Ethics in Engineering Essay by Ramesh am

8/14/2019 Ethics in Engineering Essay by Ramesh am

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Ethics in Engineering

A Custom more honored in the breach than in theobservance5

A compilation of thoughts

ByRamesh Chidambaram


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Ich halte dafr, da das einzige Ziel der Wissenschaft darin besteht, die Mhseligkeit der

menschlichen Existenz zu erleichtern

6I maintain that the only purpose of science is to ease the hardship of human e


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The Curtain RaiserA Prologue

There was once a time when an essay on ethics would have attracted the e


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depressing reading material. After all, the last thing I wish to weigh on my conscience is for you

to require therapeutic sessions after reading this essay. A few points to be noted include:

- Throughout the essay, instances of engineerH refers to a convention based on of

generalization of roles. An engineer is a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve

practical problems, be it within the purview of academia, industrial research or at the

factory. An individual with a degree in engineering, currently limited to inspecting

balance-sheets and ledgers is not referred to as an engineer.

- In an attempt to keep the essay from reading like a ta


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Can Engineers allow themselves the luxury of ethics?

6ave you taken complete leave of your senses55= was the question I was asked. Thenew millennium had Lust dawned, my third year of under-graduate study was in progress and I

was the student editor of the departmentHs technical Lournal. A frank e


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saw puzzle. This is deliberately done in organizations wherein the intellectual propertyH must be

safeguarded at all costs. iven the dynamics of an organization, wherein the engineer works

under managers who are influenced by market forces and a myriad of e


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B`SINESS/FINANCIA DESP June 3, 24, Thursday

Spitzer Sues a Drug Maker, Saying It Hid Negative Data By ARDINER ARRIS (N^T)

ate Edition - Final , Section A , age 1 , Column 1

ABSTRACT - New ^ork State Attorney en Eliot Spitzer sues British-based la


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times such as these K it is the standard crisis management manual at work. The corporate was

Lust reacting in the manner consistent with what he was trained and taught to do, which rarely

takes into consideration the human aspect of the case but deals more with strategy guidelines to

minimize damage. This can undoubtedly send a very strong message to employees of the

organization itself, and the industry at large.

Another e


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road around the car. The buckled gas tank would be Lammed up against the differential housing

(the large bulge in the middle of the rear a


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families at risk based on principle, especially when the consequences seem small, remote, or

undetectable.

To encourage employees to act on principle, an organization must be led by a chief

executive who actually makes decisions not only within business and legal boundaries but also

within ethical boundaries. In other words, the staff must see that the boss is willing to accept

ethical behavior as a constraint or a cost. They have to see employees recognized and promoted

who have modeled ethical behavior even at a short-term cost to the bottom line. And they have to

know that those who have behaved unethically will be fired or otherwise appropriately held

accountable for their behavior. This must be applied most severely to the highest level

executives. While top managers are sometimes protected by their peers or forgiven for unethical

conduct on the grounds that their departure would be too disruptive, the fact is that the company

leadership should be expected to adhere to the highest standards

If you are one who agrees with Mr. ackworth (especially on that last bit), there is a

good chance that you would now be rubbing your chin and musing on the happenings of the

corporate world and its culture, which would surely permeate down the ranks. Our bosses at

work decide our promotion, salary raises and other key aspects. We try to emulate them and

sooner or later imbibe their qualities and attitude. This trickle down effect and the obvious fact

that ethics is as such not adhered to at many of the highest offices, does raise the question K Can

Engineers (who, in most business models find themselves at the bottom of the corporate ladder)

allow themselves the lu


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with the `.S. based Johns opkins `niversity admitting that one of its scientists had flouted

Federal and university regulations in testing the drugs.

The university said the scientist had conducted the tests without adequate preliminary tests on

animals. A press release issued by the `niversity today said the scientist had been barred from

serving as rincipal Investigator on any future research involving human subLects...

This section so far has provided much to mull over. What is puzzling is that people in top

management positions and individual researchers are in fact supposed to be the churned out by

our best universities. At least on the corporate side, at a personal level, almost all are graduates

from ivy-league business schools, highly productive, law-abiding citizens and so on. Then why is

it that while acting in a collective fashion, there stems an inconsistency in their value system5

And in most cases their working-aroundH rules is not even with the aim of personal gain K it is

selflessly perpetrated in the companyHs interestH - the higher good as it were.

Therefore, it would be obvious that any scheme drawn-up to ensure complete adherence

to formal ethical guidelines must make it totally against the companyHs interest to flout the rules

of the formal ethical code. Better yet, it must be usable as a marketing tool in favor of an

organization which takes the e


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Gazing into the Crystal BallWhat awaits us in the future?

In the previous section we e


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of Microelectronics, and being an Electrical Engineer, the wind blew out the candle for me when

6Silicon valley Ethics violation= returned appro


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The famous news story about ollinger International to recently hit the Canadian

financial district springs to mind. Commentary in the Canadian Business Magazine included the

following e


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(Capability Maturity Model) audit. This was a CMM evel and a CMM evel 2 organization

which needed to retain their status in order to attract potential clients who insist on the rating.

`nfortunately, this self-defeating procedure done Lust to satisfy a formality is not so

uncommon, and is depicted in its worst case in view of the ollinger International story.

As a novice yet to find my feet in the world of industry and corporations, I have come to

believe that sanctioned white-liesH and shoving dirt under the carpet is the accepted modus

operandi. Worse yet is that, even though widely known, such practice is Lust simply ignored. So

my doubt is: is it all Lust one big sham that everyone is in on5 Why is ethics spoken in such

hallow light on paper, but not viewed as anything more than a useless formality in practice5

Maybe I am reading much more into all this than need be, but beyond doubt, I see every

reason to remain pessimistic about the future. Might as well cover the crystal ball, because when

the mist does eventually clear, I may not like what I see.

Time to ask a very deep and profound question: 6ave we K as a fraternity K reached a

level of maturity that we can provide more than Lust lip service to ethics5 And more importantly,

can we groom our own attitude to make for a favorable atmosphere wherein ethics to be truly

observed5=

- 1 -


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The Path aheadthe proverbial fork in the road

The Lob of a critic is relatively easy. ^ou Lust need to use your inde< finger and point it to

your heartHs desire. iven that we live in a world far from perfect, the critic has enough fodder to

last a lifetime. owever, suggesting reforms to solve an issueVthatHs a far more tricky game.

`ntil now, in the essay I have worn the hat of a critic. I trust I have been successful of bringing

forth the two critical aspects and the gravity behind each. Just to recap, these have lent support to

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e


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As a ne


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(known nowadays as a chronic opportunist), he got a whack on the head with a bamboo stick.

Although this method canHt be applied to present day university as such, there are some parallels

which can be drawn. At the undergraduate level and post graduate level, ample opportunity is

available to deliberately check a studentHs morals. The student needs to know that, from time to

time, when he is least aware of it, his morals are being tested. And he will be provided with a

metric, along the lines of an Ethic Inde< (EI), when he graduates. An e


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give their graduates a head start in the line of ethics, the impetus can be sustained by

international professional organizations which overlook that section of engineering.

et us develop on this point. Most engineers affiliate themselves to a professional body

of recognized standing (like the IEEE, AIChE, the Dutch Engineering Society, Australian

Society of Engineers, etc) for in addition to keeping oneself up-to-date, it also attaches a reputed

associationsH brand image to a resume. Such organizations have the inherent advantage that they

can track the entire career of an engineer ever since he left university. Such international or local

organizations are already well structured, and responsibilities well delegated and devolved across

geographical boundaries. At this level, the EI will not be based on drills, but will be a metric

based on the prioritized weighted consideration of virtues such as the engineerHs integrity,

loyalty, sense of belonging towards the engineering society, etc. I know from my personal

e


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product, or a product that is party to a violation of ethics. Just to take a hypothetical e


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I dedicate this work toV

ictims of ittle BoyH and Fat ManH K the atomic bombs to hit iroshima and Nagasaki- Over 11, people killed- resident Truman: 6a complete successVthe greatest day in history=- Something Albert Einstein and eo Szilard started, but couldnHt stop

ictims of the Bhopal as Tragedy

-

The worst industrial accidentH in history- While experts debated, people died like fliesH

ictims of cost-cutting measures in space programs- Crew members aboard the space shuttle orbiters Columbia and Challenger- igil 6us= rissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White, ovened in a launch-pad accidentH

ictims of the legacy of I Farben, the firm credited with the invention of organophosphates, theprecursor to nerve gas and biological weapons.

Accidents dont just happen,

they are caused

!

Fools rush, where angels fear to tread

!

Ethics in Engineering Essay by Ramesh am

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