Recipe for Disaster:
Engineering without Ethics
Presented
by
Prof. S. Ahmadi
Slides: Courtesy of Dr. Dianne Martin
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1970’s: The Ford Pinto Case
During crash tests which proceeded
the introduction of the Pinto to the
public, it became evident that there
was a serious design flaw. The gas tank
was so designed that when it was involved
in a rear end collision at an impact speed
of 20 MPH or greater, the tank was apt to rupture, causing a fire and
explosion. The tank was only 5” forward of the rear sheet metal of the
body and only 3” from the back rear axle. In most rear-end crashes, the
axle housing deformed the tank and sharp bolts punctured the tank.
Following crash tests, the conclusion was that the rear end structure was
not satisfactory. Suggested changes would have cost about $11 per car.
A confidential company memo directed that the safety features not be
adopted at that time until required by law. Deciding factors: $1,999, < 2,000lbs
ECONOMICS OR ETHICS ???
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The Cherynobyl Lesson - 1986
• Worst disaster in modern
times was no accident!
• Modern disaster lesson:
–Highly intelligent engineers and
scientists
–Advanced technologies
–Unethical decisions
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Ethics and Engineering
• Where the ethical issues can arise:
– Conceptualization, Design, Testing, Manufacturing, Sales,
Service
– Supervision and Project Teams
» Project timelines and budgets
» Expectations, opinions, or judgments
– Products: Unsafe or Less than Useful
» Designed for obsolescence
» Inferior materials or components
» Unforeseen harmful effects to society
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Why Focus on Ethics?
 Raise awareness - ethics radar
 Make decisions – make the right choice
 Take action – do the right thing
 Personal integrity and self-respect
# 1 element of professional reputation
 Good Ethics -> Good Business!
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Results of the Ethics Equation
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
• Quality products
• Conservation of
resources
• Pride in work
• Public safety
• Timeliness
• GOOD BUSINESS
UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shoddy products
Waste, fraud, greed
Abuse of expertise
Guilt, fear
Lack of safety
Cutting corners
– poor design
– rushed testing
• DISASTERS!
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Ethics will be THE issue of the 21st Century
• Modern recipe for disaster:
–Highly intelligent engineers and
scientists
–Advanced technologies
–Unethical decisions
• Remember Cherynobyl, Challenger,
Pinto, Robert Morris computer virus,
Mars lander.....
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Analysis of an Ethical Quandary
1. Who are the “stakeholders?”
2. What are the KEY statements (clues)
in the problem?
3. What are the legal considerations?
4. What are the possible actions to be
taken? (generate options)
5. Is there a clearly “right” action to be
taken? (evaluate options)
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Lab Ethics Case Study: Computer Privacy
True case: The Dean of the Harvard Divinity School was having problems with
his university-issued computer that he was working on at home. He requested
to have someone from the Harvard Academic Computing Services come to his
house to check out the problem. When the technician was there, she noted that
the hard-drive of the computer was full of 100’s of large graphics files. Upon
opening one to determine what was going on, the techie discovered that it
was a inappropriate photoghraphs from theinternet. Checking several files
revealed that the Deanhad filled up his hard-drive with porn images
downloaded from the Internet.
The techie added more memory to the hard-drive so the computer would work
properly again, but he was concerned about whether he should report this to
the systems administrator, since Harvard had a computer user policy stating
that users were not to abuse the computer resources by excessive downloads
from the Internet. Should he report this or not? If so, to whom should he
report it?
You will be given more information about this case in your lab. For now,
who are the stakeholders? What are possible actions to be taken? Without
any more information, what would you do?
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So Why Bother With Ethics??
• Special knowledge
• Involved in decision-making
• Engineering pervades society
BOTTOM LINE: Practicing engineers are
more apt to get into trouble as a result of
a failure to properly anticipate and handle
ethical problems rather than as a result of
a traditional engineering problems!
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Ethics as a GW Student: Academic Integrity
GW Code of Academic Integrity
We, the Students, Faculty, Librarians and
Administration of The George Washington
University, believing academic honesty to be
central to the mission of the University, commit
ourselves to its high standards and to the
promotion of academic integrity. Commitment to
academic honesty upholds the mutual respect
and moral integrity that our community values
and nurtures. To this end, we have established
The George Washington University Code of
Academic Integrity.
http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
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efinition of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty is defined as cheating of any
kind, including misrepresenting one's own work,
taking credit for the work of others without crediting
them and without appropriate authorization, and the
fabrication of information.
– 1) Cheating
– 2) Fabrication
– 3) Plagiarism
– 4) Falsification and forgery of University
academic documents
– 5) Facilitating academic dishonesty
Reporting: encouraged, not required - talk to
offenders or instructor or council
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FAQ’s about Academic Integrity
• Why bother?
– Pride in yourself
– Pride in your work
– Pride in your profession
– Start on the right path
• Why should I care about what others
do?
– Value of YOUR degree is diminished!
– Their future competence is diminished - they may
design the bridge you drive over, the airplane you
fly on, or the computer system you rely on!
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