The Role of Professional Ethics and Responsibilities in Engineering

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of professional ethics and responsibilities in engineering design and practice. It defines professional ethics, highlights the responsibilities of engineers, and emphasizes the relevance of ethical considerations in engineering design. The discussion covers how ethical issues can be raised in the engineering profession, best practices and standards, challenges and opportunities in upholding ethical standards, and resources for further learning. It underscores the importance of engineers adhering to professional codes of conduct to ensure public safety, perform services competently, and act as faithful agents for their clients. The presentation also addresses the need to avoid unethical practices such as data falsification and plagiarism, and emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and innovative strategies to promote ethical behavior in the engineering profession. Furthermore, it encourages engineers to explore ethical theories such as utilitarianism, virtue ethics, deontology, and Kantism to enhance their understanding of ethical decision-making.

1. (Cover Slide)
2. This discussion would highlight the very definition of professional ethics and the
responsibilities, the relevance of it to the engineering design and practice, the manner in
which the issues can be raised in engineering profession, the best practices and standards,
the challenges and opportunities, and also the resources which can be made use of for
learning more on the topic.
3. Any person who is the member of the profession, and identifies themselves as the
member of such profession, becomes bound by the standards of such profession.
A Professional Is...
 A member of an occupational group (characterized above) who:
o Sees other members, including those employed elsewhere, as
peers/colleagues
o Exercises judgment in the performance of occupational tasks and follows
relevant professional standards.
o Accepts the profession's agreement to work in a morally permissible way
(often expressed as a code of ethics) as determining in part the obligations
of the role.
4. These codes allow the professionals to do what is reasonably likely and that the majority
of other members of the same profession would not be taking advantage of their good
conduct. The code acts as a solution to the problems of coordination.

5.
6. Even with such importance given to professional ethics, engineers frequently give limited
attention to the codes which guide their interaction with society.
The professional ethics also help the society in being assured that the work being done by
the professional is aligned with certain standards.
7. Further, it allows expanding the alternative designs to potentially eliminate or reduce
problems, rather than simply to react to the problems.
8. The technical issues which are faced in the engineering profession is not a matter of
discussion here.
It is imperative for engineers to accept the responsibility for their actions, while
practicing their occupation, and demonstrate, through their behavior, that engineering
ethics is the heart of the profession (Kreiner and Putcha 2005).
9. The reason for giving these guidelines stems from the fact that the consulting engineering
is an important and a learned profession.
 Consulting engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:
 Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of
their professional duties.
 Perform services only in areas of their competence.
 Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner
 Act in professional matters for each client as faithful agents or trustees.

 Avoid improper solicitation of professional assignments.
10. The rules of practice under this code dictate Engineers to hold paramount the safety,
health, and welfare of the public, to perform services only in the areas of their
competence, to issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner, to act for
each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and to avoid deceptive acts.
11. There is a need to avoid activities like falsification of data, fabrication of data, and
plagiarism. Whenever any information has to be disclosed, the same should only be done
with the consent of the client.
12. There are a number of challenges and also opportunities present before the engineers, in
context of professional ethics.
These three examples of design problems raise many significant moral issues regarding
safety, sustainability, the environment, animal welfare and health, labor conditions, and
so forth.
13. The advance of technology does not necessarily destroy values that we consider of great
importance, such as a relationship to the natural world and focused human activities. It
does, however, change the forms and contexts in which these activities take place.
14. Challenges and Opportunities provides engineers, decision makers and the wider public
with new understanding of the potential of engineering for the promotion of human
flourishing. To do so, there is a need for innovative strategies to be implemented on these
ethical opportunities. There is also a need for putting emphasis on the personal
responsibility of every engineer and on the benefits of supporting social structures.

15. Apart from the professional ethics, there is also a need to read about ethical theories and
the basics of ethics. In this regard, there is a need to read on the theories like
utilitarianism, virtue ethics, deontology theory, and Kantism.
16. It is evident that the engineering ethics is the very essence of the engineering profession.
It is the roadmap of behavior of engineers and points out the values and traditions of the
profession in leading humanity to make crucial choices and confront the challenges
necessary for a better and more meaningful life.
17. (Reference Page)