INDE 410: Engineering Ethics

3.4 Case study: Engineering dilemmas

Read the following cases and then address the questions below. There is no need to submit
anything but you need to be ready to answer any of the questions in class on Wednesday. So it is
highly advised that you take written notes of your answers.

Case 1:

Mia is an engineer who has her own consulting firm. She also works part-time for the city of
Sanville, helping them make decisions on engineering projects in the city. The city council
recently hired the Josep Company (JC) to design plans for a new road. Mia was not involved in
this decision as she had been traveling for a different project.

As JC begin to work on the project, Mia realizes that their work is not up to the standard that was
expected. It is sloppy work and is not in keeping with the contract that JC had signed. Mia brings
this to the attention of the city council and JC’s contract is terminated. In order to save time and
move on with the project, Mia suggests that her firm could perform the designs. The city council
willingly agrees to this proposal.

Case 2:

Sam is an engineer who worked for the government in a major power plant to better understand
what causes power failure. He worked there for many years before leaving his job. A few years
after leaving, one of the contractors who had been hired to work on that power plant project
contacted Sam. The contractor has filed a lawsuit against the government, claiming that he had not
been paid what he was promised. The contractor would like Sam to serve as an expert witness in
this case so that he can testify that the contracting company did their job correctly. Sam agrees to
the proposal.

Answer the questions for each of the two cases.

1. What is the ethical dilemma? Express it as a value, virtue, or norm conflict.

2. What types of undesirable behavior (conflicts of interest, false witnessing, etc.) do you
see as likely?
3. Use the NSPE code of ethics to determine what the right thing to do is in each case.
Indicate which part of the code you used.