EISE-101: Introduction to Engineering Ethics PDF

EISE-101: Introduction to Engineering Ethics By Dr. Mohammed Bazroun EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics What is Meant by Ethics? ❑ Ethics refers to the study of morality and the m...

EISE-101: Introduction to Engineering Ethics By Dr. Mohammed Bazroun EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics What is Meant by Ethics? ❑ Ethics refers to the study of morality and the moral choices that we all have to make in our lives. ❑ It refers to the system of moral principles (principles of right and wrong) and the principles of conduct governing the behavior of an individual or a group. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Ethics in an Engineering ❑ Engineers design many products, including cars, computers, aircraft, clothing, toys, home appliances, surgical equipment, heating and cooling equipment, health care devices, tools and machines that make various products. ❑ Engineers play a significant role in designing and maintaining nations’ infrastructures, including communication systems, utilities, and transportation. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Ethics in an Engineering ❑ Social Responsibility requires taking into consideration the needs of society. ❑ People rely quite heavily on engineers to provide them with safe and reliable goods and services. ❑ There is no room for mistakes or dishonesty in engineering! ❑ Mistakes made by engineers could cost not only money but also more importantly lives. Examples?! EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Ethics in an Engineering Products and processes have consequences for society: ❑ If the bridge has inadequate support, it will fail. ❑ If a medical instrument isn’t accurate, improper doses of medication can be given. ❑ If the process of refining gas produces too many toxins, it harms the local community. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Ethics in an Engineering Products and processes have consequences for society: ❑ If the bridge has inadequate support, it will fail. ❑ If a medical instrument isn’t accurate, improper doses of medication can be given. ❑ If the process of refining gas produces too many toxins, it harms the local community. Ethics and ethical reasoning guide decision-making! EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Reasoning in Ethics ❑ Ethical reasoning helps determine and differentiate between right thinking, decisions, and actions and those that are wrong, hurtful, and/or harmful— to others and to ourselves. ❑ Ethical reasoning is a type of practical reasoning that concerns certain societal or life-form goals, such as justice, equality, freedom, health, and safety. ❑ The following criteria can be used in ethical reasoning: ✓ Moral reasoning must be logical. Assumptions and principles, both real and indirect, used to make judgments should be known and clear. ✓ Real evidence cited to support a person’s judgment should be accurate, relevant, and complete. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Typical Ethical Issues that Engineers Encounter ❑ Safety ❑ Acceptable risk ❑ Compliance ❑ Confidentiality ❑ Environmental health ❑ Data integrity ❑ Conflict of interest ❑ Honesty/Dishonesty ❑ Societal impact ❑ Fairness EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 The Code of Ethics for Engineers ❑ The code of ethics for engineers applies to engineers of all kinds. http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html ❑ The Engineering Code of Ethics has three components: ✓ The Fundamental Canons: which articulate the basic components of ethical engineering. ✓ The Rules of Practice: which clarify and specify in detail the fundamental canons of ethics in engineering. ✓ Professional Obligations: which elaborate the obligations that engineers have. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 The Code of Ethics for Engineers ❑ NSPE Fundamental Canons of Ethics Engineers in the completion of their professional duties shall: Hold utmost the safety, health, and welfare of the public. Perform services only in areas of their competence. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees. Avoid deceptive acts. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully, so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 The Code of Ethics for Engineers ❑ Important Notes about the Code of Ethics It is not a legally binding document. It is not something that we want (or need) engineers to memorize. It is something we want engineers to understand and be able to live by as engineers. However, in the beginning knowing the code is a guide to understanding how to apply it. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Ethics Takes Practice ❑ Knowledge vs. Behavior Unlike robots, no one can just program you to be an ethical engineer that follows the codes. It is possible to know the codes of ethics for engineering (or being a student), yet fail to follow them. Ethical behavior is about practice and virtue. It is about going beyond the codes, and practicing behavior that leads to an ethical life. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Law vs. Morality ❑ Legal & Moral: Designing a system to be safe. ❑ Legal & Immoral: Abortion ❑ Illegal & Moral: Parking in a no-parking zone, to come to the aid of an injured person ❑ Illegal & Immoral: Killing an innocent person. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Plagiarism & Cheating ❖ One of the most important, as reflected by the codes of ethics for engineers, is to be knowledgeable in your field of engineering. ❖ To be competent, it is necessary that one actually knows what they claim to know. ❖ Proving to others that you know what you are supposed to know requires certification through a degree. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Cheating vs. Teamwork ❖ Working on a team for an assigned project is not cheating. ❖ However, failing to do your assigned task on a team project is a form of cheating. It is called free-riding, which is benefiting from the work of others without doing any work of your own. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Copying ❖ One obvious type of cheating that we all recognize is copying someone’s work on a homework assignment, exam, or paper. ❖ Submitting someone’s work as your own is a kind of cheating. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Multiple Submissions ❖ Submitting your work from one class to another class or submitting one piece of work to two distinct classes is a kind of cheating. ❖ A paper for one class is not a paper for another class. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Unauthorized Sources ❖ Using sources that one is not allowed to use as deemed by the instructor or the university as a whole is a kind of cheating, such as solution manuals. ❖ Also a text message from your friend with the answer to a question on the exam is a form of cheating. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Altering Grades ❖ Altering your grade in any way is a form of cheating. ❖ If you are given a C on your homework, paper, or exam and then you change your grade to a B+, you have cheated. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025 Practicing ethics as an engineering student ❑ Surrogate ❖ Surrogate cheating occurs when someone else either does your homework, takes an exam for you, or writes your paper. ❖ Doing someone’s work for them is a kind of cheating. EISE-101 1st Semester 2025