User:Monica Pramono/Engineering Ethics

Summary - Engineering Ethics[edit]

To summarize, Engineering Ethics is a field of system of moral principles that is connected to the practice of engineering. The purpose is to give information about the background and origins, general principles, case studies, and key individuals. In background and origin, from 18th Century to recent developments. There are a lot of differences from personal to broad professional concern. The general principles includes the responsibilities and obligations such as safety, health, highest ethical, and professional conduct in each engineer. The case studies and key individuals shows a lot of episodes of engineering failure from ethical to technical issues. Moreover, there are conduct for engineers to follow for ethical decisions given such as bribery, conflict of interest, and entertainment. Lastly, whistleblowing is a basic ethical dilemma. Failing to follow directions would cause their license to be revoked.

Bibliography

This is where you will compile the bibliography for your Wikipedia assignment. Please refer to the following resources for help:

• Adding citations
• Evaluating articles and sources

Sources-

"Quebec Bridge Disaster | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.

- Write more about the bridge what happened or how did it start.

"Code of Ethics | National Society of Professional Engineers". www.nspe.org

- There are a lot however, I might put some little descriptions.

"professional-code-of-conduct". www.spe.org.

- The same with the code of conduct, give a little more information.

Research; America, North. "Whistleblowers in Business: Do the Risks Outweigh the Benefits?". Knowledge@Wharton.

- Give more information in Whistleblowers.

Assignment 6[edit]

1. Engineering_ethics

2. What are the key ideas?

      - The key ideas of Engineering Ethics are background and origins, general principles, obligation to society, responsibility of engineers, whistleblowing, conduct, case studies and key individuals.

3. What are the main problems addressed/ identified?

      - The main problems need to be addressed is the introduction, I might have to add some description. With other sections, I might have to add some conduct/responsibilities. Just add a little descriptions in each of the section so, the readers will be able to understand more.

4. Why your chosen topic was worth undertaking?

      - Engineering Ethics article is worth undertaking because I am interested with the subject and that is important. I am also going to contribute from this article, I am already engaged with the lessons that is why I am going to have fun doing this project.

5. What are the technological standpoints?

      - The technological standpoints are in the part of background and origins. The timeline from 18th Century to Recent developments there will be difference in technology and how they build like the bridge or as described in the pictures.

6. What are the ethical standpoints?

      - The ethical standpoints are the principles, responsibilities, and conduct. There are rules for engineers to follow and be ethical towards there work and if not followed, there will be consequences.

7. What are the societal standpoints?

      - The societal standpoints are the whistleblowing, it talks about the engineers and others. Connection to a client or employer failing to follow rules which defined the whistleblower. The article does not have societal standpoints however, the whistleblowing part could be enough to explain a little bit more.

8. Which audience is influenced by the article?

      - Everyone can be influenced. However, the main audience will be the engineers or future engineers that can relate with the article. As I said, everyone can see it and be interested to read it.                               

Assignment 7

In the General Principles section: I will give an example for each principle.

1.     If the client or employer did not give permission to the engineers to reveal any data then, they should not do it unless it is authorized by law.

2.     If Engineers have an assignment or need to do a task, they can only do it if they are qualified to do in their specific field of expertise.

3.     Engineers can only give facts and not opinions when it comes to public matters.

4.     Engineers cannot solicit financial help like money from outside agents who are affiliated to their work. If they do it, they will be held responsible and accountable for it.

5.     Engineers cannot bribe money to employers just to get the contract, they should be able to compete fairly with others.

6.     Engineers should tell if there are conflict of interests that could interfere with the project. Engineers should not hide any conflicts especially about the project that may arise later on and put the company in a bad position.

7.     Engineers should be always professional. They should always follow the laws and codes in their field.

8.     If engineers are getting a job or a project, they should not practice discrimination or prejudice when it comes to the race of a person or its gender. They should base it on the quality of their work.

In the Code of Conduct section: I will give a description and examples.

Engineers should be always following the rules with honor and integrity. They should accept the responsibilities and be able to do their job with all honesty based on facts and not creating any conflicts. Engineers should always perform a good conduct at all times to give the best services to their employers and clients.

Examples:

·      Engineers should understand the consequences of not following the rules which could affect their relationships within the company.

·      Engineers should treat everyone fairly whether it is their employers or clients.

·      Engineers should always be professional. They cannot reveal confidential data unless authorized by their clients or employer.

In Whistleblowing section: Give more information.

Whistleblowing/ Whistleblower is considered corruption and an unethical behavior. Engineers should be always professional and honest to their clients and employers. Engineers should always follow the laws.  Unlawful acts can provoke their license. In cases when Engineers are not familiar with the law, they have an access to a lot of information which can save them from any unlawful actions.

In Quebec Bridge Collapse section: This is one of the developments from the “Turning of the 20^th Century and Turning Point.” I will just give some interesting information about this.

There was one worker who saw the bridge collapsed and inform the boss of the project the bad news. After the bridge got fragmented, it fell to the river and the people thought it was an earthquake. There are seventy-five people who died from this incident but there are survivors as well. It should have been one of the best works of the engineers at that time. But the quality of the materials used was compromised. Cleaning the debris in the river took two years to finish. The engineers might have put profit more than its safety which is oppose to their moral duties.

Assignment 8[edit]

Monica Pramono peer-review C.robinrcbc article

My peer-review:

The introduction is easy to understand, just a definition of Software Engineering. However, I think adding some more information such as the summary because it involves everything.  I feel like you have to introduced each section in the introduction even in short sentence. The introduction should know the importance of the topic and reflect to the most important information. As I said, just put more into it summarizing everything into the lead section. In terms of clear structure, I think its organized and in order, because I was not lost in the article. There are header and subtopics that can easily be found, it is also in chronological order. When the header has the FIELDS the subtopics is actually related to it and not have a missing information.

In my opinion, in each section I think the length is equal in the importance of the article’s subject. However, in the fields section, just put some more information into other fields to make it  more balanced. Because, the field has this 5-6 sentences while, the others have 2-3 sentences. Add some information. I think everything is necessary in the article and everything is related to the topics. I feel like, adding information will be more likely to happen than removing information because the article needs more information. Significant viewpoints and the perspectives are presented. The article is actually just a full on research therefore, there are no point of view by the reader to accept one particular point of view. Because the article is not giving point of views or not being a bias. Therefore, the article is completely about research related to the topics.

Everything is neutral, no bias, it is a research with a lot of resources. There are no positive and negative information because they just give definitions, examples, and give some background in each section. There are a lot of resources which are reliable, there are further reading and external links which helps give more information about the topic, if people wants to read that is connected to the topic, readers can do that which is good. Overall, I think the article is good, it is a C-class so it is an average. The article needs images also, because the article does not have pictures. Therefore, add pictures and information in the sections that needs improvement such as the FIELDS section. Other than that, I think the article is good just need some improvements.

Assignment 9

Based on the synthesis of my own insights.

I will just add more information about the History and Background to give each disaster that happened before, a description to know more about what happened that went wrong.

Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster

In Ashtabula Ohio, just outside the town center. During a snowstorm, the bridge collapsed in 1876. There is two feet of snow and produced 40 miles per hour winds. As the train crossed the bridge, the entire span collapsed, sending eleven railcars and one locomotive into the creek below.  The first locomotive was the only car that did not fall. Because of this disaster there are a lot of people injured and dead out of 159 passengers, there are 98 deaths and 64 injured. The responders were unable to help much due to the storm and the location of the wreck.

Tay Bridge Disaster

Tay Rail Bridge was completed in 1878 to the design of Thomas Bouch. The bridge is two miles long, consisting of 85 spans which is the longest bridge at the time. At a stormy night of December 1879. The central navigation spans of the Tay Bridge collapsed into the Firth of Tay of Dundee, taking with them a train, 6 carriages and 75 souls to their fate. Bouch used lattice girders supported by iron piers with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch.

Boston Molasses Disaster

Steel tank full of Molasses ruptured in 1919, physics and neglect. Contributed to make the accident so horrific, leading to 21 deaths. Steel tank structure was flawed. There were cracks formed because of the rivet holes and stresses were too high. The inadequate thickness and rivet issues were signs of negligence which the engineers knew, and the tank had been quickly built in the winter of 1915. USIA (United Stated Information Agency) ignored all the warning signs including noises every time it was filled.

Assignment 10-15: My Article (Engineering Ethics)

To summarize, Engineering Ethics is a field of system of moral principles that is connected to the practice of engineering. The purpose is to give information about the background and origins, general principles, case studies, and key individuals. In background and origin, from 19th Century to recent developments. There are a lot of differences from personal to broad professional concern. The general principles includes the responsibilities and obligations such as safety, health, highest ethical, and professional conduct in each engineer. The case studies and key individuals shows a lot of episodes of engineering failure from ethical to technical issues. Moreover, there are conduct for engineers to follow for ethical decisions given such as bribery, conflict of interest, and entertainment. Lastly, whistleblowing is a basic ethical dilemma. Failing to follow directions would cause their license to be revoked.

Background and Origins

Up to the 19th Century and concerns

The pieces of the Quebec Bridge after it collapsed in 1907.

During the 19th Century, Engineers considered themselves as technical employees or independent professional practitioners with large companies which created a tension between the engineers and employers of the large companies because of control. Employers want to maintain control with the employees.

There are four founding engineering societies for developments for professionalism to be built.

1. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) - 1851
2. American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) - 1884
3. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) - 1880
4. American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME) - 1871

20th Century and Turning Point

Drawing of the ruins of the collapsed Lake Shore and Southern Michigan Railroad Bridge over the Ashtabula in Ohio during 1877.

When the 20th Century began these are the most memorable bridges that engineers did not successfully build over time with a lot of injuries and death per disaster.

Quebec Bridge Disaster

There was one worker who saw the bridge collapsed and inform the boss of the project the bad news. After the bridge got fragmented, it fell to the river and the people thought it was an earthquake. There are seventy-five people who died from this incident but there are survivors as well. It should have been one of the best works of the engineers at that time. But the quality of the materials used was compromised. Cleaning the debris in the river took two years to finish. The engineers might have put profit more than its safety which is oppose to their moral duties.

Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster

The Tay Bridge after the collapsed with fallen girders.

In Ashtabula Ohio, just outside the town center. During a snowstorm, the bridge collapsed in 1876. There is two feet of snow and produced 40 miles per hour winds. As the train crossed the bridge, the entire span collapsed, sending eleven railcars and one locomotive into the creek below.  The first locomotive was the only car that did not fall. Because of this disaster there are a lot of people injured and dead out of 159 passengers, there are 98 deaths and 64 injured. The responders were unable to help much due to the storm and the location of the wreck.

Tay Bridge Disaster

A tank of molasses ruptured and exploded. An eight foot syrupy brown liquid moved down Commercial Street at a speed of 35 mph.

Tay Rail Bridge was completed in 1878 to the design of Thomas Bouch. The bridge is two miles long, consisting of 85 spans which is the longest bridge at the time. At a stormy night of December 1879. The central navigation spans of the Tay Bridge collapsed into the Firth of Tay of Dundee, taking with them a train, 6 carriages and 75 souls to their fate. Bouch used lattice girders supported by iron piers with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch.

Boston Molasses Disaster

Steel tank full of Molasses ruptured in 1919, physics and neglect. Contributed to make the accident so horrific, leading to 21 deaths. Steel tank structure was flawed. There were cracks formed because of the rivet holes and stresses were too high. The inadequate thickness and rivet issues were signs of negligence which the engineers knew, and the tank had been quickly built in the winter of 1915. USIA (United Stated Information Agency) ignored all the warning signs including noises every time it was filled.

Recent Developments

These bad happenings make it harder for engineers to not make these disaster happen again. Therefore, making sure to promote ethical practice to continue. The organization such as Canadian Iron Ring and American Order of the Engineer to make efforts and swear an oath to uphold ethical principles and wear a symbolic ring as a reminder.

The engineering profession has put a strong emphasis on ethics since the late 1800s. The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) published its Canons of Ethics for Engineers and Rules of Professional Conduct in 1946, which developed into the new Code of Ethics, which was adopted in 1964. While these declarations of general principles acted as a reference, many engineers asked for explanations of how the Canons and Rules applied to unique set of circumstances. The BER was established in 1954 as a result of these requests. While there are no simple solutions in ethics situations, the BER's nearly 650 advisory opinions have helped to clarify the ethical challenges that engineers face on a daily basis.

Companies should use the Anti-Bribery System to establish robust anti-bribery programs. While many major corporations have anti-bribery policies, far too few actually enforce them. Encouraging businesses to use the business principles as a foundation for creating their own anti-bribery programs or benchmarking existing ones. New problems, such as offshoring, sustainable growth, and environmental conservation, have emerged, which the profession must understand and resolve.

General Principles

These are the general principles in the code of ethics. In the engineering societies, there are a lot of different principles and conduct depending on the companies the engineers work on for guidance and prevent themselves from unethical behavior or corruption.

1.     If the client or employer did not give permission to the engineers to reveal any data then, they should not do it unless it is authorized by law.

2.     If Engineers have an assignment or need to do a task, they can only do it if they are qualified to do in their specific field of expertise.

3.     Engineers can only give facts and not opinions when it comes to public matters.

4.     Engineers cannot solicit financial help like money from outside agents who are affiliated to their work. If they do it, they will be held responsible and accountable for it.

5.     Engineers cannot bribe money to employers just to get the contract, they should be able to compete fairly with others.

6.     Engineers should tell if there are conflict of interests that could interfere with the project. Engineers should not hide any conflicts especially about the project that may arise later on and put the company in a bad position.

7.     Engineers should be always professional. They should always follow the laws and codes in their field.

8.     If engineers are getting a job or a project, they should not practice discrimination or prejudice when it comes to the race of a person or its gender. They should base it on the quality of their work.

Conduct

Engineers should be always following the rules with honor and integrity. They should accept the responsibilities and be able to do their job with all honesty based on facts and not creating any conflicts. Engineers should always perform a good conduct at all times to give the best services to their employers and clients.

Examples:

·      Engineers should understand the consequences of not following the rules which could affect their relationships within the company.

·      Engineers should treat everyone fairly whether it is their employers or clients.

·      Engineers should always be professional. They cannot reveal confidential data unless authorized by their clients or employer.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing/ Whistleblower is considered corruption and an unethical behavior. Engineers should be always professional and honest to their clients and employers. Engineers should always follow the laws. Unlawful acts can provoke their license. In cases when Engineers are not familiar with the law, they have an access to a lot of information which can save them from any unlawful actions.

Obligation to society

Engineers should value the welfare and safety of the public. These are the professional engineering organizations with jurisdiction and engineering discipline:

1. Professional Engineers Ontario: "A practitioner shall, regard the practitioner's duty to public welfare as paramount."
2. American Nuclear Society: "ANS members uphold and advance the integrity and honor of their professions by using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare and the environment; being honest and impartial; serving with fidelity the public, their employers, and their clients; and striving to continuously improve the competence and prestige of their various professions."
3. Society of Fire Protection Engineers: "In the practice of their profession, fire protection engineers must maintain and constantly improve their competence and perform under a standard of professional behavior which requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct with balanced regard for the interests of the public, clients, employers, colleagues, and the profession."
4. National Society of Professional Engineers: "Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall: Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public."
5. American Society of Mechanical Engineers: "Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties."

Responsibility of Engineers

Engineers understand that the most valuable asset is their work, and they devote their careers to supporting society by focusing on the welfare and advancement of the majority. Engineers must increase their understanding of the world as the abode of humanity, their faith in the cosmos as a guarantee of overcoming their spirit, and knowledge of actual nature in order to turn nature for the good of mankind. Any paper that is intended to damage the public interest should be rejected by the engineer, preventing a condition that may be unsafe or dangerous to the climate, life, health, or other human rights. Engineers have an unavoidable responsibility to uphold the profession's reputation, ensure its proper discharge, and maintain a professional temperament based on ability, honesty, and integrity.Individual well-being is subordinated to the common good, fortitude, humility, fairness, and justice are valued. Engineers and their employers must ensure that their knowledge, especially of their profession, is constantly improved, that they disseminate their knowledge, that they share their experience, that they provide opportunities for worker education and training, and that they provide recognition. They returned the rewards and opportunities they and their employers earned by providing moral and financial support to the schools where they worked. Engineers are responsible for doing their work effectively and adhering to the rules. They must, in particular, ensure that the law's provisions for worker safety are followed. Engineers are expected to perform their duties as professionals.

Case Studies and Key Individuals

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse in November 1940.

These are the most engineering failures that more involved than technical wrong calculations and failure of the design process or management culture. Not all of the failures involve ethical issues such as Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Mars Polar Lander, and Mars Climate Orbiter are more in technical and design failures.

• Love Canal (1980), Lois Gibbs
• General Motors ignition switch recalls (2014)
• Therac-25 accidents (1985 to 1987)
• Chernobyl disaster (1986)
• Three Mile Island accident (1979)
• Citigroup Center (1978),
• Minamata disease (1908–1973)
• Chevrolet Corvair safety problems (1960s), Ralph Nader, and Unsafe at Any Speed.