Ethics – midterm

Lecture 1
 Course aims at: developing appreciation of engineering ethics in our future
life as engineers.
 Our reference is written by an electrical engineer and a philosopher because
we need different disciplines, where philosopher can be closer to human
minds than engineers. Therefore, they aid each other.
Introduction:
 Engineering profession is a social experiment. That’s why we have to monitor
its impact and account for any possible safety issues.
 Doctors deal with individual patients. Therefore, if they fail, they’ll kill a single
person. On the other hand, engineering projects are directed to communities.
Therefore, if engineers fail, they’re harming/killing a great number of people.
 Engineering inventions affect people’s life, physically and psychologically.
That’s why we should apply engineering ethics.
 Engineering ethics are of a great matter especially in large projects as they’ll
affect a very great number of people. Examples: Airplane crashes waste many
lives, apple vs. FBI, factories emissions, Chernobyl’s accident, …etc.
Confronting nature vs living with environment in harmony:
 Engineering (professional) ethics is related to culture (society).
 Confronting nature: people are trying to challenge mother nature; cutting
trees, digging wells, polluting water, dumping wastes ..etc. Those actions lead
to bad effects on them: climatic changes, lack of resources, spread of diseases.
So, they’re affecting their lives through confronting and challenging nature.
 They should live in harmony with the environment, instead.
 So, instead of thinking we’re the center of the universe, we’ve started to think
that we’re part of the universe.
 We need to protect resources to ensure life’s continuity.
 Examples for results of confronting nature: the global crisis in the amazon.
 Manabe, Hasslemann and Parisi won Nobel prize for a study for humanity’s
role in changing climate.
Engineering’s Creed:
 It’s a code of ethics. The examples in lecture 1 is by an American institution
1954.
 “In humility and with need for divine guidance” : this is a proof that if your
culture/religion has values that stresses sticking to engineering ethics, this
would increase your commitment. This proves that ethics affect (is related
to) society.
Ethical person:
 Being a good person doesn’t mean you’ll apply engineering ethics.
 An ethical person needs to be guided to become and ethical engineer (not
born with it)
 You can apply engineering ethics right away. It’s no related to your
position.
 There are many challenges facing the use of engineer ethics.
 Examples of guidance to be an ethical engineer:
o Talk about protecting the environment with other engineers and give
them examples.
o Apply whistleblowing
o Why people accept risky technologies why accepting others.

Lecture 2
History:
 Engineering ethics is still, younger than medical ethics (Hippocratic oath)
and legal ethics. Because; people thought that a doctor needs to be decent
and polite when dealing with his patients as it’s a one-to-one relationship,
so he needs ethics. They thought a lawyer needs to be respectable as he
deals with his clients face to face. However, they thought of engineering
profession as products and their effects of society, and they didn’t consider
the human drama behind it (no attention was paid to engineers as
humans).
 Since 1970s, engineers and member of scholarly disciplines have paid
attention to it. Engineering ethics has become interdisciplinary discipline
involving: philosophy, law, social science, business and engineering theories
 Interdisciplinary research: researchers transfer knowledge from different
disciplines. Allows researchers to inform each other’s work,compare
findings
Code of Ethics Examples:
 Hippocratic oath: guidelines for how doctors should deal with patients.
 Hammurabi construction code of ethics: it was more like laws for
punishing people who fail in constructions.
 US steamboat code: inspection of safety features of the ship and their
boilers and engines. (arose due to previous accidents due to boiler and
engines issues)
 In 19th and 20th century, engineering organizations began to appear:
o Boston society of civil engineers
o IEEE
o American association of engineers
o NSPE
 In the 20th, many of those organizations started developing codes of
ethics for its members.
Teaching Engineering Ethics:
 Since late 1970s, engineering ethics has been more focused on in
engineering curricula.
 Some programs have included it as elective courses.
 Others have incorporated it as modules.
 Others have included it as a part of technical and society courses.
 Traditional Teaching methods:
o Theoretical Learning: on the basis of moral theories, concepts and
codes of ethics (our course)
o Case-based Approach: views it as encompassing more general
definition of ethics, but applying it specifically to situations.
o Solving Ethical Problems: using hypothetical cases and problem-
solving tools to create ethics construction kits (sometimes used in
term papers).
 o Linking ethical instruction with engineering practice: it’s the best
approach by needs involvement of all lecturers, not just ethics
lecturer. Still, you might discuss it in your technical courses.

ABET accreditation = ‫اعتماد‬: An engineering graduate should have: (summary)

 The ability to apply design theories to produce solutions that meets
specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, welfare, global,
cultural social, environmental, economic factors.
 The ability to communicate effectively
 // // to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering
situations and make informed judgments which must consider the impact
of engineering solution on different aspects.
 // // to function effectively on team whose members together provide
leadership, create collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals,
plan tasks and meet objectives
 // // to acquire and apply new knowledge.
It’s not easy to teach ethics:
 Only 27% of ABET-accredited institutions listed an ethics related course
requirement.
 Professors haven’t agreed on what “understanding ethical and professional
responsibilities” means as they have no shared concepts or ideas.
 However, things are changing.
 Examples for courses:
o Humanitarian Engineering
o Case Studies for engineering ethics across products of life cycle
o Ethics and engineering for safety
o Corporate social responsibility
EXAMPLES FOR APPLICATION OF ENGINEERING ETHICS:
1.Humanitarian Engineering:
  It’s the application of engineering to improve the well-being or
marginalized people & disadvantaged communities, usually developing
countries.
 Humanitarian Engineering focuses on programs that are affordable,
sustainable and based on local resources. (7agat gher mokalefa lel ghalaba)
 Projects are community-driven and cross-disciplinary. They focus on finding
simple solutions to basic needs, SA; access to clean water, reliable
pathways to markets, shelters, adequate heat and sanitation.
 Examples: Hassan Fathy ‫عمارة الفقراء‬
 Principles: ‫ مش حفظ‬.. ‫اعرفيهم بالحب‬
1. Focus on people
2. Relate, listen, ask, corporate and empower
3. Be a professional humanitarian engineer
4. Build technological capacity
5. Ensure long-term positive impact
6. Understand impact from social context
7. Design for sustainability
8. Access outcomes
9. Promote humanity dignity, right, fulfillment
2.Corporate social responsibility (CSR):
 A management concept whereby companies integrate social and
environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with
their stakeholders.
 Y3ny y7otto fe3tebarhom en they should be grateful for people, for society
because homa dol elly bynf3ohom. Fa lazem ye3melolhom khadamat: zy
eda2et shware3, tawzee3 7agat 3l nas, tandeef el mante2a, tawzee3
mena7, building low-income houses for the poor..etc.
Conclusion:
 There are no ethics rulebooks with dos and don’ts. Instead, students learn
to use analytical tools and apply them to experience necessary for judging
the appropriateness of various actions in professional life.

Lecture 3
Profession ‫المهن غير الحرفة‬:
 Special knowledge and skills
 Formal education and graduate degree
 Professional authority, judgment, peer review
 Community sanction, license
 Professional associations. In engineering: AIAA, AIChE, ASCE, ASME, IEEE

Engineering definition: according to ABET

 The profession in which the knowledge of mathematics and natural
sciences gained by study, experience and practice is applied with judgment
to utilize economically the materials and the forces of nature for the
benefit of the mankind.
 Promoting the well-being of the public includes:
a) Not engaging in professionally prohibited actions
b) Preventing harm to the public
c) Actively promoting the public’s well being
Progression of Engineering tasks:
1. Initiation of a task (based on an idea, request, market demand …etc.)
2. Design:
a. Concept, goals, preliminary design.
b. Performance specifications
c. Preliminary analysis
d. Detailed analysis (simulating/prototype)
e. Specifications for material and components
f. Detailed shop drawing
3. Manufacture:
a. Scheduling of tasks
b. Purchasing components and materials
c. Fabrication of parts
d. Assembly and construction
e. Quality control/testing
4. Implementation:
 a. Advertising + Sales and financing + Operating and parts manual.
b. Shipping and installation. Operator training. Provisions for safety
measures and devices. (requires technical writing)
c. Use of the product.
d. Filed service: maintenance, repairs, spare parts (not the last step, be
aware)
e. Monitoring social and environmental effects
f. Reporting findings to parties at possible risk.(usually to designers)
5. Final Task:
a. Geriatric service: rebuilding and recycling (as product might be
getting older)
b. Disposal of materials and wastes
Professionals have special ethical responsibilities:
 They have clients, not customers and Clients must trust them. (long term
relationship).
 Professions serve a public good
 Code of ethics
Possible ethical issues facing engineering tasks:
1. Conceptual Design:
a. blind to new concepts.
b. violation of patents or trade secrets.
c. Design product to be used illegally.
2. Goals:
a. Unrealistic assumptions for performance specifications.
b. Design depends on unavailable or untested materials
3. Preliminary analysis:
a. uneven; overly detailed in designer’s area of expertise, marginal
elsewhere.
4. Detailed Analysis:
a. critical use of handbook data (taking a certain value from it without
accounting for condition for validity of this range, temperature
restriction) and computer programs (momken yeb2a el computer
byghlat 3ady) based on unidentified methodologies.
5. Simulation prototyping:
a. testing of prototype is only done under most favorable conditions or
not completed
6. Design specifications:
a. Too tight for adjustments during manufacture and use.
b. Design changes not carefully checked.
7. Scheduling of tasks: promise of unrealistic completion based on insufficient
data, allowance for unexpected events.
8. Purchasing:
a. specifications written to favor one vendor.
b. Bribes, kickback.
c. Inadequate testing of purchased parts.
9. Fabrication of parts:
a. variable quality of materials and workmanship.
b. Bogus material and equipment aren’t detected.
10.Assembly/construction.
a. Workplace safety.
b. Disregard of repetitive-motion stress on workers.
c. Poor control of toxic wastes
11.Quality control/testing:
a. not independent but controlled by production manager. Hence, tests
rushed or results falsified.
12.Advertising and sales:
a. false advertising (availability, quality, price).
b. Product oversold beyond client’s needs or means.
13.Shipping, installation, training:
a. product is too large to ship by land.
b. Installation and training subcontracted out, inadequately supervised.
14.Safety measures and devices:
a. reliance on overly complex, failure-prone safety devices.
b. Lack of a simple safety exit. (lifeboats)
15.Use:
a. used inappropriately or for illegal applications.
b. Overloaded. Operations manuals not ready.
16.Maintenance, parts, repairs:
 a. inadequate supply of spare parts.
b. Hesitation to recall the product when found to be faulty.
17.Monitoring effect of product: no formal procedure for following life cycle
of product its effect on society and environment.
18.Recycling/disposal: lack of attention to ultimate dismantling, disposal of
product, public notification of hazards.

Causes of Engineering problems:

1. Lack of Vision:
 Group thinking is where people tend to confirm with group decisions in
order not to feel outcast, leads to errors in decision making. It promotes
acceptance at the expense of critical thinking.
 Need to encourage thinking outside the box
 Group thinking is different from shared values.
2. Incompetence: (mafeesh Gadara mafeesh kfa2a)
 How well you study
3. Lack of time or proper material:
 Due to poor management
4. Silo mentality:
 Nobody is communicating inside the company. Aflee n3la nafsena
 Compartmentalized information (need for information sharing)
5. Improper use or disposal of the product
6. Dishonesty and Management pressure for shortcuts:
 What’s your bottom line? (ah yeb2a fe shortcuts 3shan amashy el
omoor, bs lazem yeb2a fe 7dod)
7. Inattention to how the product is performing:
 Need to monitor performance after project completion
Corporate vs individual engineering:
 Focus is shifted from ethical professionals (individuals) to thical
corporations (companies) as corporations play an increasing important
role compared to individuals, where:
  growth of public resources (extensive buildings, mega projects) that only
technological organization could undertake.
 Exploding demand for engineers + Demand for science-and-
mathematics-based training.
Key Engineering Concepts:
1. Competence: engineer is a knowledge expert, you get this from college
2. Responsibility: use knowledge wisely
3. Safety: aware of/sensitive to/strive to avoid harm.
Responsibility:
 Legal responsibility  individual (not our concern)
 Ethical responsibility  shared (our concern .. more important)
Notes:
 Engineering ethics is one of the requirements of accreditation according to
ABET.
 Ethics Education in science and engineering has lagged behind practice
Lecture 4
Why study engineering ethics?
1. Moral Awareness: proficiency in recognizing moral and engineering issues.
2. Convincing Moral Reasoning: comprehending, clarifying and assessing
arguments on opposing sides of moral issues.
3. Moral Coherence: forming consistent and comprehensive point of view
based upon a consideration of relevant facts.
4. Moral Imagination: distinguished alternative responses to moral issues and
receptivity to create solution for practical difficulties
5. Moral Communication: precision in the use of common ethical language, a
skill needed to express and support one’s moral view to other.
Themes of engineering ethics: ‫مفاهيم تميزها‬
1. Engineering projects are social experiments with possibilities and risks.
Engineers share responsibility for creating benefits, preventing harms and
pointing out dangers.
 2. Moral values permeate all aspects of technological development.
(remember 7etet the steps for any engineering product) Therefore, ethics
and excellences in engineering go together. You should be and ethical
engineer, as well as an excellent one.
3. Personal meaning (ma kollo msh shgal, gat 3lya? Ah, damerak!!) and
commitments (your responsibility) matter in engineering ethics along with
principles of responsibility that are stated in codes of ethics and are
incumbent on all engineers.
4. Promoting responsible conduct is even more important than punishing
wrong doings. Ethical concerns are more important than legal concerns.
5. Ethical dilemmas (‫ )معضلة أخالقية‬arise in engineering as elsewhere because
moral values are numerous and can conflict.
6. Engineering ethics should explore both micro and macro-issues, which are
often connected.
7. Technological development warrants cautious optimism.
Cautious Optimism:
 Attitudes about any technology are as follow:
1. Pessimism (feel it’s out of control, negative, hate technology)
2. Optimism (love technology, only good can come from it, solves all
problems)
3. Realism (great but it has its side effects, it can be misused)
4. Contextualism (moral ambiguities, impossible to assess good)
 Cautious optimism is a mix of 2 and 3
 The more we go up the more you are an engineer. The more you go down
the more you are a student.
Basic Definitions:
1. Engineering ethics:
What they are? A set of values, responsibilities and rights that ought to be
endorsed by engineers and also of desirable ideals and personal
commitments in engineering.
What they deal with? An area of inquiry. Study of decisions, policies and
values that are morally desirable in engineering practice and research (they
need to be applied)
 2. Preventive ethics: Ethical reflection and action aimed at preventing moral
harm and avoidable ethical dilemmas. Engineers must be proactive and
predict ethical dilemmas and analyze them. Similar to designing safety
systems, and preventive maintenance programs. ‫مبدأ الوقاية خير من العالج‬
3. Ethical dilemmas: Situations in which moral reasons come into conflict, or
in which the application of moral values is problematic, and it is not
immediately obvious what should be done.
4. Stakeholder theory: Corporations have responsibilities to all groups that
have a vital stake in the corporation, including employees, customers,
dealers, suppliers, local communities, and the general public. Need for
systematic efforts to identify and communicate with stakeholders.
Involving vs. informing. There are external (government, society, suppliers,
customers, creditors, and shareholders) and internal (employees, managers
and owners) stakeholders.
5. Micro ethical issues: in engineering concern the decisions made by
individuals and companies.
6. Macro ethical issues: concern the general direction of technological
developments and collective responsibilities of engineers, engineering
professional societies, and industrial associations. BOTH MACRO AND MIRO
ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT.
Steps in solving ethical dilemma:
1. Moral Clarity: identify the relevant moral values. (Is there something wrong
from the moral point of view?)
2. Conceptual clarity: Clarify key concepts (What are the involved issues?)
3. Informed about the facts: Obtain relevant information (Spend some time
before jumping to solutions)
4. Informed about the options: Consider all genuine options (Would group
thinking help?)
5. Well-reasoned: Make a reasonable decision (Can you justify it to others?)
Right, wrong, better and worse:
 Some ethical dilemmas have solution that are either right (obligatory) or
wrong (forbidden).
  Other dilemmas have more than one permissible solution, some of which
are better or worse than others either in some respects or overall.
 Therefore, usually the question isn’t what should I do. It’s what could I do.
Design Analogy:
 Engineering design is a model for thinking about moral decision making –in
general, not just within engineering.
 Engineering design involves optimization and feedback. (just as moral-
decision making)

 Like design, moral choice involves:

o Alternative permissible solutions to dilemmas

o integrating multiple values

o some clearly unacceptable solutions, uncertainties and ambiguities,

o dynamics processes involving series of problems

 Engineering design does not have only one solution!

Ethics Relativism:
The view that actions are morally right within a particular society when, and only,
because they are approved by law, custom, or other conventions of that society.
It’s not acceptable (a bad concept).

Lecture 5
Code of Ethics:
*A code of ethics document may outline:
 The mission and values of the business or organization
 How professionals are supposed to approach problems
 The ethical principles based on the organization's core values and the
standards to which the professional will be held.
*It’s Not a legal document:
 A professional cannot be arrested for violating its provisions
 Violating the code of ethics may result in expulsion from a professional
society (such as NSPE or ASME): Expulsion from a society generally will not
result in an inability to practice engineering but It affects the ethical image.
*It does not create new moral and ethical principles: These principles are rooted
in centuries of societal and human interactions.
*A code of ethics isn’t something you post on the bulletin, it’s something you live
with every day.
*Different codes serve different purposes (aspirational – educational – decision
support)
*Importance of code of ethics:
1. Serving and protecting the public
2. Providing guidance
3. Offering inspiration
4. Establishing shared standards
5. Contributing to education
6. Deterring wrong doings
7. Strengthening of profession’s image
ABET code of ethics:
‫ غير كدة هيبقى غلط‬,‫ المهندس حلو وبيعمل كل حاجة حلوة‬:‫ملخص‬.
Limitations of codes of ethics:
 Codes of ethics differ, why? Because in every field, certain ethical issues
matter more than others.
 Codes contain certain areas of vagueness
 Possible internal conflict among entries
 Possible conflicts among different codes in engineering.
 Codes Develop with time.
 Old ASCE defined that the engineer is faithful agent or trustee of employing
company. This was changed later.
Students’ code of ethics:
The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has adopted a Student Code of
Ethics to promote professional behaviour and academic integrity so as to provide
an effective learning environment and to prepare graduates for careers as
professionals: ‫ الطالب الزم يبقى حلو‬.. #‫بالحب برضو‬
 A study has shown that code of ethics in universities were effective in
preventing students from cheating (or at least decreasing their amount)

Lecture 6
Experimentation in Engineering:
 Normal engineering design process is iterative, carried out on trial designs
with modifications being made on basis of feedback information acquired
from tests. This is applied in: Preliminary tests or simulations + Production
stage
 We should enlarge concept to consider engineering as an experiment on a
social scale involving human subjects:
Similarity between engineering projects and social experiments:
1. Carried out in partial ignorance: Many uncertainties (design, materials,
nature of stresses…). Engineer’s talent lies precisely in ability to accomplish
tasks safely with only partial knowledge of scientific laws about nature and
society. (educated guess is a trait in engineers, based on knowledge and
experience)
2. Have uncertain outcomes
3. Required monitoring and feedback: not only within house (ely howa el
factory benesbalna) but monitoring client’s use.

Learning from the past:

 Engineers should learn from their own earlier design and operating results
as well as from those of other engineers. Needed (Knowledge
management, review reports, lessons learned, etc.…)
 It is not enough for engineers to rely on handbooks and computer
programs without knowing the limits of the tables and algorithms
underlying their favorite tools
  Engineers need to visit shop floors and construction sites to learn from
workers and testers how well the customers’ wishes were met (learn
practical experience).
 Engineering demands practitioners who remain alert and well informed at
every stage of a project’s history and who exchange ideas freely with
colleagues in related departments.
 To be an alert engineer, this requires a questioning attitude (important for
safety): individuals avoid complacency & continually challenge existing
conditions/activities in order to identify discrepancies that might result in
error/inappropriate action.

Knowledge Management:
 Conscious process of defining, retaining, structuring, sharing the knowledge
and experience of employees with organization.
 Main goal: improve company’s efficiency and same knowledge within
company.
 Knowledge management can be formed from lessons learnt from past
projects or accidents.
 Lessons learnt isn’t final step during a process. It’s a temporary step along
the way to the process or to a process improvement.
 New task  activity  review and analyze  therefore new lessons learnt
 validate, take action, update  use improved practices new task
project … and so on.
Primary Causes of Engineering Disasters
 Human factors:
o Including both 'ethical' failure and accidents
 Design flaws:
o Many of which are also the result of unethical practices
 Materials failures:
o Material is the queen of technology
 Extreme conditions or environments:
o Need for modeling and predictions
 Combinations of these reasons

Human Factors:
  Ignorance
 Forgetfulness
 Underestimation of influence ( ‫)االستهانة‬
 Insufficient knowledge
 Relying upon others without sufficient control.

Contrast between engineering projects and standard experiments:

1. Engineering is a natural experiments (on a social scale) using human

subjects Therefore, be careful .. Human are not lab rats.
2. Engineering is not an experiment conducted solely in a laboratory under
controlled conditions
3. Informed consent: ( ‫)موافقة الجمهور‬
 Should be the keystone in the interaction between engineers and the
public (lay public) (should take local approval when building sth for
instance)
 Conditions for informed consent:
i. Consent was given voluntarily (you’re not obliged to give the
agreement)
ii. Consent based on information that rational person would want
together with any information requested, presented to them
in understandable form. (mabnya 3la ma3lomat ray7a le 7ad
3aklany hyfhamha .. lw talab info zyada adehalo).
iii. Consenter was competent to process the information and
make rational decisions (msh 3ayel soghyar msln)
iv. Information has been widely disseminated (matkonsh ser we
sa7e7a .. information should be public)
v. The subject's consent was offered by in proxy by a group that
collectively represents many subjects of like interests,
concerns, and exposure to risk. (don’t focus on a certain group
people to get their approval, no you should take samples from
all affected people)
4. Engineering projects are not necessarily designed to produce very much
knowledge: (the project is offering a service and we don’t care about the
information we get from it)
  Not an important issue since we are concerned with the manner in
which the experiment is conducted (Not the information we get from
the product, i.e., the project):
o Valid consent of human subjects is sought
o Safety measures are taken
o Means exist for terminating the experiment at any time and
providing all participants a safe exit.
NB: Engineering projects face similar challenges: Speedy application vs.
assessment of long-term effects -This poses ethical dilemmas

BOEING CRASH:

Top airlines around the world must pay handsomely to have the jets they
order fitted with customized add-ons. Sometimes these optional features
involve aesthetics or comfort, like premium seating, fancy lighting or extra
bathrooms. But other features involve communication, navigation or
safety systems, and are more fundamental to the plane’s operations.
Many airlines, especially low-cost carriers like Indonesia’s Lion Air, have
opted not to buy them—and regulators don’t require them. Moseeeeba.
Engineer as intelligent customer:
Engineer should be an intelligent customer whenever involved in tech-acquisition.
Definition according to IAEA:
•“As an intelligent customer, the management of the facility should know:
(1) what is required (4) should supervise the work
(2) should fully understand the need (5) should technically review the
for a contractor’s services output before, during and after
(3) should specify requirements implementation.

The concept of intelligent customer relates to the attributes of an organization

rather than the capabilities of individual post holders” (Intelligent organization
NOT just individuals)
•This may be applied for any engineering field not just the nuclear field).

Technology acquisition( ‫)شراء|استحواذ لصالح الشركة|الدولة الخاص بك‬: roles:

•Technology supplier companies should make important safety features as basic
parts of their products (not as accessories)

•Engineers (as technology customers) should be intelligent enough to get the

important safety features of the products they are acquiring

•Regulators: should oversee the engineering companies they are regulating to

ensure they are applying important safety features.