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How Engineers Change Their Perspectives on Ethical Issues

Posted By: Jacob Gan | Posted On: 2008-06-23 | Article ID: 70895

Engineering is a profession

A profession is a learned specialization demanding systematized insight and preparation on top of a responsibility to a societal good. Engineering is the inventive line of work of applying science for the sake of all in the human society and therefore is a profession.

The application of science and technology has to consider the duty to provide quality products and services. This commitment also includes creating a reasonable impact on society and the high-value of life. Because engineering is a profession, engineers must take into account the impact of their decisions.

Need for ethical standards

Ethic is expressed as "pertaining to value system" and ethical as "in accordance with the regulations or standards for proper conduct or practice, especially the values of a profession." As moral values may be modified by the tradition of the society, each profession therefore has to build its own set of standard rules so that there is a common view of what practices are satisfactory and what are not. In this way, not only the members of the profession know which actions are appropriate, others outside the profession will be able to know what to expect from the profession also.

Shortfalls of ethical standards

However, it is not accomplishable to provide instructions to cater to all circumstances. Therefore, there are times when they are shades of gray with no lone right answer. In such quandary, engineers must look for their best personal solutions. Many choices will have similarly vital results. Certain interest groups are impacted differently and to different levels.

Solutions to ethical circumstances are seldom clear-cut issues. In making decisions when ethical quandary arise, engineers need to be responsive to how their decisions will affect various groups. What may make the arrangement making extra hard is that the choices that are more ethical may put the engineers themselves, or their employer, at a position that is very disadvantageous to themselves.

An ethical dilemama

We shall tell the tight spots often encountered by engineers by refering to the well-understood Challenger space vehicle explosion case.

In order for the shuttle to have enough velocity to escape from the gravity to reach the orbit, the shuttle's own rockets are supplemented by two booster rockets that use solid fuel. These solid-fuel rockets were made by Morton Thiokol. As a result of the cold temperature expected during the time of the launch of the space vehicle, a teleconference was held the night before the launch between NASA managers and Thiokol representatives and engineers. We can assume that all the managers were either engineers or familiar with space technology.

The first recommendation by Thiokol was not to launch the shuttle until the temperature had risen to a higher level so that the O-rings would be able to perform the sealing function. However, due to the displeasure by NASA managers over the recommendation, it was changed to launch recommendation. Unfortunately, the shuttle exploded soon after launch.

Let us imagine the tight spots encountered by each of these three groups in this case:

Group 1 - NASA Officials
Group 2 - Thiokol Officials
Group 3 - Thiokol Engineers

Dilemma of NASA representatives

The NASA managers were under the burden to launch the space shuttle because of a couple of reasons. Further delay in the launch would upset the launches of following missions. Delay in the launch would result in more cost and made the shuttle project less economically profitable. The lauch date was critical as President Reagan would be making the State of the Union address as the shuttle was in space. Besides, he was going to talk about education, and what better time for the president to talk about education than when a teacher was in space?

Notwithstanding, NASA managers were not supplied with sufficient verification to conclude that the launch would be perilous as a consequence of low temperature. Besides, they did specify the perfromance of the solid-fuel boosters even at a cold temperature, although not as low as what was expected at the time of the launch.

Dilemma of Thiokol officials

Insisting on the no-launch recommendation would antangonize the company's ties with NASA management and affects their prospect for further business deals. In addition, their engineers could only provide circumstantial evidence of the danger of cold environment on the perfromance of the O-rings but it was not very overwhelming.

Dilemma facing thiokol engineers

Though they were aware of the unsatisfactory operation of the O-rings at low temperature, they did not have ample time to prepare a very convincing case. Although they expressed strong unhappiness to the change in the recommendation from no-launch to launch, they were over-ruled.

Important lessons

The standpoints of a situation depend largely on the position a professional is in. In particular, a young professional has been very concerned with the techical problems even as he advances the organizational ladder, he becomes more and more bothered with the business problems of the organization. When we teach engineering ethics, we have to imagine the disquiet encountered by engineers at different levels of their professional lives.

 

Article Source: http://www.articlecell.com

About The Author
Jacob Gan
Jacob Gan PhD (Michigan) writes for www.succezz.com, www.JacobGan.com, www.JacobEducation.com, www.DemystifyCancer.com, www.understanding-orchids.com, www.motivate2success.com, www.JacobLearning.com and hosts Jacob.TheeLearningcentre.com, an elearning portal.



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