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Engineering Ethics



Codes of ethics

For Australia  see the Institution of Engineers, Australia web site for their.
Code of Ethics.  2000
and
Manual of investigation and disciplinary procedures.  1999.

Many scientific and engineering professional societies have a code of ethics on their website.  Links to these codes can be found through

  • the Online Ethics Center Codes of Ethics
  • the Codes of Conduct/Practice/Ethics from Around the World  A website for computing issues.
  • the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University Codes of ethics

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    Amongst organisations for which codes are available electronically are: Association for Computing Machinery,   American Chemical Society,   AIChE, ASCEASME, Australian Computer Society,   IEAust.,    IEEE, IEEE-CS/ACM,   IEE,     Information Processing Society of Japan,   National Society of Professional Engineers (US)

    There are two ethical codes adopted by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations  (WFEO )
    WFEO Code of Environmental Ethics for Engineers (1987)
    and
    WFEO Model Code of Ethics (1993)
     
     

    Ethical issues in engineering .

    For Australia
    APESMA includes articles on ethical issues in their Professional Update magazine

    Search ENGINE , the index to IEAust publications.  Try the IEAust web site for recent comment.
     

    For an international and coverage

    Engineering Ethics  developed at Texas A&M University, Department of Mechanical Engineering with grants from the US National Science Foundation.  Includes case studies and essays on ethical issues,  and case studies as teaching  material developed with NSF funding in 1992  and  1995.
    Also provides links to a number of other sites, academic, industrial, professional, that deal with aspects of engineering ethics.

    Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science aims to provide engineers, scientists, and science and engineering students with resources for understanding and addressing ethically significant problems that arise in their work, and to serve those who are promoting learning and advancing the understanding of responsible research and practice in science and engineering.  This site has an American focus but includes useful links to other sites.
    Its Case studies and discussion papers section includes

  • Engineering ethics cases: including discussion of issues in cases from the US National Society of Professional Engineers Board of Ethical Review and the IEEE Ethics Committee.
  • Essays: a range of papers discussing science and engineering ethics, with links to essays on other sites.
  • Links to two online journals, Science and engineering ethics (abstracts of papers only) and Eubios, (full text ) which includes environmental, ethical, legal and social issues arising from biotechnology.
  • Moral Leaders: provides five detailed hypermedia cases in which the engineers or scientists showed exemplary behavior in fulfilling their professional responsibilities or in acting for the public good. | Roger Boisjoly on the Challenger Disaster  |  William LeMessurier and the Fifty-Nine Story Crisis  |  Rachel Carson's Campaign to Control the Use of Pesticides  | Fred Cuny's Innovations to Lessen the Suffering of Refugees  |  Inez Austin: Protecting the Public Safety at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
  • Solving Problems in Science and Engineering Ethics: outlines a problem situation followed by interviews with knowledgeable people on how best to address those problems.
  • Ethics in a Corporate Setting: provides links to relevant sites, including ethically concerned high-tech companies, on problems that arise in the workplace.

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  • Education:  provides links to instructional resources in engineering ethics, computer ethics and research ethics developed in US universities.  See also
  • Research Ethics: includes materials developed by the Online Ethics Center from "Beyond Adversarial Ethics: Web Resources for Solving Problems About Research Conduct", by Caroline Whitbeck.

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  • Ethics Help-Line: provides advice for engineers, scientists, and trainees encountering ethical problems  or being confronted with potentially conflicting responsibilities where this may lead to conflicts with organizational superiors.  The Center does not conduct investigations.
  • iCivilEngineer  Engineering Ethics  includes case studies,  design failure lessons,   engineering disasters,  a List of Some Engineering Successes and Failures,
     

    Applied Ethics in Professional Practice  Case of the Month Club from the University of Washington, College of Engineering, Professional Engineering Practice Liaison Program.  Describes a case and allows for comment from readers.  Focuses on the non-technical issues encountered, ranging from professionalism and types of engineering organizations, marketing and project management, communications, loss prevention and limitation of liability.

    Australian Institute of Computer Ethics,  provides links to sites primarily concerned with computer and information ethics.  International coverage.
     

    Literature Search
    Use EiCompendex and INSPEC for references to articles and papers on ethical issues in engineering.
    Use Philosopher's index for an interdisciplinary coverage of ethical issues.  This includes ethical issues with an impact on engineering, such as environment and ecology.

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    last modified 24/11/2005 13:04 by Ms Kay Leverett