Task #2

Jeremiah M. Angeles
BSEE-3A

PROBLEM:
1. What changes would have to be made for engineering to be a profession more like medicine or
law?
-Rather than the existing system in which students study engineering as graduates and then pursue
advanced degrees when necessary, prospective engineers are likely to receive a four-year “pre-
engineering” degree in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, or any combination of
these graduates. After a four-year undergraduate program, a student will begin a 3- or 4-year
advanced engineering program resulting in a “Engineering Professor” degree (or another
appropriately called degree). This curriculum will require comprehensive study of engineering
fundamentals, specialization in the field of research, and likely “clinical” training under a practicing
Engineer. There is also a need to make change in the way society thinks about engineers. This is
because though engineers are paid well compared to other professionals but still, they are not well
compensated as compared to people in the medical field or lawyers and this might be the reason
because engineers don’t work independently. They are either a part of small or a large group of
organizations wherein they practice engineering skills and aptitude. Thus, there is a need of more
importance given to engineering as an education field and thereby students and organizations
employing them will take this profession seriously like medicine or law. If these changes would be
applied then engineering would be a profession more like of medicine or law

2. In which ways do law, medicine, and engineering fit the social-contract and business models of
profession?

 Work that involves advanced skills, the use of judgement and practice. Discretion. Also, the work
is not routine and is not capable of being mechanized, guy.
 Requires a wide-ranging formal education, not simply conduct preparations of apprenticeship
 Significant public benefit benefits from the practice of the profession
 The public shall approve special societies or organizations which are member-controlled of the
profession to set the criteria for admission to the profession, principles of conduct for the
members and the implementation of those principles.
 3. The first part of the definition of a profession says that profession involves the use of
sophisticated skills. Do you think that these skills are primarily physical or intellectual skills?
Give examples from professions such as law, medicine, and engineering as well as from non-
professions.
The skills are mostly intellectual skills and analytical skills. Examples would be a lawyer trying to
solve a difficult case where in his client is being accused of something he has not done. There would
be a time where evidences would lead to suspecting the accused but wont match his alibi and vice
versa. Another example would be identifying the type of illness that the patient has provided with the
symptoms that he/she would provide to the physician. While non professions are mostly involved in
non-formal trainings, but by way of practical training and learning. Some of their works are not
mechanized.

4. Read about the space shuttle challenger accident in 1986. (You can find information on this in
magazines, newspapers, or on the internet.) apply an engineering code of ethics to this case. What
guidance might one of the engineering society codes of ethics have given the Thiokol engineers
when faced with a decision to launch? Which specific parts of the code are applied to this
situation? Does a manager who is trained as an engineer still have to adhere to engineering code
of ethics?
-the engineering code of ethics that could be applied to this incident could be:
II. Rules of Practice
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.
Which they failed to uphold, resulting to the deaths of the crew members inside the spacecraft. “Should
the Engineers’ professional judgment be overruled under circumstances where the safety, health, and
welfare of the public are endangered, the Engineers shall inform their clients or employers of the
possible consequences and notify other proper authority of the situation, as may be appropriate.”
Should have been what the Thiokol engineers been guided rather than disregarding the possible threats by
the low temperature of the morning on the date of the launch. Yes, because the people who are involved
trust that your judgement is made with utmost caution and follows the professions code of ethics.

INTEL PENTIUM CHIP:

1. Was this case simply a customer-relations and PR problem, or are there ethical issues to be
considered as well?
There are ethical issues to be considered as well knowing that Intel’s first response to these reports
was to deny that there was any problem with the chip. In this part they failed to avoid all conduct or
practice that deceives the public. They tried to deceive the public by denying the problem at first
while later on admitting that there was a problem but it was insignificant. They even continued to sell
the flawed version until the stocks of the flawed versions were exhausted.
2. Use one of the engineering codes of ethics to analyze this case. Pay special attention to the issues
of accurate representation of engineered products and to safety issues.
“Engineers shall admit and accept their own errors when proven wrong and refrain from
distorting or altering the fact(s) to justify their decisions”
-if the product would have been used for medical use, the engineers who were involved would have to
deal with potential accidents caused by their defective product and financial loss will not be the only
one of their problems.

3. When a product is sold, is there an implication that it will work as advertised? Should you reveal
defects in a product to a consumer? Is the answer to this question different if the defect is a safety
issue rather than simply a flaw? (It might be useful to note in this discussion that although there is
no apparent safety concern for someone using a computer with this flaw, PCs are often used to
control a variety of instruments, such as medical equipment. For such equipment, a flaw might
have a very real safety implication.) is the answer to this question different if the customer is a
bank that uses the computer to calculate interest paid, loan payments, etc. for customers?
-A product that is being sold should mostly work as how it was advertised because the product was
bought by the consumer with that knowledge that it works based on the said advertisement. So, if you
are trying to sell a product and you advertised that it does more than it is capable of doing, then there
would be an ethical issue in this case. If the product would show some defects in the future it is only
proper to reveal it may it be used for medical or economic calculations. It would prove harmful
results for both sides.