Engineering Ethics

Introduction

Emeritus Prof. G.P. Rangaiah

Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering @ NUS

Dr. GP Rangaiah
 Introduction

Contents of Introduction
➢ Engineering Design Scenario

➢ Engineering Ethics: What and Why Study

➢ Ethical versus Design Problems in Engineering

➢ Module Syllabus and Schedule

➢ Module Learning Outcomes

➢ Resources and Assessment

Dr. GP Rangaiah 2
 Introduction

Learning Outcomes (of Introduction)

✓ Describe engineering ethics and importance of its

study

✓ Differentiate personal ethics and professional ethics

✓ Outline similarities/differences between engineering

design and engineering ethics

✓ Explain syllabus and assessment of this course

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 Engineering Design Scenario
➢ Scenario: Some engineers are designing a
consumer product, power plant, process plant or
structure etc.
➢ They identify risk of accident(s) in the future from
the implementation/use of their design.
➢ Any changes in design lead to delays, profitability,
market share etc. of the company.

➢ First Question: Does design satisfy regulatory and

legal requirements?
➢ Second Question: Does design satisfy accepted
engineering standards?

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 Engineering Design Scenario
➢ Assume design satisfies regulatory requirements
and also accepted engineering standards.
However, there is still some risk of accidents.

➢ What should the engineers do?

➢ What should the engineers do in case their design

proceeds without addressing the identified risk?

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 Engineering Design Scenario
➢ What should managers (decision makers) do?

➢ What should managers do in case the design

proceeds without addressing the identified risk?

❖ Above scenario similar to Ford Pinto case (at

the beginning of Chapter 1 in the book by
Fleddermann)

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 Engineering Design Scenario

➢ Moral Dilemma
▪ Dilemma: A situation in which a difficult choice
has to be made between two or more alternatives

▪ Moral: Concerned with the principles of right and

wrong behaviour

▪ Alternatives have different impact on Economics,

Safety, Environment, Organization, People,
Individual etc.

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 What is Engineering Ethics?

❑ Ethics

▪ Dictionary Meaning: Moral principles that govern a

person’s behaviour or conducting an activity

▪ Ethics is concerned with what is good for

individuals and society (i.e., moral philosophy)

▪ Ethics is the philosophical study of Morality

• Morality meaning: principles concerning the distinction
between right and wrong (or good and bad) behaviour

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 What is Engineering Ethics?

Personal Ethics: Deals

with how we treat others in
day-to-day lives

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 What is Engineering Ethics?

❑ Professional Ethics

▪ Professional or Engineering or Business Ethics

▪ Concerned with moral issues faced in the profession

or engineering or business or workplace

▪ Involves choices in the workplace, which impact the

organization, society, environment and/or self

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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

▪ Notorious cases and extensive publicity

▪ Far-reaching impact of Engineering on the society

▪ Increased sense of professional responsibility

▪ Major corporations have “Ethics Office” or related
policies

▪ Browse http://www.nus.edu.sg/opc/compliance
• University staff members are expected to adhere to the
Code of Conduct based on three fundamental principles:
(a) Personal Integrity, (b) Respect for People and (c)
Respect for the law and University governance

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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

▪ Accreditation by Engineering Accreditation Board

(EAB), Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES)

▪ Student Learning Outcomes (Graduate Attributes):

1) Engineering Knowledge
2) Problem Analysis
3) Design/development of Solutions
4) Investigation
5) Modern Tool Usage Which of these are
6) The Engineer and Society relevant to
7) Environment and Sustainability Engineering Ethics?
8) Ethics
9) Individual and Team Work
10) Communication
11) Project Management
12) Life-long Learning
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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?
6. The Engineer and Society: Apply reasoning
informed by the contextual knowledge to assess
societal, health, safety, legal, and cultural issues and
the consequent responsibilities relevant to the
professional engineering practice.
7. Environment and Sustainability: Understand the
impact of the professional engineering solutions in
societal and environmental contexts, and
demonstrate the knowledge of and need for the
sustainable development.
8. Ethics: Apply ethical principles and commit to
professional ethics and responsibilities, and norms of
the engineering practice.
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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

❑ Ethical Problems in Engineering

▪ Moral dilemmas in engineering practice

▪ Complex situations

▪ Trade-offs (e.g., between cost vs. safety)

▪ Involve conflicting ethical principles

▪ Significant impact on society, environment, company

and/or engineer(s) involved

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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

❑ This course does not teach ethics or morals.

▪ Learners are adults with their own moral values.
❑ Objective of this course is to make learners aware of
(a) important ethical issues possible in engineering
work and (b) how to resolve them.

❑ Empower learners with ‘moral autonomy’:

1. Ability to think critically and independently about moral
issues and
2. To apply this moral thinking to situations that arise in the
professional engineering practice

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 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

❑ Related Issues

▪ Ethics and Religion (How many religions are practised in

Singapore? Browse iro.sg)

▪ Ethics and Legal Requirements

▪ Ethics and Accepted Practices/Standards

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 Why Study Engineering Ethics

Accident: Space shuttle Challenger was launched in freezing

cold weather on 28th January 1986. During the launch, an O-
ring on a solid-propellant booster became more brittle by the
cold. It failed and led to an explosion soon after lift-off.
Background: Engineers, who had designed this booster, had
concerns about launching under extremely cold conditions
and recommended that the launch be delayed. But, they were
overruled by their management (some of whom were trained
as engineers), who didn’t feel that there were enough data to
support a delay in the launch. The shuttle was launched,
resulting in the well-documented accident.
Question: In the above Challenger accident, are there any
ethical issues (moral dilemmas) related to engineering
practice? If yes, state one of them.
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 Ethical versus Design Problems in Engineering

Two types of problems

❑ Is the method of solving them different?

▪ Different Principles or Theories Any other
differences?
▪ No Equations versus Many Equations
▪ Qualitative Analysis versus Quantitative Analysis
❑ Is the method of solving them Similar?
▪ Systematic Analysis
▪ Understand Problem and Collect Relevant Data
▪ Uncertainty Any other
▪ Multiple Solutions similarities?

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 Module Syllabus and Schedule

1. Introduction
2. Profession, Code of Ethics and PE Act
3. Ethical Theories and their Application
4. Ethical Problem Solving Techniques
5. Risk, Safety, Accidents and WSH Act
6. International Engineering Professionalism
7. Sustainable Development and Climate Change
8. Ethics of Transportation and Public Projects
9. Robotics, Automation, AI and Big Data
10. Tech Start-ups
11. Moral Dilemmas and Whistleblowing

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 Module Syllabus and Schedule

❑ Lecture/Discussion Sessions: 10
▪ 5 Sessions by Dr. GP Rangaiah
▪ 5 Sessions by Dr. W.T. Chan

❑ Plan for Each Session

▪ Lecture for  120 minutes
▪ Discussion and Polls for  70 minutes
▪ Suitable break(s)  20 minutes

❑ Lecturers’ Expectations from Learners

▪ Attention during the lectures
▪ Learn through active participation during the Discussion
▪ Note-book to write pointers from the explanation and during
the discussion
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 Module Syllabus and Schedule

❑ Project, Presentations and Report

▪ One Major Project

▪ Project scope, number of students in each team etc.

will be provided separately.

▪ Interim Presentations in early June

▪ Final Presentations in early July

▪ Report Submission in early July

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 Time-Table

Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1 12 May
Makeup on 21st May
2 Holiday 19 May
(Sat) at 9.30 am
3 26 May
4 30 May 2 June (P) 3 June (P)
5 9June
6 13 June 16 June
7 23 June
8 27 June 30 June (P) 1 July (P)
9 Reading Week Reading Week Reading
12 July
10
(Exam)

P – Project Presentations by Students

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 Module Learning Outcomes

After completing this module, the learner will be

able to:
1. Recognize ethical issues in engineering practice
2. Outline code of ethics of engineering professionals
3. Describe ethical theories
4. Analyze and resolve ethical problems (moral
dilemmas) in engineering practice
5. Explain conflicting issues in ethical problems (e.g.,
economics, safety, sustainability, corruption, bribery,
gift, copyright, confidential data and whistleblowing)

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 Module Learning Outcomes

Students’ Feedback on the Module

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 Module Learning Outcomes
Students’ Feedback on the Module

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 Module Learning Outcomes
Students’ Feedback
Comments of Lee Weihan, Darren (August 2020)
Frequently, many people think of ethics as an afterthought or
something to be considered only if feasible, but as the content in
the module has shown, it should not be the case. From
environmental disasters to civil infrastructure mismanagement and
ethical AI dilemmas, it can be seen that ethics should be placed
first and foremost in business and engineering planning.
I personally enjoyed the section on ethical decision making, which
could possibly be reflected in mask wearing in the US (i.e. different
approaches, right/duty/virtue produce different outcomes), and the
AI topics about data spying by big tech (Pokemon Go), and AI deep
fakes (something to keep in mind as the US is about to enter polls).

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 Resources and Assessment

❑ Resources

▪ Lecture Slides and Recordings

▪ Text-book: Engineering Ethics by C.B.

Fleddermann, 4th Edition (2014)

▪ Supplementary Book: Engineering

Ethics: Concepts and Cases by C.E.
Harris Jr., M.S. Pritchard and M.J.
Rabins, 4th Edition (2013)

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 Resources and Assessment

❑ Assessment

❑ Project (50%)
▪ Interim Presentation (10%)
▪ Final Presentation 15%
▪ Report (25%)

❑ Final Examination (50%)

▪ Questions covering all topics
▪ All questions to be answered
▪ Open book and internet

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 Introduction

Contents of Introduction
➢ Engineering Design Scenario

➢ Engineering Ethics: What and Why Study

➢ Ethical versus Design Problems in Engineering

➢ Module Syllabus and Schedule

➢ Module Learning Outcomes

➢ Resources and Assessment

Dr. GP Rangaiah 29
 Introduction

❑ Suggestions for Self-Study

1. Read Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia

accidents (Section 1.8 in Fleddermann’ book)

2. Attempt Problems 1.1 and 1.2 in the book by

Fleddermann

3. Attempt Problems 1.14, 1.15 and 1.16 related to

Space Shuttle Columbia in Fleddermann’s book.

http://www.fairplayinternational.org/honesty-of-the-long-
distance-runner
http://www.fairplayinternational.org/home
Dr. GP Rangaiah 30
 Challenger Accident

Accident: Space shuttle Challenger was launched in freezing

cold weather on 28th January 1986. During the launch, an O-
ring on a solid-propellant booster became more brittle by the
cold. It failed and led to an explosion soon after lift-off.
Background: Engineers, who had designed this booster, had
concerns about launching under extremely cold conditions
and recommended that the launch be delayed. But, they were
overruled by their management (some of whom were trained
as engineers), who didn’t feel that there were enough data to
support a delay in the launch. The shuttle was launched,
resulting in the well-documented accident.
Question: In the above Challenger accident, are there any
ethical issues (moral dilemmas) related to engineering
practice? If yes, state one of them.
Dr. GP Rangaiah 31
 Challenger Accident
❑ Ethical Questions or Moral Dilemmas in
Challenger Accident
1. Proceed with or postpone the launch of Challenger
2. Should the managers/engineers inform astronauts
on the increased risk due to cold weather?
3. Is the action of design engineers (recommendation
of postpone the launch) sufficient? Should they
have done more?
4. Is the design related to O-ring proper? Does it follow
accepted engineering practices?
5. There may be more questions with more knowledge
▪ Background and details of the accident
▪ Engineering Ethics
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 Copying in an Assessment
❑ A student X copies in an assessment for better
performance.
❑ Is copying ethical?

❑ Copying by X puts other students at a disadvantage.

❑ Copying makes assessment unfair and questionable.

❑ If copying by X is permitted, all students should be

allowed to copy.
▪ Universalizability

❑ Copying affects the quality of graduates (i.e., products

of the Institution) and hence Institution’s reputation
(including all its graduates).
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 Copying in an Assessment
❑ If you are aware of copying by X, should you inform
the instructor?
▪ Whistleblowing
❑ Will the answer to the above depend on whether X is
your friend or stranger or foe?
❑ Do you have (moral) duty to inform the instructor?
▪ Ethical Theories
❑ If the instructor finds copying by X, should s/he ignore
or report copying case to her/his boss for action?
▪ Conflicts and Moral Dilemma
❑ Should answer to the previous question depend on
whether student X is someone special to instructor?
❑ Similar questions for the boss?

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