Ethics Engineering Puns

Good day everyone,

I'm an engineering student in my last semester and doing a required course on professionalism. The course is centered around the concept of technological stewardship, essentially that technological development ought to come with conscious effort to make technological development "beneficial for all." While I take issue with the phrase "beneficial for all" which is said constantly, I know the idea they're trying to convey.

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For the purposes of the course, we have been instructed to consider our capstone projects and the ramifications around its continued production in terms of technological stewardship. How does it realize diversity, what deliberate values does it express, what purpose does it seek, etc. One issue I've encountered concerns distribution of the product. Basically, I'm playing with the idea of putting the code and instructions for installation of the product online for free. However, I don't know what the legal and ethical responsibility of the engineer entails here. If someone gets hurt because of a flaw in my design, what responsibility do I bare? What if the design is flawless, but the implementation of the design is poor from the customer? Certainly there could be documents drafted that remove legal responsibility, but every code of ethics I'm aware of entails something about taking responsibility for acting in a manner which promotes safety and the general welfare.

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So my question to you is, what do you feel is your moral / ethical obligation for your designs in this case?

You are the lead of the Aerodynamics team at a small-medium Aerospace company. You guys have a design due soon that is being finalized by the other teams. Today you receive the final documents/plans/specifications from the other team for all the team leads to sign off on. Structures, propulsion, and avionics teams have signed off already, and its just you and one other person left to sign. As you skim through the papers, you realize something is seriously wrong. Upon further examination, your fears are confirmed and you realize this design is incredibly unsafe, is missing certain standards by a significant margin required, and has a high chance of harming something if gone through. You take this concern to another team lead who hasn't signed yet, and he agrees with you on the issue. You take it to your boss who asks you to "just sign it and it and everything will be okay".

What Would You Do? Can you be forced to sign your name to something by your superiors? Are you legally allowed to withhold your signature if you feel it is unsafe/illegal/could kill people due to negligence etc?

I'd imagine similar situations might occur with Civil Engineers signing off on building plans, or various other types of engineers with other things. I look forward to hearing your responses!

Hey everyone!

My name is Donald Soles, and I'm a Ph.D. student in the philosophy department. In Spring of 2022, I will be a teaching assistant in Eden Lin's 'Engineering Ethics' class, and there's a possibility that in the summer of 2022, I will be teaching the class myself (if enough people enroll). Since you probably don't know anything about me, and since many people check this reddit for information about newer instructors, I thought I'd just take some time to tell you about myself so I'm not just a name on Buckeyelink. (I am really hoping that Buckeyelink won't display my middle name, which is Elwood. Oops, I just told you what it was.)

First, I have a law degree from Regent University, and I passed the bar in Virginia when I was 23. Personally, I found legal studies to be uninteresting, so I was fortunate enough to study philosophy at Texas Tech, where I earned an MA in philosophy. I came to Ohio State in 2019, and now I'm mainly interested in epistemology (particularly norms governing inquiry). I've enjoyed my time at Ohio State a lot, and I have greatly benefitted from working with my advisor.

I have a lot of hobbies. For example, I have been learning Russian for a couple of years now. I'm at a point where I still have a hard time reacting in real-time to conversation, but I find that I can read about 80% of the posts I find on the internet. Hopefully, I'll continue to improve with practice. Second, I really enjoy tasting and brewing pourover coffee. Some of my favorite roasters are Red Rooster, Brandywine, Coava, Black & White, and Onyx. My favorite brewing-method is the Hario v60. I also enjoy collecting allocated bourbons (particularly at retail prices). A couple of bottles that I'm hunting right now include EH Taylor Barrel Proof and Stagg Jr. I also really enjoy using credit cards to generate 'free' (or inexpensive) travel. Right now, I am really enjoying my Southwest Business Performance card from Chase. I have a planted aquarium that is a great source of joy/pain. I diffuse CO2 into my aquarium to help the plants grow more quickly. I'll attach a picture of that. Some of my favorite aquarium plants are Staurogyne Repens, Bronze Crypt Wendtii, and Rotala Indica. I enjoy plenty of other things too, such as playing guitar, listening to metal, running (when it's not cold), and investing. Some people tell me that I have too many hobbies, but I find that having a lot of hobbies helps me somehow connect with people more easily, so maybe it's

Engineering Code of Ethics Analysis  One of the most important documents to the Professional Engineers is the Engineering Code of Ethics. This governing document serves as the guid.

Equality and Ethics in the Engineering Profession Engineering is one of the most imperative fields. As members of this occupation, engineers should demonstrate the most noteworthy princ.

Hi, I fear I might piss some people off with this post, but I am lost and I would like some help.

I graduated with a computer since degree in 2019 and I’ve since been working at a big tech company (doesn’t matter which one, but suffice it to say you’ve heard of it). Anyone would kill for this job: it’s good pay, unbeatable benefits, and lots of flexibility. It’s enough to drive anyone to work hard and excel at this job…but not me.

I don’t work all that hard. I really wish I did. I wake up many mornings thinking “I’m going to turn things around, starting today.” But eventually I always….burn out? Give up? At the risk of victimizing myself, I’ll but it this way: I eventually get really lost without a clear goal, and I get frustrated. Once frustrated, I have an even harder time figuring out what to do next, and the feedback loop continues until I say “fuck it,” and walk away.

What are my performance reviews like? They’re good. Last cycle I was told I’m excelling. In meetings with my leads, I get lots of thanks and pats on the back, “attaboys” as I call it. Even so, I’m not on track to get promoted next cycle, even though most people here get promoted out of entry level after this long. Regardless of others’ perceptions, I don’t feel competent or proud. I’ve voice my concerns about my performance, I’ve asked for more negative feedback, I’ve asked for specific things I could be doing better, but I’ve gotten nothing helpful. Their “specific suggestions” are insanely vague to me, and the more I question them, the more abstract they seem. It’s disheartening.

I haven’t had very many jobs in the past. Never worked in retail, barely worked in food service (~30 hrs total in a dining hall). My summer job in HS was lifeguarding and I ended up getting fired from that (no one got hurt, and CERTAINLY no one drowned, but wow I’d rather not delve into this, just trying to be candid). I mention all this because my theory is that other people in my position have more experience with the pain points of jobs, and they’re more adept and wading through the frustration.

Should I stick to this job? Get over myself, grow up, and work harder? Or after two years is it clear I’m never going to figure it out?

Should I find another coding job? I’ve always liked coding, maybe it will be better in a different context. Maybe switching jobs is hasty, and I’d be wiser just to switch teams within the company? An other option would be to find an hourly job to work while I figure out what I

Taking decision is a part and parcel of our life but as clinical engineering is a very sophisticated and complex subject, a clinical engineer takes the very complex decision that can affect the patients along with the hospital’s economy and social issues, so they must follow the codes of ethics to ensure the best decision and performance enhancement.....Read More

I am currently going through the application process for one of Tesla's production facility in Europe. It seems like a huge career option, but I have some doubts.

First I enjoy my current position in a mid sized company as a development engineer, but the financial benefits at tesla are incomparable to my current salary.

Second I would have to leave my home country to work there which scares me a bit.

Third I have experience in automotive battery production and it was the worst job of my life (mainly because of the Asian work culture of the company).

So I would like to ask someone, potentially who works/worked at Tesla about title, so I have a better scope.

At my university every engineering student has to complete and engineering ethics course. It is really just a philosophy course that goes down into some of the ideas presented by Plato and then how each of the ideas can be connected to design decisions. Pretty straight forward, pretty interesting class. However, we have multiple choice quizzes that are a large part of the course grade and I can’t help but see how different answers may be justifiable as to being correct. I do okay on the quizzes but I feel as if I should be doing way better based off the fact that I read through class material and understand the different philosophical ideas. It’s just that the questions seem subjective and I may think about them in a different way than the professor. Shouldn’t we be graded on our ability to provide reasoning for our ways of thinking about the question? Rather than just multiple choice, right or wrong, 1 or 0.

Writing a paper about a case where a radiation therapy machine relied on only the software to ensure safe operation, which caused multiple instances of radiation poisoning when it failed. I'm am to analyze different decisions that could have been made using Kantianism universalization formulation theory. I'm trying to write a maxim that would result in the decision to add a secondary safety system but having difficulty thinking of a good one. I was trying to think of a way to take the idea of "don't put all your eggs in one basket" and word it as a maxim- my professor prefers to have them worded in if-then format. Any advice on how to write a maxim that would result in this outcome would be much appreciated.

I graduated in the 80s, and at that time there were no classes or any training in ethics. While I do get plenty of ethics training at work, I was wondering if engineering programs today offer ethics as a course.

Most of the ethics concerns are typically in terms of bribery, corruption, theft and generally not being a good person. I’m talking about the responsibility to society in general and the environment. Are such courses offered? Or, should they?

Am I asking too much?

I'm a senior engineer (48yo), spent most of my career in software engineering but have ECE degree. In my profession I always considered myself an engineer above everything. Hence please allow me to ask the opinion of the community of fellow engineers on this sub about an ethics dilemma.

I am tasked to do a safety architecture design/ safety impact analysis for a client. However I have only theoretical knowledge on the subject, never dealt with this in practice, nor have sufficient training on the safety design. Since I have always been the "go to person" when a difficult challenge has came, my manager thinks that this is a task that I shall accomplish. I told my manager that I do not feel qualified to do safety related work. Besides being concerned that I would deliver something that is not up to the highest standard, I also think by signing off such documents I would be personally liable for its content (thinking of that engineer at GM who was prosecuted for a safety related design flaw).

I think it would be ethically and morally and possibly legally questionable if I would deliver a safety document for the client in the absence of sufficient knowledge on the safety aspects. I raised this to my manager and his answer was that we shall define the scope of the assignment in a way that it properly defends us from liability. However I do know that the client explicitly wants a safety analysis report from us so defining the scope being ambiguous on what to deliver is again sounds shady.

On the other hand, my dilemma is that I'm 48, working at a company that is in general very supportive and pays well. I could resign, but it is not likely that I would find another job soon that is comparable in terms of benefits and work conditions.I was thinking about something like:

• I deliver a draft safety design and analysis then let my manager review and sign it before it is shipped.
• Going the path that my manager insist to limit the scope to avoid concerns.
• Go ahead and do the assignment, possibly spending 2 or 3 times on the subject what the client pays for and catch up with the related technologies during the timeline of the project.
• Of course I can quit, referring to that I do not feel qualified to do the task. Or just quit without much reasoning.

What would you do? Any other idea that could save this situation?

Update: Thank you all for your help and good advice! It means to me a lot to experience the support of this sub.
I plan to

• make it clear

I was sitting in class a day ago wondering whether or not college truly makes an ethical, experienced engineer and thought about looking up how many ethics violations happen per year in the field. I found cases but no hard statistics and was shocked to find noone asked this question on reddit or quora.

I need help finding out when exactly did the CBSA started screening people's electronic devices on grounds of suspicion at airports etc.

The CBSA website cites Customs Act, section 101, allowing border security to act in such a way where police would need warrants.

The section just gives a general definition:https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-52.6/section-101.html#:~:text=101%20Goods%20that%20have%20been,goods%2C%20and%20any%20regulations%20made

I was wondering when did they start taking into account electronic/digital information? Or How I might find out when legislation started to cover electronic devices.

Edit:
The CBSBA also cited:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/section-140.html#:~:text=140%20(1)%20An%20officer%20may,the%20purposes%20of%20this%20Act.

Scheduling and I have to pick a course for my Professional Ethics GE. Do any of them not have any essays?

I recently transferred to a another university and I want to transfer this credit. My professor never made a syllabus and told me she put all the information for the class on Moodle. I no longer have access to the page and I've asked my professor twice if she can send a letter with the course content instead. She keeps ignoring my emails even after I've said that would work. If anyone has taken this class and has a syllabus, please let me know! It can be from any professor.

It’s only week one and I can tell that I’m going to struggle, I’m a mechanical engineer and this is so far out of my wheelhouse that I may as well be reading Greek. If anyone is good at this stuff and would be willing to help me out I’d much appreciate it.

Hey all!
I understand this is a subjective topic but I've found myself wanting to advocate for ethical innovation more recently.

I'm curious about what your thoughts are regarding people who make/create/design (anything from hardware to applications to even utilizing existing tools) unethical work, and what could be fairly said to them or in general.

What are some leading minds behind this? Leading narratives? etc.

Thanks for your time!

Engineering Code of Ethics Analysis  One of the most important documents to the Professional Engineers is the Engineering Code of Ethics. This governing document serves as the guid.