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R_18
AN ETHICALLY-CHARGED SCENARIO OF AN ENGINEER
Ziyi Zhu (ziz12@pitt.edu)
INTRODUCTION
I am a computer hardware engineer working for a
computer company. My specialized area is integrated circuit
design for micro devices. The company is spending a huge
amount of money developing future generation computers. I
am one of the core members of the research team working on
this program. We are building a concept model for a new
generation of computer: Biological Computer. Of course, the
team consists other experts in Bio, as well as chemical
engineering. Our cooperation and hard work have earned
some very precious discoveries. We have set up a basic
theorem of how to transfer electrical computing device into a
form of Biological organism. Although it was only the first
step and is still far away from the final product, it has a
fundamental meaning for building Bio-computers.
One day, I receive an email from a large biotechnology
company. They are asking me to work, as an engineer, for
them, instead of my current working company. They are
going to assemble a very professional research team to work
on Bio-computer technology and want me to join this project.
They will offer considerable salary, which is up to two times
of that I am receiving now. An even more attractive thing I
notice is that the research team will be so skillful that I will
be able to proceed much faster in the Bio-computer
technology area. The biotechnology company can not only
offer me a better salary, but also a better opportunity. Now,
an ethical problem has come to me. Should I grab this
“chance” to make progress in my career? Will it be an ethical?
WHAT IS THE CASE
I start thinking why does that company want to hire me.
The answer is obvious. They want the result of my research
team. Though that company have a strong research power, we
are still in the lead in this area. They are eager for the Biocomputer technology because they now find it will be a very
lucrative product if created. The Bio-computer is constructed
in a completely different way and can thus break the limit of
the conventional computer. It will not use semiconductor as
building blocks. Organic organism will instead become the
material. The traits of organic materials enable Bio-computer
to be so strong that all the now existing computer will become
obsolete. Aside technological aspects, this will definitely be
an enormous commercial opportunity. The biotechnology
company can gain a huge potential benefit from this project.
This is why it offered me such a fortune to ask me to work for
them. However, accepting this job means I will leave my
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering 1
Submission Date 2013-10-29
current working company with all the data and research
achievements.
HOW BIO-COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The conventional computer, though powerful, are facing
serious difficulties when we are trying to make further
improvements. Quirk and Serda wrote about a few difficulties
semiconductor technology are facing in the book
“Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology”. “Process
variation: As photolithography techniques tend closer to the
fundamental laws of optics, achieving high accuracy
in doping concentrations and etched wires is becoming more
difficult and prone to errors due to variation. Stricter design
rules: Due to lithography and etch issues with scaling, design
rules for layout have
become
increasingly stringent.
Timing/design closure: As clock frequencies tend to scale up,
designers are finding it more difficult to distribute and
maintain low clock skew between these high frequency
clocks across the entire chip. First-pass success: As die sizes
shrink (due to scaling), and wafer sizes go up (to lower
manufacturing costs), the number of dies per wafer increases,
and the complexity of making suitable photomasks goes up
rapidly. A mask set for a modern technology can cost several
million dollars.” [1] Also, other problems also merged as the
semiconductor computing device production technology
moves forward. As we are making more transistors in a unit
area, the heat generated will increase significantly and extra
power consumption will take place [2]. Arise of these
problems strongly restrict the scale of transistor and
integration we can build on computer processor based on
silicon chips. And this scale is the core factor that determines
the capacity of a processor. Even when engineers are trying
to build multiprocessor, which is to use several parallel
processor to deal with tasks at the same time, to faster the
processing speed, a limit described as “Amdahl’s law” [3]
appears. The law shows that regardless of the number of the
parallel processor, the improvement cannot go over a certain
rate. The capacity of conventional computer hardware are
approaching the limit of the physics laws and is very difficult
to make a break through.
However, Bio-computer will bring an outlook. My team
are doing research to find methods to build processor on
organic molecular, like DNA, rather than silicon and have set
up several fundamental theorem so far. The technology we
developed is the building block of the Bio-computer and can
solve all the problems above. Conventional processors are
Ziyi Zhu
constructed by transistors. “Transistors are simple on/off
switches. Computers are made of many millions of these
switches. And to program a cell, you need a biological
version.” [4] “In standard computer, transistors govern the
flow of electricity by playing red light/green light with
electrons along a circuit. Similarly, a transcriptor regulates the
flow of a protein called RNA polymerase along a strand of
DNA. Transistors and transcriptors are, at their most basic,
on/off switches – the gatekeepers of information
transmission, storage, amplification, and so forth.” [5]
Computers work because transistors, it’s most basic unit, are
able to compute. So people build integration of transistors to
make computer a powerful computing device. Generally
speaking, the numbers of the transistors determine the
computing capacity. And the problems faced by conventional
computer stated above are preventing us from adding more
transistors on one integration. Bio-computer can perfectly
solve these problems. First, as we are using organic molecular
instead of silicon, we don’t need to use optical
photolithography techniques to structure the chip in order to
build transistors. They are already there in the molecular. So
we are able to avoid the error caused by lithography and etch
issues, also eliminating the cost of the expensive optic
instruments. Because Bio-computer do not rely on electricity
to work, we don’t have to struggle to maintain low clock
skew, as well as to reduce heat generation, anymore. This
attribute also dramatically reduce the energy consumption.
Besides solving the problems, the nature of the molecular
enable us to build transistor in Nano scale, which is thousands
times smaller than transistors built on silicon. We have
worked out some approaches regarding how to construct
processors on molecular by using DNA as transistors. These
techniques will be essential to building these fantastic
machines.
However, if I look over the situation again and I shall find
that the biotechnology company is asking me to make action
which violate the NSPE code of ethics. According to NSPE
code of ethics, “Engineers shall not, without the consent of all
interested parties, participate in or represent an adversary
interest in connection with a specific project or proceeding in
which the engineer has gained particular specialized
knowledge on behalf of a former client or employer.” [7] I
was currently working for the computer company that I
belong to. I have gain specialized research result in my work.
I achieved these results when I was hire by the computer
company. The situation almost perfectly fits the scenario
described by the NSPE codes of ethics. I should not use these
specialized knowledge to work and make benefit for an
adversary. It is unethical according to the codes. The two
companies will become rivals as long as they are both doing
Bio-computer researches. The IEEE code of ethic for
engineers also states that “engineers should avoid real or
perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to
disclose them to affected parties when they do exist.” [8] If I
exit the current working company and join another research
group, interest conflict will occur. This is a thing that I, as an
ethical engineer, should avoid. As long as it is a thing
connected to party interest, I should not make arbitrary
decisions without consent of both parties. I believe that Ethic
and profession are two most important qualities for an
engineer. Though businessmen are pursuing profits, they have
their own ethics, too. It is normal for a person to work for
profit, but one should behave according the ethical discipline
as well. Before a businessman, I am an engineer. There are
codes of ethics for engineers that I should obey no matter what
circumstance I am in. Based on that ethical discipline, in no
case I should put benefit in the first place, instead of ethic and
profession. Even if I am not an engineer, the codes of ethics
(maybe different from those which are for engineers) should
still be my highest discipline. Profits and personal goal should
be achieved in a moral way. I should not contaminate my
profession by violating code of ethics.
But why it is against the code of ethic? Though I am an
employee of the computer company, the result is earned by
my effort. I worked with me colleague for several years. The
research results should be properties that created by our
thoughts and intelligence. When I want to use my
achievement to gain a better job, why it becomes unethical.
Isn’t it reasonable that I benefit from my own research? Why
the codes of ethics for engineers are not protecting our
intellectual properties？
I think through and understand that it is true that the
engineering ethic requires that “an engineer acts as an agent
for clients or companies and must always act in their best
interest. Engineers may not reveal facts, data or information
to another person without the prior consent of the client or
employer, except as required by law.” [9] But it is not just
because “someone says this”. This code of ethic is clearly
correct if the federal regulation is taken into consideration. I
should work on behalf of and be loyal to whoever employed
SITUATION ANALYSIS
I have to decide whether to accept is invitation. The new
work will provide two times more salary. I believe it is normal
to for a person to pursue benefit. Company runs to make
profit. Market discipline works because there is profit. “Many
engineers either work for engineering firms which are
businesses in their own right, for corporations directly, or are
self-employed in a manner analogous to single proprietorship
businesses. All such engineers are in fact business persons
and the theory of the purpose of business serves their needs
quite well.” [6] Engineers are sometimes considered as
business people, and they do sometimes act like businessmen.
They help the company to develop technology or choose
technology provider. Engineers should know what do the
company and the customers need and design product to satisfy
these needs in order to make profits. The new job offered by
the biotechnology company can not only create more income
for me, but also the company will assemble a stronger
research force thus making the completion of Bio-computer
earlier. Both of them are benefits for me.
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Ziyi Zhu
me not only by ethic, but also by law. According to the law,
engineer’s invention is owned by the company, or person,
who hired him. As I am employed by an employer, the
company, or person, become the beneficiary of my idea and
design. The company owns the right to profit from the idea,
design, or invention. Once an engineer is employed, the
intellectual property he gained in the field of his work belongs
to the employer. A patent is always registered in the name of
the inventor. The patent’s owner, however, may be another
person or a corporation. An employer normally owns any
invention or trade secret conceived by an inventor who is
working “for hire.” This means basically that the employer is
buying rights to whatever that person may produce in jobrelated work. Even an idea conceived in the garage at home
belongs to the employer if it is related to the job. [10] We can
see that my research achievements belong to the company.
Thus, it is very reasonable that I have to keep the
responsibility not to reveal these research achievements to
others without consent. It is not just unethical, but also illegal
to exit work and provide the intellectual property obtained in
this period when I worked for the computer company to others
without being authorized. If I accept the new job and start
working, I behavior can be considered as stealing properties
from my current working company. This action is against the
law and will result in really serious consequence. These
consequences are definitely won’t be something that I want to
see.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/29/175604770/tiny-dnaswitches-aim-to-revolutionize-cellular-computing
[6]: Norman E. Bowie. “Are Business Ethics and
Engineering Ethics Members of the Same Family?”
Online article:
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/530/art%253A10.10
07%252FBF00382672.pdf?auth66=1383072444_741bc42cf
678292551ffe8bb5645dd0d&ext=.pdf
[7] NSPE Executive Committee. 1978. “NSPE Code of
Ethics for Engineers”
[8] IEEE Committee. IEEE Policies, Section 7 Professional
Activities.
[9] Don Patton. “Engineering Professionalism and Ethics”
[10] John Hooker. 2000. “Who Owns Intellectual Property?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank Mr. Kirchner, my writing instructor, for answering
my questions about the paper.
CONCLUSION
Now, the conclusion is obvious. I will not accept the job.
I understand that my research have a fundamental meaning to
the development of Bio-computer. It has a large potential
value and the consequence may be very serious if I make a
wrong step. As an engineer, my ethic and profession required
me to keep my loyalty to my current working company. And
my research results are owned by the company, too. It is
illegal to provide them to others without consent. Although
the biotechnology company provides a great benefit, I will not
act immorally, even against the law, to obtain such benefits.
REFERENCE
[1]: Michael Quirk, Julian Serda (2005) Semiconductor
Manufacturing Technology ISBN 7-5053-9493-2.
[2]: Neil Weste, David Harris. CMOS VLSI Design: A
Circuits and Systems Perspective (4th Edition). AddisonWesley. . 194-200. ISBN 978-0321547743.
[3]: Amdahl, Gene (1967). "Validity of the Single Processor
Approach to Achieving Large-Scale Computing
Capabilities" AFIPS Conference Proceedings (30): 483–485.
[4] GEOFF BRUMFIEL (March 29, 2013) Tiny DNA
Switches Aim To Revolutionize 'Cellular' Computing
[5]: Robert T. Gonzalez (March 29, 2013). "This new
discovery will finally allow us to build biological
computers". (Online article)
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