Engineering Practice
This section of the OEC contains cases, discussions, and ethical guidelines bearing on the professional responsibilities of engineers. These range over the engineering disciplines from civil to electrical to biomedical engineering. The cases themselves vary significantly in structure. Some are discussion cases that present open-ended situations requiring a response. Some are descriptions of completed actions and call for a judgment on an action taken. Many cases are brief, but some detailed descriptions also appear. Most cases are at least loosely based on real incidents, in order to give a realistic impression of the moral problems that face engineers.
In Memoriam -- Roland Schinzinger (1926 - 2004)
Electrical engineer, pioneer in engineering ethics, and longtime advisor to the OEC.
- Cases
- A variety of types of engineering cases that raise ethical issues, including detailed historical cases, such as Three-Mile Island accident and Roger Boisjoly on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, International cases, NSPE BER judgements, Michael Pritchard's Hypothetical cases with commentaries, and cases reported to the IEEE.
- Essays
- Essays on a variety of engineering ethical issues, including some historical cases, ethical standards for responsible engineering practice, and international engineering ethics.
- Educational Resources
- Index of extensive materials in the OEC for teaching engineering ethics including syllabi, educational criteria for ABET certification, and materials for graduate education, field work and cooperative education, as well as resources for K-12 and secondary school instruction.
- Addressing Problems in Engineering Ethics
- Problem situations that arise in Engineering practice that have been submitted by visitors to OEC, or for which students have sought solutions in their problem-oriented course projects--Student projects cover a variety of topics including working in international corporations, sexual harassment, using reverse engineering, and participating in military projects.
- Engineering Ethics In A Corporate Setting
- Essays and cases on engineering in a corporate setting including Texas Instruments (TI) and an ethics game from Lockheed Martin.