Download Register No. SNS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Kurumbapalayam

Register No.
SNS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Kurumbapalayam(Po), Coimbatore – 641 107
Accredited by NAAC-UGC with ‘A’ Grade
Approved by AICTE & Affiliated to Anna University, Chennai
INTERNAL ASSESMENT EXAMINATIONS - II
COURSE: B.E – CSE
GE6075 - PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
Sem &Class: VIII Sem CSE
Duration: 2 Hours
Date: 8 March 2017
Maximum: 66 Marks
Answer ALL questions
1.
Define profession
 The "practice of professional engineering" means any act of planning, designing, composing,
evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising that requires the application of
engineering principles.
 Establishing one definition of what constitutes the practice of professional engineering
promotes a common standard, provides clarity for the public, applicants , registrants,
engineering organizations, and the engineering regulatory bodies.
 A single national definition of the practice of professional engineering is fundamental,
especially for defining experience requirements and as the basis for uniform enforcement
actions.
2.
List the characteristics of profession
 Engineers should be naturally curious about life.
 They should be constantly examining their surroundings.
 Creativity is important because it allows the engineer to think outside the box for ideas and
solutions.
 Problem-solving skills are essential because engineers solve problems for a living.
3.
Write a note on ethical pluralism
Ethical pluralism is the idea that there are many theories about what is “right” and “wrong” (moral
norms) which may be incompatible and/or incommensurable with your own personal moral norms.
International engagement involves working within other societies where you are likely to be faced with
different norms. Deciding when it is appropriate to act under one norm or another requires careful
consideration.
4.
Differentiate self respect and self esteem


Self esteem is being confident with yourself.
Self respect is knowing what your value is and when to walk away from a negative situation
that's trying to shatter you.
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5.
Sketch the flowchart for design.
6.
What is meant by Conscientiousness?
It means commitment to life according to certain values. It implies consciousness. The primary
duty of responsible engineers is to protect the safety of human subjects and respect their right of
consent.
It means commitment to life according to certain values. It implies consciousness. The primary
duty of responsible engineers is to protect the safety of human subjects and respect their right of
consent.
7.
List the models of professional roles
•Engineers as Saviors
•Engineers as Guardians
•Engineers as Bureaucratic servants
•Engineers as Social servants
•Engineers as Social enablers and catalysts
•Engineers as Game players
8.
What are all the aspects of Industrial standards?
Planning – How industry responds to customer wants and expectations
Management – How industry organizes, communicates, and develops policies and procedures
Finance – How industry handles fiscal responsibilities
Technical and Production Skills – How industry solves problems and maximizes efficiency
Underlying Principles of Technology – How industry utilizes technology and what skills are required
Labor – How industry selects and provides training for their workforce
Community – How industry contributes to the community and fosters positive community
relationships
Health, Safety, and Environment – How industry provides an environmentally safe workplace
9.
What is meant by valid consent?
The patient must be competent – mental capacity is decision-specific. Assessment of a person's
capacity should be based on his/her ability to understand, retain and weigh in the balance the
information relevant to a particular decision. The person must also be able to communicate the
decision
1.
(a)
Explain Ethical Theories about right action in detail.
The different types of ethical theories are:
1.Virtue ethics theory
2.Right ethics theory
3.Duty ethics theory
4.Utilitarianism theory
(1)Theories About Virtues:
Basically virtue ethics is about determining what kind of people we should be. In virtue ethics
one’s situation and actions are considered, right if he holds good character traits and wrong if he
hold bad character traits. Thus, virtue ethics is closely related to personal character.
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The two basic old-good theories about virtues are:
i)Aristotle’s theory of the “Golden Mean”
ii)MacIntyre’s theory of virtue
(2)Theory of Rights Ethics:
The rights ethicists emphasize that any action that violates any moral right is considered as
ethically unacceptable. This theory holds that those actions are good that respect the rights of the
individual.
In other words, right ethics holds that people have fundamental rights that other people have a
duty to respect. Two versions of rights ethics are:
i)Locke’s version of rights ethics
ii)Meldon’s version of right ethics
(3)Theory of Duty Ethics: (Respect for Persons)
Duty ethics states that there are moral duties such as being honest, being fair to others etc. that
should be formed regardless of whether these acts lead to the most good. Two versions of duty
ethics are:
i)Kant’s theory of duty ethics
ii)John Kant’s modern theory of duty ethics
(4)Theory of Utilitarianism:
Utilitarianism seeks to produce the most utility. Utilitarianism holds that those actions are right
that produce the most good for the most people.
Different Version of Utilitarianism:
i.Act Utilitarianism
The Act utilitarianism concept was developed by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). The act
utilitarianism focuses on individual actions rather than on general rules.
It is understood that most of the common rules of morality such as don’t lie, don’t steal, be
honest, don’t harm others, keep promises etc. are good guidelines to judge a human being.
But according to Mill, a person’s actions should be judged based on whether the greatest good
was achieved in a given situation. He also emphasized that even the general rules should be
broken, if necessary to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Mills View About ‘Goodness’:
As we know, the standard of right action is maximizing goodness. According to Mill, the term
‘goodness’ represents two things.
1.Intrinsic Good: Intrinsic good is same-thing good in and of itself or desirable for its own safe.
He felt that happiness is the only intrinsic good.
2.Instrumental Goods: Instrumental goods are other good things that provide means for
happiness.
In Mills view, the pleasures derived through intellectual inquiry, creative accomplishment,
appreciation of beauty, friendship and love are inherently better than the bodily pleasures derived
from eating, sex and exercise.
ii.Rule Utilitarianism:
Rule utilitarianism differs from act utilitarianism in owning that moral rules are more important
than an individual action. Richard Brandt proposed this version of utilitarianism.
According to Brandt, though sticking to general moral rules such as don’t lie, don’t steel, be
honest, don’t harm others, etc. might not always maximize good in a particular situation, overall
sticking to moral rules will ultimately guide to the most good. In Brandt’s view, the rules should
be considered in sets known as moral codes. The moral codes are justified only when they
maximize the public good.
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(b) i) Describe the various models of professional roles.
(a)Engineers as Saviors
It is believed that engineers hold the key for any improvements in society through technological
developments. Thus people consider engineers as a savior, because they redeem society from
poverty, inefficiency, waste and the hardship drudgery of manual labour.
(b)Engineers as Guardians
Engineers know the direction in which technology should develop and the speed of which it
should move. Thus many people agree the role of engineers as guardians, as engineers guard the
best interests of society.
(c)Engineers as Bureaucratic Servants
The engineers role in the management is to be the servant who receives and translates the
directives of management into solid accomplishments. Thus, the engineers act as a bureaucratic
servants. (i.e.,) Loyal organization person, while solving problems assigned by management,
within his limitations set by the management.
(d)Engineer as Social Servants
As we know, engineers have to play the role of social servants to receive society’s directives and
to satisfy society’s desires.
(e)Engineer as social enablers and catalyst
Besides merely practicing the management's directives, the engineers have to play a role of
creating a better society. Also they should act as catalysts for making social changes.
(f)Engineer as Game Players
In actual practice, engineers are neither servant nor masters for anyone. In fact, they play the
economic game rules, which may be effective at a given time.
ii) Explain accountability in a brief.
Accountability is one characteristic that is present every time success is realized on a big
engineering project or any project undertaking. Think about the major goals you’ve accomplished
in your personal life and your engineering career. University work entails accountability – exams,
papers or projects, and semester grades. With the F.E. or P.E. exams, it’s the pre-tests and then
the actual exam itself. In working on engineering projects, we find project schedules, work
breakdown structures, and stakeholder milestone update reports.
In our professional endeavors accountability exists to ensure that standards are being maintained
and that work is being accomplished according to an agreed upon timeline.
2.
(a)
i) Illustrate about a balanced outlook on law.
A Balanced Outlook on Law emphasis the necessity of law and regulation and their limitations in
governing engineering practice. In order to live, work and play together in harmony as a society,
there must be a balance between individual needs and desires against collective needs and
desires. Only ethical conduct can provide such balance. So, the codes must be enforced with the
help of laws. One of the Example is as follows:
Babylon’s Building Code: (1758 B.C.)
This code was made by Hammurabi, king of Babylon. He formed a code for builders of his time
and all the builders were forced to follow the code by law.
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“If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound and the house which he
has built was fallen down and so caused the death of the householder, that builder shall be put to
death. If it causes the death of the house holder’s son, they shall put that builder’s son to death. If
it causes the death of the house holder’s slave, he shall give slave to the householder. If it destroys
property he shall replace anything it has destroyed, he shall rebuild the house which has fallen
down from his own property. If a builder has built a house for a man and does not make his work
perfect and the wall bulges, that builder shall put that wall into sound condition at his own cost”
(b) Justify Engineering Projects vs Standard Experiments.
Features of Engineering Experimentation:
(i)Design calculations.
(ii)Exact properties of raw materials used.
(iii)Consistancy of materials processing and fabrication.
(iv)Nature of working of final product.
Here let us see the reason for engineering projects viewed as experiments
i.There are many aspects of engineering that makes it appropriate to view engineering projects as
experiments. The three important aspects are as follows:
•Engineering projects, like the standard experiments are carried out in partial uncertainties.
•The final outcomes of engineering projects are also generally uncertain like those of other
experiments.
For example, a nuclear reactor may reveal unexpected problems that endanger the surrounding
people, some products such as high heels shoes, chapels, cosmetic items may cause some side
effects to the users and who knows, the users of cell phone may be exposed to some unidentified
harms in future.
•Similar to standard experiments, engineering experiments also require thorough knowledge
about the products at the Pre-production and post-production stages.
Thus, engineering like any other experimentation requires constant monitoring, alertness and
vigil on the part of the engineers at every stage of the project.
Contrasts with standard experiments:
Engineering experiments differ from standard experiments.
1.Experimental Control
•Experimental control is the most important difference between engineering and other standard
experiments.
•In standard experiments, experimental control involves selecting members for two different
groups randomly.
•In engineering experiments, usually there is no control groups. Sometimes the control group is
used only when the project is limited to lab-orating experimentation.
2.Informed Consent
It is known that, there is always a strong human interface in the use of the engineering
experiments, results and also the beneficiaries are invariably humans. Therefore, engineering
experiments are also viewed as a part with medical experiments as both experiments are
performed by humans.
Informed consent consists of two main elevator.
(1)Knowledge: The human subject (the person who participate in experiments) should be given
all the information to make a reasonable decision.
(2)Voluntarism: The human subjects should show their willingness to be a human model
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voluntarily.
3.
(a)
Discuss Codes of ethics in detail with example.
The primary aspect of codes of ethics is to provide the basic frame work for ethical judgment.
They are referred as codes of conduct agreed up standards for professional conduct.
The codes of ethics express the ethical principles and standards in a coherent, comprehensive and
accessible manner. It defines the roles and responsibilities of profession. It helps the professional
to apply moral and ethical principles to specific situations.
These codes are based on:
1. Principle of ethics-integrity
2. Competence
3. Individual responsibilities
4. Professional responsibilities
5. Human concerns
Proposals for Promoting Ethics:
•Engineering societies should act as the form for debating what should be in a professional code
of ethics.
•By establishing awards for engineers who exhibit commendable ethical conduct.
•By assisting and protecting engineers who have been discharged.
•Engineering societies can establish ‘ethics helplines’.
•By helping to educate the public about new technologies.
•Engineering societies can also promote the discussion and understanding of engineering ethics
by depicting in the application of their codes.
(b) Illustrate the case study on disaster happened in Space Shuttle - Challenger.
The orbiter of the Challenger had three main engines fuelled by liquid hydrogen. The fuel was
carried in an external fuel tank which was jettisoned when empty. During lift-off, the main engines
fire for about nine minutes, although initially the thrust was provided by the two booster rockets.
These booster rockets are of the solid fuel type, each burning a million pound load of aluminum,
potassium chloride, and iron oxide.
The casing of each booster rocket is about 150 feet long and 12 feet in diameter. This consists of
cylindrical segments that are assembled at the launch site. There are four-field joints and they use
seals consisting of pairs of O-rings made of vulcanized rubber. The O-rings work with a putty
barrier made of zinc chromate.
The engineers were employed with Rockwell International (manufacturers for the orbiter and
main rocket), Morton-Thiokol (maker of booster rockets), and they worked for NASA. After
many postponements, the launch of Challenger was set for morning of Jan 28, 1986. Allan J.
McDonald was an engineer from Morton-Thiokol and the director of the Solid Rocket Booster
Project. He was skeptic about the freezing temperature conditions forecast for that morning, which
was lower than the previous launch conditions. A teleconference between NASA engineers and
MT engineers was arranged by Allan.
Arnold Thompson and Roger Boisjoly, the seal experts at MT explained to the other engineers
how the booster rocket walls would bulge upon launch and combustion gases can blow past the Orings of the field joints (Fig. 3.2).
On many of the previous flights the rings have been found to have charred and eroded. In
freezing temperature, the rings and the putty packing are less pliable. From the past data gathered,
at temperature less than 65 °F the O-rings failure was certain. But these data were not deliberated
at that conference as the launch time was fast approaching.
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The engineering managers Bob Lund and Joe Kilminster agreed that there was a safety problem.
Boisjoly testified and recommended that no launch should be attempted with temperature less than
53 °F. These managers were annoyed to postpone the launch yet again. The top management of
MT was planning for the renewal of contract with NASA, for making booster rocket. The
managers told Bob Lund “to take-off the engineering hat and put on your management hat”. The
judgment of the engineers was not given weightage. The inability of these engineers to
substantiate that the launch would be unsafe was taken by NASA as an approval by Rockwell to
launch.
At 11.38 a.m. the rockets along with Challenger rose up the sky. The cameras recorded smoke
coming out of one of the filed joints on the right booster rocket. Soon there was a flame that hit the
external fuel tank. At 76 seconds into the flight, the Challenger at a height of 10 miles was totally
engulfed in a fireball. The crew cabin fell into the ocean killing all the seven aboard. Some of the
factual issues, conceptual issues and moral/normative issues in the space shuttle challenger
incident, are highlighted hereunder for further study.
3.5.2 Moral/Normative Issues
1. The crew had no escape mechanism. Douglas, the engineer, designed an abort module to
allow the separation of the orbiter, triggered by a field-joint leak. But such a ‘safe exit’ was
rejected as too expensive, and because of an accompanying reduction in payload.
2. The crew were not informed of the problems existing in the field joints. The principle of
informed consent was not followed.
3. Engineers gave warning signals on safety. But the management group prevailed over and
ignored the warning.
3.5.3 Conceptual Issues
1. NASA counted that the probability of failure of the craft was one in one lakh launches. But
it was expected that only the 100000th launch will fail.
2. There were 700 criticality-1 items, which included the field joints. A failure in any one of
them would have caused the tragedy. No back-up or stand-bye had been provided for these
criticality-1 components.
3.5.4 Factual/Descriptive Issues
1. Field joints gave way in earlier flights. But the authorities felt the risk is not high.
2. NASA has disregarded warnings about the bad weather, at the time of launch, because they
wanted to complete the project, prove their supremacy, get the funding from Government
continued and get an applaud from the President of USA.
3. The inability of the Rockwell Engineers (manufacturer) to prove that the lift-off was unsafe.
This was interpreted by the NASA, as an approval by Rockwell to launch.
*****
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