ENEG20001 Reflective Essay: Engineering Impact, Ethics in Australia

This essay reflects on the historical impact of engineering on society, citing Nikola Tesla's contributions to alternating current electricity and the tragic failures of Henry Winstanely and William Nelson to illustrate both positive advancements and potential risks. It further examines engineering professionalism and ethics within the Australian context, emphasizing the importance of technical skills, ethical conduct, and adherence to the Engineers Australia code of ethics. The essay also addresses potential ethical dilemmas, such as being asked to lie by a superior, and underscores the significance of transparency and integrity in client interactions. Desklib provides a platform for students to access this and similar resources for academic support.

Running head: MASTER OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MASTER OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Learning outcomes 1: Explain the historical impact of engineering on
society
Engineering has contributed several technologies and science to transform the society
in a better way. Engineering has been applied in creating several structures, and appliances
that makes human lives safe and convenient. Engineering helps to shape the society. The
engineers uses maths , science to implement innovation with the machines and this helps to
improve the way of living.
There are several engineers who has made significant contribution towards the
society. Some of them are Imhotep, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and Alan Emtage.
Nikola Telsa is known for his contribution towards the designing of modern
alternating current electricity supply system (Krier et al. 2014). He was basically an electric al
engineer. Nikola Tesla worked on several real life projects including the radio, X-ray
machines and induction motors. By the year 1886, Tesla met Alfred s. Brwon and New York
attorney Charles F. Perck. Tesla proposed his new idea towards the electrical equipment that
included a thermo magnetic motor. Both the engineers agreed to help Tesla financially so that
he can focus on his new project. In the year 1887 Tesla developed an inductor motor with the
help of two engineers that will ran on alternating current. This got huge importance in the
market as it helped in transmitting high voltages over long distances (Tesla 2018). The motor
used for this purpose was polyphase current. This helped in generating a rotating magnetic
field that turned the motor. This was one of the significant contribution made by an engineer
towards the society.
There are several engineers who lost their lives after their inventions went wrong.
Henry Winstanely built a lighthouse on the rocks of Eddystone located in Devon, England
between the time period 1969 and 1968. The lighthouse got destructed as it was unable to

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withstand the great storm of 1703. Henry lost his life in this storm as he was present in the
lighthouse and five other member also lost their life. Another engineer William Nelson
invented a new way for motorize bicycle. He was basically a general electrical employee.
While testing his prototype bike he lost his life (Bejan 2016). Thus from these two example it
can be said that engineering needs to be done carefully so that it bring profit towards the
society.
Learning Outcomes 2: Explain engineering professionalism and ethics in
the Australian context.
The main skills that are the characteristic of an engineer are the technical skills. Apart
from these there are several skills that are needed to be equally their within a engineer, this
includes effective technical skills, the capability of handling immense pressure, the problem
solving capability, creativity, interpersonal skills , the skill of managing a team ,
communication skills , awareness about the commercials. From the lessons learnt I can state
that professionalism is needed in every engineers, as this refers to the way of thinking and
living rather than living. Professionalism is needed to be maintained by every engineer and
this cannot be taught by anyone. While working on a project each engineer needs to be
professional and also it is important to follow the basic rules of ethics. The value that can be
added to the engineers of an organization is that value for time (Ansoms 2017). Every member
should follow the time and should provide the work within the time provided to them.
The code of ethics followed by the engineers in Australia includes defining the values
and principles that will help in shaping taken by an engineer. The code of ethics followed by
Australia is divided into different stages. The first stage demonstrates the integrity and
includes being honest and trustworthy, respecting the dignity of every persons, taking actions
based on well informed conscience. Second comes the practice competently and this stage

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includes marinating and developing the knowledge and skills of every employee within an
organization, representing the area of competence objectively and the act based on adequate
knowledge. Third stage includes exerting the leadership values. This stage includes
upholding the reputation and trustworthiness necessary for practising of engineers, supporting
and encouraging the diversity of the employees, communicate honestly and effectively, and
allocating the work according the expertise of engineers. The fourth step deals with
promoting the sustainability. This includes engaging the stakeholders and community people
with their responsibility, balancing the needs of present with the needs that are likely to arise
in the future generations. This four codes of ethics are implemented in order to improve the
working of employees within every organization.
In situation like my boss asked me to lie for them, I will choose to quite the job as this
is against ethics. While representing any product to the customer it becomes necessary to be
transparent and clear about the products then only the trust can be gained among the
customers. In case any customer behave unethical we will avoid doing business with them
(Pilkey et al. 2018). As this kind of behaviour will affect the organizations reputation.

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Reference
Ansoms, A., 2017. Re-engineering rural society: The visions and ambitions of the Rwandan elite.
African Affairs, 108(431), pp.289-309.
Bejan, A. (2016). Advanced engineering thermodynamics. John Wiley & Sons.
Tesla, N. (2018). The transmission of electrical energy without wires as a means for furthering peace.
Charles River Editors via PublishDrive.
Krier, P., Parman, A., Piercy, D., Erlandson, J., Keele, R., Hill, S. L. and Erlandson, J. (2014). CODE
OF ETHICS.
XIII, R. P. (2016). Code of ethics.
Pilkey, O. H., Bush, D. M. and Neal, W. J. (2018). Lessons from lighthouses: shifting sands, coastal
management strategies, and the Cape Hatteras lighthouse controversy. In The Earth Around Us (pp.
198-220). Routledge.