable, however, there was a design flaw and the car could not
pass the standard crash test. The company had many problems when testing with the fuel take leaking
into the cabin of the car and burning the inside of the car. The company attempted to fix the issue but
when a solution could not be found, they “signed off” anyway. This means that the company
manufactured and sold a defective car to the public. This resulted in many injuries and deaths from the
car crashes.

The company broke many of the rules from the code of ethics. They were not putting the
people’s safety first in their design and lied about passing their standard tests. This type of behavior
should never be tolerate by a company or the engineers involved. When a situation like this occurs, the
first thing people should think about is the people using the product daily. When working for Collins
Aerospace in an internship, I tested a device for my department and when we had failures we had make
decisions to fix them. There was a circumstance when testing that we had failure but when we put the
cables a specific way we passed. It was tempting to accept that we passed but I could tell everyone was
on the fence with that decision. We ended up deciding to attempt to fix the issue for a day or two. The
decision paid off because we fixed the issue and were not even close to failing anymore.

The six Virtue of Ethics are all very important and it is hard to choose three that most relate to
me. However, the most important virtue for an engineer in testing is responsibility. We as engineers
have a responsibility to be honest and make decisions that benefit the customers over everything.
Honesty and integrity work hand in hand together as being honest is the most moral thing a human can
do. I chose these three virtues because they are the most important for attest engineer to have and
that is the path I am following. I do not think another virtue needs to be added to the list because they
cover the most important traits already. All in all, the six virtues put the people purchasing the product
 Ethics Essay
Chance Webster
EE 394
April 24, 2020
first and doing what is best for them, and that is the most important thing for engineers to think about
when designing a product.

In conclusion, the code of ethics is important for all parties to understand. When designing a
product the most important thing to consider is the people who will use the product and ensure it is safe
to use. The virtue of ethics explains how engineers should make their decisions. Learning about the
code of ethics and the virtue of ethics was very beneficial for me because it gives a list of rules to follow
when making decisions for a product.