Sanchez 4:00
L10
THE ENGINEERING ETHICS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES
Chris Siak (cjs188@pitt.edu)
battery features lithium ions travelling through silicon and
copper mesh, aided via the use of carbon nanotube technology,
which, as discussed in the previous assignment, can increase
battery life by a substantial percentage [3]. The battery lasts
long enough to be viable for consumers and is cost-effective.
Given these factors, once the battery reaches use in
commercial vehicles, many consumers will switch from gas to
electric cars, which is the ultimate goal of creating this battery.
However, I discover that the combination of chemicals in the
battery will, after the battery begins to decay, react and form
new chemicals that will take an extremely long time to decay
in the landfill. Also, the production of the batteries themselves
is a rather difficult and energy-consuming process, having to
form large amounts of Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 and 360 separate cells
per battery [2]. I am confronted with the issues of, firstly,
bringing the chemical anomalies to the design team’s attention,
or not mentioning them in order to save time and money, and
secondly, determining if the process of mass-producing the
battery and dealing with its future decay is still more energyefficient than using a gas vehicle. As a professional engineer,
I would consult a code of ethics to help me make a decision.
INTRODUCTION
Engineering new methods of transportation that are
better for the planet is a top priority for many companies in the
corporate world. Many car manufacturers are producing new
hybrid electric cars such as the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf that
provide an alternative to gas-powered cars. Eventually,
engineers hope to improve the car battery far enough so that
the public will be coaxed into switching to cost-effective, longlasting electric cars. However, a number of issues can rise up
when implementing new batteries into commercial cars, as
with any new technology. For example, issues may arise
during the design process that involve possible areas of failure
in the design, or a client may have requests that are difficult or
unwise to fulfill. Engineers must take these possible anomalies
into account before they begin to mass produce final designs.
Richard Burgess of the National Institute for Engineering
Ethics writes that “Engineers are uniquely suited to contribute
to the solution rather than the problem” [1]. In other words,
engineers are here to solve today’s problems and innovate a
better world, so they must make wise decisions when
considering the ethics of the situation they are dealing with;
this ethical responsibility is extremely applicable to the
engineering and design of electric car batteries.
Ethics Code and Case Study on Integrity
The National Society of Professional Engineers’ code
of ethics is frequently referenced by engineers in situations
similar to mine, and an important canon regarding my
predicament is canon 5, which states simply “Avoid deceptive
acts” [4]. I would most definitely be deceiving my team
members and clients by withholding the chemical issues. More
specifically, rule 5a states that “presentations incident to the
solicitation of employment shall not misrepresent pertinent
facts” [4]. This means that it would be unethical to withhold
the fact that the batteries may truly not be energy-efficient
when presenting information about the project to the rest of the
team and the client. After consulting this code of ethics, I
should clearly make the decision to share my findings with the
design team.
My hypothetical scenario is similar another fictional
case studied by Texas Tech University. In this case, Julie
Adams is an engineer who recently finished a structural survey
project and after completing the write-up and doing a lastminute check, discovers a rusted-through support clip. Julie’s
advisor recommends that she not mention the situation, saying
that the client could have checked on his own for an issue. Jane
is thus presented with the issue of whether or not to expose the
truth [5]. The largest majority of TTU engineers surveyed said
SCENARIO: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF
BATTERIES
We have all been in the situation where our old
electronic device is not powering on and the culprit is the
leaking batteries inside. You remove the batteries, clean up
your device, put new batteries in, and throw the old ones out.
These decaying batteries are sent to a landfill to sit, where they
can take years to decay, damaging the environment. These
small batteries are enough to cause concern, but the large
batteries that could be implemented in hybrid cars in the near
future will eventually die as well. They too will end up in the
landfills, polluting the Earth and potentially our bodies. In fact,
Linda Ager-Wick Ellingsen of Yale University writes in her
study on battery life cycles that the “environmental
contributions of battery production and use phase can be
significant” saying that even producing the batteries may be
harmful for the environment, possibly to the point where it
may not be worth it to make the switch from gas to electric [2].
With that being said, imagine a scenario where I am
an engineer building a new battery for electric cars. This
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering
2014-10-28
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Chris Siak
that Julie should inform the client of the situation, against the
will of her advisor, which would comply with canon 5 of the
NSPE ethics code [4] [5]. After personally studying this
scenario, I would follow in Julie’s footsteps, and tell my
engineering team about the potential damage to the
environment that the batteries may cause.
to a typical gas vehicle. The results of the experiment would
then be used to determine which type of car should be used in
the future of the automotive industry.
While the previous two case studies were helpful and
provided me with advice about my situation, not all cases are
going to be directly as applicable or useful. In webGURU’s
case “Sometimes Silence is Golden,” an engineer is working
on an exciting project with a graduate student, who he hears
discussing the project with a student in another research group.
This normally would not be a problem, but a confidentiality
agreement has been signed by all members of the group, which
means that the graduate student was violating his signed
contract [8]. The engineer does not know much about the
student’s contact with the other student, he does not know the
extent to which the confidentiality agreement has been broken,
and thus does not know the appropriate action that should be
taken. In the end, the engineer decides he should confront the
grad student about the issue, and depending on the severity of
the breach, inform the university and the company they are
doing the research project with, complying with the code the
NSPE and the IEEE codes of ethics [4] [6] [8]. While this case
is a great example of a whistle-blowing situation that I could
see as a future engineer, it would be considerably less useful
than the other two cases for evaluating my own scenario. An
important lesson learned from this case is that one must
consider all options before taking action, shown by the
engineer in seeking his advisor for help and trying to estimate
the severity of the grad student’s breach. In my situation, the
problem was different in the fact that I would be withholding
information instead of another team member giving it away,
but I could at least take from this case that it is best to evaluate
every aspect of your situation before making a clear-cut
decision. This would apply to the testing of the batteries, and
the uncertainty of their environmental footprint.
Ethics Code and Case Studies related to the Uncertainty
of Environmental Impact
If I go through and present the issue to my team, they
may still want to go through with the production, which would
bring up the second ethical issue in my scenario. Is it better to
continue to burn fossil fuels with gas cars or to eventually have
a problem with battery acid decaying in landfills, and consume
large amounts of energy creating the batteries? As an engineer,
I would consider points 5 and 7 in the IEEE’s code of ethics,
which states that engineers should work to “improve the
understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and
potential consequences” and “seek, accept, and offer honest
criticism of technical work” [6]. While these canons do not
offer a direct solution to my problem, they point me in the right
direction of what I should do. It is still unclear whether the
battery is going to have more or less of an environmental effect
than the gas engine, so it would be impractical to try and force
only one option on the public. Instead, studies should be
performed over long periods of time to see which option the
public should turn to, and the switch should then be made
gradually. This would allow my team to release their battery to
car companies to be implemented in consumer vehicles, which
can be the subjects of these tests, to be performed on the
batteries and their environmental impact after years of use and
decay.
This ethics issue is similar to case 11, as presented by
Stanford University’s biodesign program. The case features an
engineer who has just developed a new medical device to be
attached to the aorta during surgery. It will significantly reduce
the time necessary for surgeries, but the risks of the device are
still unknown. The engineer has the option of going through
and implanting the device in patient surgeries, or holding out
and waiting for possible risks to be determined [7]. While
Stanford’s case study does not offer a solution or advice for the
engineer, it is likely that most engineers would say that the
device should be further tested in order to discover any risks,
and testing should likely be done on volunteers that are being
operated on and are interested in the benefits of the device,
such as a closed chest surgery as opposed to an open one. This
case’s details and outcome are helpful to me as they can be
applied to my predicament, where I can act as Stanford’s
engineer would. I could have the battery introduced in a small
number of electric vehicles and have those vehicles and their
batteries tested for their environmental impact when compared
Seeking the Advice of my Colleagues and Other Sources
Other than hypothetical, or even nonfictional case
studies, I can turn to other sources to help me evaluate my
position in the scenario and make a logical decision, outside of
just engineering’s codes of ethics. Personally, whenever I feel
like I need advice, I will turn to some colleague or higher-up,
whether it be an advisor, family member, or anyone with more
experience than me. In this electric battery vs. gas scenario, I
would likely first turn to a more personal source of advice,
such as my roommate, Matt. My roommate and I help each
other with our problems, and when I asked him what he would
do in a situation like mine, he recommended that I confront the
team the team about the batteries. He went on to insist that we
still go on with their production because most of the public will
not initially switch to the new technology, allowing the
consumers that do buy the electric cars to serve as test subjects
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Chris Siak
to be compared with gas vehicles on the road, assuming they
agree to have their battery performance monitored (which
should not be a problem) [9]. Matt makes a good point, as I
had neglected to realize that, just as with any new technology,
the public is usually hesitant to change what they are used to
doing, or driving. The switch from gas to electric would be
gradual enough that by the time the public starts switching in
large numbers, studies will have already been conducted
(likely by my team) that would determine the batteries’
environmental impact.
Engineering ethics is a glorified way to describe
integrity, sensibility, and honesty. Thus, a legitimate way for
engineers to seek advice for their situations is to consult a book
focused on integrity. As a future engineer, I would consult
Integrity: Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason, written
by McGill University’s Barbara Killinger. In this book,
Killinger writes that “Integrity suffers greatly when ‘whatever
works’ is seen as acceptable, and what doesn’t ceases to inform
judgment” [10]. Killinger’s words are very applicable to my
engineering scenario, and after reading them, I realize that
taking a shortcut to get a job done and profit quickly is usually
not the best way to go about solving a problem, and dishonestly
will likely produce negative or unwanted results in the future.
In other words, neglecting to tell my engineering team about
the possible environmental impact of the electric batteries and
pushing the batteries through production and into the public
market will likely produce unwanted results for either the
environment, my engineering firm, or both in the future.
Again, and for my final decision, I should tell my team about
the situation and evaluate the batteries from there, comparing
them to typical gas engines by slowly introducing them to the
public for testing purposes. This ensures that the safety of the
environment is kept as a priority, but so is the profit of the
company.
can engineers continue to innovate and invent with the benefit
of the public in mind.
REFERENCES
[1] R. A. Burgess, M. Davis, M. A. Dyrud, et al. (2012).
“Engineering Ethics: Looking Back, Looking Forward.”
Science and Engineering Ethics. (online article). DOI:
10.1007/s11948-012-9374-7. p. 1404
[2] L. A. Ellingsen, G. Majeau-Bettez, B. Singh, et al. (2014).
“Life Cycle Assessment of a Lithium-Ion Battery Vehicle
Pack.” Journal of Industrial Ecology. (online article). DOI:
10.1111/jiec.12072. p. 115
[3] H. Zhang, G. Cao, Y. Yang. (2009). “Carbon nanotube
arrays and their composites for electrochemical capacitors and
lithium-ion batteries.” Energy & Environmental Science.
(online article). DOI: 10.1039/B906812K. p. 932, 934, 940
[4] “Code of Ethics for Engineers.” (2007). National Society
of
Professional
Engineers.
(online
article).
http://www.nspe.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdfs/Ethics/
CodeofEthics/Code-2007-July.pdf. pp. 1-2
[5] “Case 1010 – What’s the Angle?” (2014). Texas Tech
University. (online article). http://www.depts.ttu.edu/murdoug
hcenter/products/cases/case-1010.doc. pp. 1-8.
[6] “7.8 IEEE Code of Ethics.” (2014). Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers. (online article). http://www.ieee.or
g/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html. p. 1
[7] “Case 11 – Incremental Development.” (2014). Stanford
Biodesign. (online article). http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/e
thicscases/11incremental.jsp. p. 1
[8] “Sometimes Silence is Golden.” (2014). webGURU.
(online article). http://www.webguru.neu.edu/professionalism
/case-studies/sometimes-silence-golden. pp. 1-2
[9] M. Cain. (2014, 20 October). Interview
[10] B. Killinger. (2010). “Integrity: Doing the Right Thing for
the Right Reason.” McGill-Queen’s University Press. (online
book). http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/reader.action?docID=105
58983. p. 5
[11] T. Hoke. “The Importance of Understanding Engineering
Ethics.” (2012). Civil Engineering. (online article).
http://rt4rf9qn2
y.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_en
c=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/sumon.se
rialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal
&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The+importance+of+understand
ing+engineering+ethics&rft.jtitle=Civil+Engineering&rft.au=
Hoke%2C+Tara&rft.date=2012-05-01&rft.pub=American+S
ociety+of+Civil+Engineers&rft.issn=0885-7024&rft.volume
=82&rft.issue=5&rft.spage=40&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&r
ft.externalDocID=292162898&paramdict=en-US. p. 40
CONCLUSION
Many different options and sources were available to
me to aid in my decision making process. Tara Hoke of the
American Society of Chemical Engineers writes that “Case
studies give young engineers an opportunity to see ethical
precepts at work in actual situations and, through discussion,
to benefit from the views and experiences of other
professionals” [11]. The cases I looked at were very helpful,
and it is important for engineers in the real world to know that
these resources are available to them to help them in their
situations. I would advise engineers today to consult these
resources in order to make the most productive and honest
decisions in their work, and to ensure the safety of anyone
involved in a project. They must be self-aware of their
scenarios, and if nothing else, use common sense and make
moral decisions. Only through this commitment to integrity
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Chris Siak
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
G. Carli, S. S. Williamson. (2013). “Technical Considerations
on Power Conversion for Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle Battery Charging in Photovoltaic Installations.” IEEE
Transactions on Power Electronics. (online article). DOI:
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2260562.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. David Sanchez, for
years of inspiration; Dr. Nancy Koerbel, for her writing
instruction; and Julie Mueller of the O’Hara Writing Center for
helping proofread my paper.
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