Unit-3

Experimentation? Beyond those specific tests & experimentseach engineering project taken as a whole may be viewed as an experiment

1. Any project is carried out in partial ignorance Uncertainties? Bypassing theoretical exploration & Laboratory testing One crucial talent to an engineers success? 2. Final outcomes- uncertain E.g. reservoir, a nuclear reactor 3. Effective engineering relies upon knowledge gained about products both before & after they leave the factory Success depends on gaining new knowledge

Monitoring Only in-house? As in experimentation, both the immediate & final results of an engineering project deserve analysis

Usually engineers learn from their own earlier design & operating results, as well as from those of other engineers. Does this happen? A few e.g.
Titanic Vs Arctic Milford Haven Bridge Vs Freeman Fox bridge Three Mile Island Vs other disasters

Engineering demands practitioners who remain alert & well informed at every stage of a projects history & who exchange ideas freely with colleagues in related departments

Engineers special responsibilities Major contrasts

Use of control In engineering, not the usual practice, unless the project is confined to laboratory experimentation What are the experimental subjects? Just to use historical & retrospective data. But can you disregard the fact that engineering is social experimentation based on this?

Experiment is performed on human beings not on inanimate objects. Medical testing of new drugs. Subjects moral & legal rights to give informed consent Sales to a knowledgeable firm Informed consent: Knowledge & Voluntariness Enormous gap- experimenters & subjects understanding of the complexities of an project

But can engineers can give all the information about a project or a product? But all the avenues for disseminating such info be kept open & ready Valid consent
Voluntarily Information Consenter was competent

Engineering projects are experiments that are not necessarily designed to produce very much knowledge Unexpected outcomes The Best outcome? Unexpected outcomes send us on a search for new knowledge

What are the responsibilities of engineers to society? Are they sole experimenters? From the perspective of eng. as Social experimentation, 4 features characterize a responsible person

To protect the safety of human subjects & respect their right of consent Awareness of the experimental nature of any project Autonomous & personal involvement in all steps of project Accepting accountability

Engineers as moral agents Conscientiousness implies consciousness: open eyes, open ears & open mind Contemporary working conditions of engineers? Engineering as social experimentation Social guardian But it also doesnt suggest that engineers force their own views of social good upon society- Informed consent

Conscientiousness is blind without relevant factual information Fully grasping the context of ones work(E.g.?) Ways of blurring context of ones work results:
Think someone else responsible for what otherwise might be a bothersome problem More convenient is a shifting of the burden to the Govt & voters

Consequences of what one does Foresee dangers- to what extent? (engineering- experimental in nature)

Authenticity- Moral beliefs & attitudes as critical reflections & not.. Are you personally identified in your actions as an engineer? Selling labor & skills! But view engineering as a social experimentation Attitude of mgt decides the amount of moral autonomy of engineers Long-term interest Vs short term interest

A blue color worker with union backing has greater leverage at present in exercising moral autonomy than do many employed professionals

Often misunderstood. Willingness to submit ones actions to moral scrutiny & be open & responsive to the assessments of others Submission to an employers authority or any authority for that matter, creates in many people a narrowed sense of accountability for the consequences of their action Famous experiments by Stanley Milgram

A strong psychological tendency in people to be willing to abandon personal accountability when placed under authority Divorce between causal influence & moral accountability
Large scale engineering projects involve fragmentation of work Corresponding to fragmentation of a work is a vast diffusion of accountability within large institutions Pressure to move on to new projects Preoccupation with legalities

We do not mean to underestimate the very real difficulties these conditions pose for engineers. Are engineers blame worthy for all harmful side effects of their project? Perspective of engineering as social experimentation

Moral responsibilities of engineers Enormously important 8 essential roles List as many as you know

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Serving & protecting public Guidance Inspiration Shared standards Support for responsible professionals Education & mutual understanding Deterrence & Discipline Contributing to the professions image

When codes are not taken seriously, they amount to kind of window dressing & ultimately increases public cynicism The best way to increase trust is by encouraging & helping engineers to speak freely & responsibly about public safety Includes tolerance for criticisms of codes, rather than allowing them to become sacred documents On rare occasions, abuses have discouraged moral conduct & caused serious harm to those seeking to serve the public (e.g. ASCE) Codes have sometimes placed unwarranted restraints of commerce

General wording- vagueness May not be able to straight forwardly address all situations Different entries in codes come into conflict with each other Little guidance on priority E.g., Proliferation- need for unified codes Codes are not always the complete & final word

Codes can be flawed, both by omission & commission E.g for Omission of codes? E.g for Commission?

If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not made his work sound, and the house he built has fallen, and caused the death of its owner, that builder shall be put to death. If it is the owner's son that is killed, the builder's son shall be put to death. If it is the slave of the owner that is killed, the builder shall give slave for slave to the owner of the house. If he has caused the loss of goods, he shall render back whatever he has destroyed. Moreover, because he did not make sound the house he built, and it fell, at his own cost he shall rebuild the house that fell. If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not keyed his work, and the wall has fallen, that builder shall make that wall firm at his own expense.

What should be the role of law in engineering? The legal regulations that apply to engineering & other professions are becoming more numerous & specific Nevertheless we continue to hear cries of there ought to be a law One of the greatest moral problems in engineering is minimal compliance

Loopholes Minimal compliance led to the tragedy of Titanic On the other hand, remedying the situation by continually updating laws or regulations with further specifications may also be counterproductive Judicial vacuum If cooperation is not forthcoming- if the manufacturer falsifies?- Robert Kates

Law makers cannot be expected always to keep up with technological development Nor would we want to see laws changed upon each innovation? Instead we empower rule-making & inspection agencies to fill the void FDA, EPA etc.

Precise rules & enforceable sanctions are appropriate in cases of ethical misconduct that involve violations Little of an experimental nature- type of professional conduct required is most likely very clear In areas where experimentation is involved more substantially, however rules must not attempt to cover all possible outcomes of an experiment, nor must they force engineers to adopt rigidly specified courses of action