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Engineering Ethics
With material from:
Ethics and the Conduct of
Business, John Boatright
Ethics in Engineering Practice
and Research, Caroline
Whitbeck
ieee.org
niee.org
wikipedia.org
space-shuttle.com
Prof. Rick Vaz
ECE 2799
April 23, 2007
Ethics and Your Education
Accreditation of this ECE program requires that
all graduates have “an understanding of
professional and ethical responsibility”
What Ethical Issues Have You
Faced…
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…in this course?
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…in your other courses?
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…in summer jobs?
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…in your daily interactions with friends?
Laws, Morals, Ethics:
What’s the Difference?
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Laws: A set of rules for personal or corporate behavior;
civil and/or criminal penalties apply
Morals: A set of standards for (personal) behavior
Ethics: A set of standards for (professional) behavior
Morals and ethics are voluntary in some sense
Like laws, they are open to many interpretations
What is the Basis for
Ethical and Moral Standards?
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Innate and intrinsic?
A product of culture?
Based on religious beliefs?
Developed from logical reasoning?
Based on concepts? On consequences?
Example Moral Standard:
The Categorical Imperative
(Critique of Pure Reason—Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804)
“Act only according to that maxim whereby you
can at the same time will that it should become a
universal law.”
Using the Categorical Imperative to
Judge an Action
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Convert the action to a principle
Would it be logical for you to want everyone to
follow that principle?
Yes—action is moral/ethical
 No—action is immoral/unethical
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Example: is it ever morally acceptable to lie?
How Does Engineering Ethics
Relate to Your Life Now?
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You are already expressing your ethical
standards. They are in what you do.
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Personal and professional ethics are connected
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Ethics is not just “doing the right thing,” it’s
making tough decisions about ambiguous things
What Is a Profession?
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Extensive training, mastery of subject
Professional association
Standards and codes
Self-regulating, via certifications and licensing
Significant impact on public welfare
Accountability to society
Professional Ethics:
More than Following Rules
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Maturity of judgment
Balancing a variety of considerations
Consideration of various means to a desired end
Supporting the profession
Serving the welfare of the public
A Simple Google Search Reveals:
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Online Ethics Center for Engineering & Science
National Institute for Engineering Ethics*
NSPE Engineering Ethics website
Codes of Ethics: IEEE*, ASME, ACM, etc.
Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing
Ethics
Course and resource pages at many universities
What are the Core Ethical Values of
Engineering? (NIEE)
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Honesty: truthfulness, fairness, sincerity
Integrity: good judgment, adherence to principles
Fidelity: to clients, to the public trust, to employer, to
the profession
Charity: kindness, caring, good will, tolerance,
compassion/mercy, adherence to the Golden Rule
Responsibility: reliability/dependability, accountability,
trustworthiness
Self-Discipline: acting with restraint, not indulging in
excessive behavior
IEEE Code of Ethics
We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of
our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world,
and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its
members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit
ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:
1. to accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent
with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose
promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;
2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and
to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;
3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on
available data;
4. to reject bribery in all its forms;
IEEE Code of Ethics, cont’d
5. to improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate
application, and potential consequences;
6. to maintain and improve our technical competence and to
undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by
training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent
limitations;
7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to
acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the
contributions of others;
8. to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race,
religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;
9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or
employment by false or malicious action;
10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional
development and to support them in following this code of
ethics.
Approved by the IEEE Board of Directors -- August 1990
Applied Ethics: Real-World
Problems
“In theory, there’s no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.”
Yogi Berra
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Rarely is there clear “right” or “wrong”
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Often you are choosing between competing
interests, both of which matter
“To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest
whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected
parties when they do exist”
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What is conflict of interest?
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Is conflict of interest common?
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Is it wrong?
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What do you do about it?
Software Piracy
Unethical, or “Just” Illegal?
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2/3 of college students report that they do, or would,
download pirated software
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93% claim to endorse IP rights and legitimate software
development
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Does this make sense?
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What role will IP play in your career?
“Ethics as Design”—Caroline Whitbeck
What distinguishes design from the other
engineering you have studied?
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Analyzing the situation is not enough
Practical constraints, objectives, criteria
There may not even be a “solution”
There is no unique “right answer”
Designing a Solution to an
Ethical Dilemma
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Define the problem
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Explore solutions
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Brainstorm—go beyond the obvious
Identify criteria
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What’s known? What’s ambiguous?
Personal values, professional standards, laws
Consider outcomes and consequences
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Professional, personal, legal, moral
“Whistleblowing”
How can you do the right thing and not lose your job?
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Don’t trust everyone to do the right thing—proceed with
caution
Gather the evidence you need
Make sure you’re right
Don’t exaggerate or overstate your case
Wait for the right time to come forward
Remain anonymous—the problem is the issue, not you
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For more, see:
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http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers/careerstemplate.jsp?ArticleId=w040104
Thinking Ahead
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Would you “carry” a partner through an MQP?
If you accept a job, would you turn it down if a
better one comes along?
Would you accept a job in the defense industry?
Would you accept gifts and hospitality from a
prospective vendor?
What would you do if a co-worker is negligent
in his/her work?