Budny 10:00
L01
THE ETHICS OF INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE
Cory Himlin (cah168@pitt.edu)
anyone at all for the matter. All of these questions directly
relate back to both the code of ethics of the National Society
of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in regards to human
welfare, problems of fairness, and problems of honesty,
respectively, as seen in the preamble of the NSPE code of
ethics, “Accordingly, the services provided by engineers
require honesty, impartiality, fairness and equity, and must be
dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and
welfare,”[2]. In this case we should assume the public is the
other engineers being effected by the choice
This scenario violates several of the fundamental canons
dealing with both the NSPE and ASME codes of ethics. The
actions in which the engineer may engage in violate canons
one, five and six of the NSPE code of ethics [2]. They also
will violate the fundamental canons one, three, four and five
of the ASME code of ethics [3]. Although the engineer in
question may be tempted by the money and power that is
presented before him/her and he/she may feel entitled to this
work as he/she is the lead engineer of the project, but he/she
must always refer back to the code of ethics and ask
himself/herself these questions and answer them honestly to
determine if they are in violation with the code.
INTRODUCTION: THE SCENARIO
It’s around mid-day and I’m returning to my office from a
luncheon with my fellow colleagues. At the meeting we had
been discussing the details of our major project, the use of self
healing polymeric composites in aircraft for the reduction of
flight cost and increasing the strength of the structure. I had
just sat down at my desk, when my secretary informs me that
I have a message waiting for me from another engineering
firm who is highest grossing in the world, Algonquin
Enterprises. As one of the top engineers in our firm, they had
said they wanted to meet with me to discuss a potential
partnership opportunity. I meet with the CEO of the company
and he begins telling me how pleased he is with my former
projects and how he would love to have me on-board as a
partner at their firm. The meeting seems to be going well,
when he tells me there is one thing I must do before being
made a partner at Algonquin Enterprises. He said I must take
not only all of my existing work on the current project my
team and I have been working on, but I also must take all the
information and data that my colleagues have collected and
give it to the team Algonquin has designated to the same
cause, discretely of course. They have the money to get the
project moving much faster than my firm and they are offering
me a position which is extremely hard to refuse. They’re
offering me money and power at the expense of my team’s
many hard worked hours of rigorous testing and thousands of
invested dollars from the firm I work for.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THE
PROJECT: WHY DO THEY WANT IT?
Algonquin wants to obtain my colleagues and my work
for mainly one reason, they developed a capsule based epoxy
system, which once healed the polymer recovers as much as
90% of its original structural toughness. This is impressive,
but once used, there is no way of replenishing the capsules
[4]. At the company I work the system we use is a vascular
bio-inspired epoxy based system. This system of self-healing,
in my opinion, is the most versatile and useful between the
two types. It works like blood clotting [5]. Think of it as the
overlapping of veins in your body, except instead of veins,
this system is made up of interwoven hollow glass fibers
(HGFs), where when one is draining to assess the damage the
others are working to keep the one draining filled [4].
Essentially, upon impact these hollow fibers will break,
leaking the two part epoxy, which then finds the source of the
damage and virtually self-repairs itself [4]. Not only does this
put manufacturers and maintenance members at ease, but it
puts the operator and/or passengers of the plane at ease
knowing the plane can repair itself. What makes this so
system so versatile is because these HGFs are compatible with
many standard polymer matrices and also will not chemically
react with the two-part epoxy inside of them [4]. Although
this system does not yield a 100% maximum healing
THE ETHICAL ISSUES AT HAND
It isn’t always easy to identify an ethical issue within in a
scenario, because not all engineering decisions have an ethical
dimension about them [1]. There’s a couple questions you can
ask to determine the ethical issues of a subject/scenario and if
you can answer no to all of these there is a good chance that
the subject is ethically sound [1]. Would anyone, other than
the engineer in question, suffer or be put at risk by the action
in question [1]? In this scenario, yes the engineers and the firm
at which my character was first working at would be greatly
effected in a negative manner because all the work they did
and money they had spent would be for nothing. Would the
engineer in question like a world in which other engineers
acted in the same manner in which they are contemplating
[1]? I would not want other engineers to act in this matter
because no one would be able to work together in fear of
getting their work stolen. Would the engineer in question
want what he/she is doing to be widely known [1]? I would
not want such a deceptive act to be known widely or by
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering
2013-10-29
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Cory Himlin
on the project. They aren’t requesting consent from their
employer to do so.
Canon five states that engineers in the carrying out of their
professional duties shall avoid deceptive acts. Subsection B
of this canon reads, “Engineers shall not offer, give, solicit, or
receive, either directly or indirectly, any contribution to
influence the award of a contract by public authority, or which
may be reasonably construed by the public having as having
the effect or intent of influencing the awarding of a contract.
They shall not offer any gift or other valuable consideration
in order to secure work. They shall not pay a commission,
percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except
to a bona fide employee or a bona fide established commercial
or marketing agencies retained by them,”[2]. In this instance,
Algonquin is trying to persuade the engineer with a high
position in there company which also comes along with a
much larger salary. They are the ones in violation of this code,
and the engineer would also be in violation of this had he/she
accepted the position.
Canon six states that engineers shall conduct themselves
honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to
enhance the honor reputation and usefulness of the profession
[2]. If the engineer in question took part in this scheme to take
the work and give it to the other company then they wouldn’t
be acting honorably, ethically, responsibly, and depending if
the work was patented or not then they may also be acting in
an unlawful manner. Both parties would be in violation of this
canon in the case that the engineer in the scenario accepts the
offer.
efficiency rate, it does hold a 80-90% efficiency rate [5]
which we as engineers are hoping to improve in due time and
with the right financial support and community backing. Not
only does this system promote safety, but the use of the
materials would also reduce both fuel needs and carbon
emissions of airplanes helping the economy and environment
[5].
Capsule based self-healing methods yield better results,
but the aircraft companies don’t want something they could
use only one time. In this system the healing compound is
cloistered in miniscule capsules until damage occurs and
ruptures these capsules releasing the agent to fix the problem
[4]. This is ideally the easiest system to implement [6], but
once the microcapsule has been ruptured and emptied, it’s
gone, and Algonquin does not want to waste the time and
money to fix this problem, so they want to fix it through
obtaining my researchers’ work. In fact, the reason they
started making the capsule system is because they obtained a
researcher from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign who has previously helped develop self-healing
materials to address a micro-cracking problem in structures
[7]. In this process, the researcher helped created
microcapsules which are filled with a resin matrix infused
with a monomer [7]. When a crack is formed in the composite
material, these microcapsules break, releasing the monomer
which then finds the source of the damage and polymerization
occurs thus initiating the healing process [7]. I find this very
impressive, because not only is it healing the damage that
occurs, but the epoxy based resin is also “smart” enough to
find the source of the damage, but again, they do not want to
use this process because the capsules will not replenish
themselves.
With a growing market in composites and a growing
availability in the technology [8] and an estimated market
worth of $41.8 billion over the next 10 years [9] no wonder
they want to have the leading product.
APPLYING THE CODE OF ETHICS: ASME
Engineers should not only see themselves as merely
employees of large organizations, but as independent
practitioners with a culture and a set of practices all their own
[10]. And not only will he/she violate the canons in the NSPE
code of ethics, but they would also be violating the code of
ethics of their own specific profession, mechanical
engineering, specifically canons one, three, four and five.
Canon one of the ASME code of ethics also states that
engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare
of the public in the performance of special duties [3]. As
stated before this engineer will be in clear violation of this
canon if they take part in the action. In fact people might also
see these actions as industrial espionage [11] which would
completely ruin the reputation of the engineer and the
company the engineer is discretely obtaining this information
and work for.
Canon three states that engineers shall continue their
professional development throughout their careers and shall
provide opportunities for the professional and ethical
development of those engineers under their supervision [3].
Well, if the engineer in this scenario takes part in this secretive
action then they are clearly violating this canon because they
are taking away from the engineers below them and putting
APPLYING THE CODE OF ETHICS: NSPE
The scenario violates canons one, five and six of the NSPE
code of ethics. Canon one states that engineers in the carrying
out of their professional duties shall hold predominantly the
safety, health, and welfare of the public [2]. This is very
important because in this case, the public addressed in this
situation would be that of the colleagues of the engineer and
the engineers company (i.e. boss, investors, etc.).
Furthermore, subsection C of canon one states, “Engineers
shall not reveal facts, data, or information without the prior
consent of the client or employer except as authorized or
required by law or this Code,”[2]. This clearly violates that
because Algonquin Enterprises is asking the engineer of the
other company to divulge the work and information of their
project in a discrete manner so as they can get the upper hand
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Cory Himlin
them in a very unethical situation which may change their
view on how the world of engineering really works. The
engineers might begin to think that everyone is out for one
another and begin to act in the same manner, trying to gain
the advantage for themselves and not for the greater good of
the engineering community. Taking part in this scenario and
accepting Algonquin’s offer would not set a very good
example for the engineers underneath the lead engineer.
Canons four and five of the ASME code of ethics go hand
in hand. Canon four states that engineers shall act in
professional matters for each employer or client as faithful
agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest [3].
Canon five states that engineers shall build their professional
reputation on the merit of their services and shall not compete
unfairly others [3]. By using canon four as a guide engineers
would also be following canon five by building their
professional reputation based on their merit and also they
would not be competing unfairly with other companies and/or
engineers. If the engineer in question took part in the act of
giving information to the other company they would be
violating canon four thus violating canon five as well. They
would not be acting faithfully towards their company nor
would they be acting professionally so they would not be
building their professional reputation and career based on
merit, but more or less on deception and selfishness. They
would also be competing unfairly with the original company
because they would be stealing the work of their colleagues
and giving it to the company that has more money to progress
faster in the study.
REFERENCES
[1] H.C. Luegenbiehl, M. Davis. (1987). “Engineering Codes
of Ethics: Analysis and Applications.” NSPE. (Online
Article).
http://ethics.iit.edu/publication/CODE-Exxon%20Module.pdf
[2] (2007). “Code of Ethics for Engineers.” NSPE. (Online
Article).
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html
[3] (2003). “Code of Ethics for Engineers.” ASME. (Online
Aricle). https://www.asme.org/getmedia/9EB36017-FA98477E-8A73-77B04B36D410/P157_Ethics.aspx
[4] B. Blaiszik, S. Kramer, S. Olugebefola, J. Moore, N.
Sottos, S. White. (2010). “Self-Healing Polymers and
Composites.” Annual Review of Material Research. (Online
Article).
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurevmatsci-070909-104532
[5] B. Nelson. (2010). “Airplanes of the future could be selfhealing.”
MSNBC.
(Online
Article).
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25098805/ns/technology_and_s
cience-innovation/t/airplanes-future-could-be-self-healing/
[6] T. Hume. (2013). “Heal thyself: The ‘bio-inspired’
materials that self-repair.” CNN. (Online Article).
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/tech/self-healingmaterials/index.html
[7] OTM Team. (2012). “Polymeric Self-healing Composites
for Longer Lasting Products.” University of Illinois. (Online
Article).
http://otm.uic.edu/technologies/polymeric-selfhealing-composites-longer-lasting-p
[8] F. Smith. (2013). “The Use of Composites in Aerospace:
Past, present, and future challenges.” Avalon Consultancy
Services
LTD.
(Online
Blog
Entry).
http://avaloncsl.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/avalon-theuse-of-composites-in-aerospace-s.pdf
[9] N. Hampson. (2011). “Gaining Technological Advantage:
A&D Insights.” Aerospace and Defence. (Online Article).
http://www.pwc.com/en_IM/IM/publications/assets/shipping
-aircraft-space/aerospace-defence-insights.pdf
[10] C. Reader. (2012). “The Importance of Engineering
Ethics.”
eHow.
(Online
Article).
http://www.ehow.com/print/info_8347158_importanceethics-engineering.html
[11] T. Ellis-Christensen. (2013). “What is Industrial
Espionage.”
wiseGEEK.
(Online
Article).
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-industrial-espionage.htm
CONCLUSION: THE FINAL DECISION
In this situation, I believe the decision is pretty clear-cut.
The engineer should not take the offer that Algonquin has
offered. Referencing back to the code of ethics, you can see
many canons the engineer will violate if he/she takes the
position in which they were offered. It may have been a more
difficult decision had the scenario effected the public in a very
positive way but the only thing is truly effects in a positive
manner is the engineer taking the offer. This engineer would
be most likely shunned by all other companies if the situation
goes public, which it most likely will. Using the code of ethics
to guide me through this scenario, I believe it would be a very
poor, unethical, and unprofessional decision to take the offer.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to that the time to thank my roommate,
Matthew Labashosky, for helping me through this paper by
listening to me read my paragraphs over and over again. I
would also like to thank Katy Rank Lev for taking the time to
adequately and fairly grade my paper.
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