PEB 702 Engineering & Society

Semester 1 2019

Year 3 SBCE/SME/SEE

Tutorial Exercise 1. CASE Scenarios in Ethical & moral dilemmas

Due Date: COB Friday 22 February 2019

Total marks :10%

Instructions:

1. There are 5 given scenarios, each group shall choose 1 scenario for analysis.
2. Properly label /indicate the title of the scenario you have chosen from the given
selections.
3. Properly identify the group members of each group : names , student ID number
and school program
4. Requirement: Follow the steps in analyzing the case, situations & dilemmas

GIVENS:

Scenario 1. PUBLIC TRUST (Group A (SBCE Monday Tutorial Class 12-1 & 2-3)

Asaeli an engineer was instructed by the CEO of a government company X to verify

that a certain industry will not leak toxic substances into the environment.

After Asaeli’s verification, he discovered as follows:

 The industry will likely cause harm within the coming 3 years, but there is
significant uncertainty.
 The industry cannot be evaluated more carefully unless operation is closed
immediately.
 The whole affected environment and adjacent community are at risk.

After reading Asaeli’s report, the CEO advised Asaeli to revise and temper his report
and instead report that the industry is actually safe. The CEO further stated that

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changing the report will protect the public in the affected area, prevent panic while the
government attempts to shut down and fix the facility,

What should Asaeli do?

Scenario 2. CONSTRUCTION SERVICES (Group B (SBCE Friday Class 8-10Am)

FACTS: Samuela works for Company Z, a consulting engineering firm. In performing

engineering services for Company Z, Samuela performs construction observation
services on a project for Client X. During the performance of the construction
observation services for Client X, Samuela observes potential safety issues relating to
the performance of work by a subcontractor on a project being constructed on an
adjacent piece of property for Owner H, a party with whom neither Engineer AL,
Company Z, or Client X has any direct relationship. What are Samuela’ s ethical
obligations under the circumstances?

Scenario 3. SAFETY OF PUBLIC (SBCE Monday Tutorial Class 12-1 & 2-3)

Alfredo was asked by his boss to design a bridge that will not exceed S1.5M budget to
build. After doing the engineering designs and estimates, Afredo submitted it to his boss
with the following details:

 The bridge can be completed with an estimated cost of $2M.

 Given the design constraints, a bridge built for $1.5M will collapse in a moderate
earthquake.

Alfredo’s Boss reacted” If we don’t build the bridge for $1.5 M, then we have to do
some staff downsizing by 50% of the staff , and that includes you.”

His Boss further instructed him to proceed with the next stage of the project.

What should Alfredo do?

Scenario 4. DEVICE DESIGN (SME/SEEE, Thursday 1-3 PM)

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Mr. C (Eng.), Ms. D (Eng.), and Mr. E are members of a design team for an electronics
company that makes computer input devices. Mr. C has an undergraduate degree in
electrical engineering; Ms. D has an undergraduate degree in computer engineering;
and Mr. D was trained in industrial design and is not a licensed engineer. Mr. C and Ms.
D are in the habit of keeping track of design ideas and decisions in engineering
logbooks. Mr. C tends to sketch ideas on loose sheets of paper that he sometimes
tosses away at the end of a design session. The design team came up with an
innovative product and the company is seeking to have the device patented. As part of
the patent process all inventors must be named. Ms. D thinks that only she and Mr. C
should be listed as the inventors since Mr. E has given notice that he will be leaving the
company and is unlikely to have kept a record of his work. Mr. C thinks that Mr. E made
a significant contribution to the device design that is to be patented. What should Mr. C
do?

Scenario 5. Sour Gas (SME/SEEE, Thursday 1-3 PM)

Mr. F (Eng.) works for a company that specializes in engineering, procurement, and
construction for the oil and gas industry. Mr. F spends much of his time visiting clients at
their drill sites as part of his job. Mr. F has recently been assigned to pay a site visit to a
client, Virata Corp. While visiting Virata Corp’s site, Mr. F detects the slight odor of sour
gas (hydrogen sulphide) and notes that the area is not properly marked with a hazard
flag and that there does not seem to be appropriate safety equipment readily available
near the area. Mr. F is aware that sour gas can pose a fire hazard and can be fatal to
humans even at low concentrations. Mr. F is at the drill site as a consultant and so is not
directly responsible for site safety. Site safety typically falls to the responsibility of the
site manager/engineer, so Mr. F points the hazard out to Virata Corp’s site manager
and suggests a way to address it. At the following visit a few weeks later, Mr. F notes
that the hazard is still not properly marked. Mr. F stresses to Virata Corp’s site manager
the seriousness of the situation in terms of potential harm to workers or others visiting
the site. The response from the site manager is that addressing the hazard would be
costly and to date there have not been any complaints from Virata Corp’s workers. What
should Mr. F do?

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