Engineering Ethics

16 Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

project task forward. However, depending on a result’s relationship to the

rest of the project, a manager could interpret these results as detrimental

to meeting project milestones. Regardless of possible interpretation, it is

an engineer’s responsibility to keep the engineering manager informed

in a timely manner of negative and positive results. These results should

be presented as accurately as possible, with rational discussion of possi-

ble consequences. The manager is then responsible for acting on these

results.

At least one of the space shuttle disasters could have been averted

had managers listened to their engineers (see Chapters 5 and 12). The

day before the Challenger exploded in 1986, Morton Thiokol engineers

Roger Boisjoly and Arnie Thompson, who had contributed to the solid-

propellant booster design, presented their hypothesis and evidence that

the forecasted cold weather for the launch would increase problems of

joint rotation and joint sealing by the O-rings. Unfortunately, NASA and

Morton Thiokol managers chose to ignore the warnings given during the

engineers’ hour-long presentation and did not postpone the launch. When

the O-rings did not seal properly the following day, hot gases escaped from

the right solid booster, burning through the external tank. This ignited the

liquid propellant, causing the Challenger to explode. Six astronauts and

school teacher Christa McAuliffe were killed (World Spaceflight News,

2000).

ETHICAL DILEMMAS

Now that we have a full framework for making ethical decisions, let us

discuss the types of ethical dilemmas engineers encounter at work. Please

note that in some textbooks, job choice is also considered an ethical

dilemma. Job choice may involve ethical decisions, such as whether to

work for a military/defense contractor or for a company with a poor

environmental record. However, it is not listed here because this dilemma

generally occurs before starting a job, not during a job.

PUBLIC SAFETY & WELFARE

As discussed previously, engineering projects may directly impact public

safety. Engineers are obliged to inform their supervisors of project risks so

that these risks can be communicated to the public. They should attain

safety through conscientious design.

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A Personal Engineering Ethics Threshold 17

DATA INTEGRITY & REPRESENTATION

High-quality engineering analysis starts with careful acquisition of

engineering data. Misrepresentation of these data or their subsequent data

analysis may disrupt a project. Misrepresentation may take the form of

fabrication (inventing data or results), falsification (manipulation of data

or results), or plagiarism (appropriation of another’s results without

proper credit). In the extreme example of Jan Hendrik Schon at Lucent

Bell Laboratories (see Chapter 10), fabrication of nanotechnology results

caused tens of millions of dollars, including funding from the U.S.

Department of Energy, to be wasted. It was estimated that 100 laboratories

in the United States and around the world were working on Schon’s

results by 2002 but could not duplicate them (Cassuto, 2002).

TRADE SECRETS & INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE

A trade secret is proprietary company intellectual property that has

not been patented. Typically, a new employee signs a confidentiality

agreement on the first workday that he or she will not disclose these

trade secrets to others, even after leaving for another employer.

Industrial espionage may occur when these trade secrets are publicized

without consent.

GIFT GIVING & BRIBERY

The acceptance of a gift from a vendor or the offering of a gift to a

customer to secure business has the potential to be perceived as a bribe.

Company policy should be followed in accepting or giving gifts. Any

conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety should be avoided.

PRINCIPLE OF INFORMED CONSENT

The principle of informed consent refers to the right of each individual

potentially affected by a project to participate to an appropriate degree

in decision making concerning that project. Returning to the Challenger

explosion example, the astronauts should have been informed of the possi-

bility of O-ring failure before the Challenger launch occurred.

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