Ethics in Materials Engineering

Dr. Parviz Yavari Dr. Ehsan Barjasteh

Picture : https://www.linkedin.com/topic/ethical-reasoning

Contents 1.Ethics/ Morality/Laws

2.Ethics in Engineering

3.Ethics in material Engineering

4.Term Project

5.References

Learning Objectives

(a) Introduction to ethical concepts, ethics in engineering particularly in material engineering

(b) Understanding the consequences and effects of unethical behavior on the individual and society

(c) Implementation of ethical principles to other engineering subjects, as well as personal and professional lives.

Ethics and Morality Ethics and Morality Related to “right” and “wrong” conduct, Often used interchangeably, NOT exactly the

SAME

Picture: https://speakzeasy.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/morals-ethics/

Ethics and Morality

Morality: Refers to Moral Conduct defined by individuals in relation to right or wrong conduct

Ethics: Refers to the Formal Study of moral

conducts (rules defined by an external source such as Codes of Conduct in a workplace) and often called Moral Philosophy

Morality

It comes from various sources: Parents Religion Peers Technology Etc.

https://www.pinterest.com/mkandermom/ethics/

Morality vs. Laws Action can be : Legal & Moral Designing a Airplane to be safe. Legal & Immoral At the pre-civil war in the US, Owning a slave. Illegal & Moral In order to help an injured person, parking in a no parking zone Illegal & Immoral innocent person being killed.

http://libertarianviewpoint.com/blog/personal-and-social-morality-vs-the-law-a-libertarian-perspective/

engineering.sjsu.edu/e10/wp-content/uploads/Ethics_in_Eng_Lec1_F2012.ppt ethics in engineering ppt

Ethics vs. Laws

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/makyong1/chapter-11-12552701

Picture below shows the differences between Ethics and Law

Does Ethics Fits into Engineering?

What do Engineers do? “Build Products” Such as cars, Airplanes, Bridges, Valves.

Engineers are building new technologies and hence advance the society

“Develop Processes” Such as process to distill crude oil to make it to a usable product

Engineers changes how we live

What Could go wrong?

The bridge fails if the bridge has an inadequate support.

The gas tank might explode from a small

incident if it is positioned too close to the bumper.

Improper doses of medication can be produced If a medical instrument isn’t accurate.

Etc…

Typical Ethical Issues

Safety Acceptable risk Compliance Confidentiality Environmental health Data integrity Conflict of interest

Honesty/Dishonesty Societal impact Fairness Accounting for

uncertainty, etc.

Ethics/Ethical Reasoning

Engineers make decisions on daily basis Serious consequences on people resulting from

engineer’s decisions What guide Decision Making for Engineers:

Ethics and Ethical Reasoning

Ethics/Ethical Reasoning

Ethical reasoning: A type of practical reasoning It affects certain social or life-form objectives,

including: justice, equality, freedom, health and safety

Engineering and Ethics

Engineering responsibilities: A) Social responsibilities

Engineers build product and develop processes Society will be impacted by such product and processes in various ways

B) Professional Responsibilities It is required by social responsibilities Any individual professionally has duty and obligation to the society

Engineering Ethics Engineering – Has been one of core human activities

Has large impact on society and delegate significant responsibility Engineers are often exposed to conflict situations: Should be capable of

resolving conflicts based on ethical manners

ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ) – defines the requirement for teaching engineering ethics

Goal is to prepare students for ethical challenges Engineering ethics:

Type: Applied ethics

What does it do? Engineers has responsibility to the public, clients, employers and

profession Engineering Ethics concentrates on set of standards that covers those

responsibilities

Engineering Disasters

The primary causes of engineering disasters are usually considered to be Human factors (including both 'ethical' failure

and accidents) Design flaws (many of which are also the

result of unethical practices) Materials failures Extreme conditions or environments (the most

commonly and importantly)

Example: Failure Study A recent study conducted at the Swiss federal Institute of

technology in Zurich analyzed:

“800 cases of failure in which 504 people were killed, 592 people injured, and millions of dollars of damage incurred”

When engineers were at fault, the researchers classified the causes of failure as follows:

Insufficient knowledge ............................... 36%

Underestimation of influence ......................... 16%

Ignorance, carelessness, negligence .................. 14%

Forgetfulness, error ................................. 13%

Relying upon others without sufficient control ....... 9%

Objectively unknown situation ........................ 8%

Choice of bad quality................................ 4%

Example: Failure Study

It is evident that materials failure plays a major role in engineering disasters.

The accidents related to materials failure are not just random occurrences, instead resulting mostly from poor materials engineering decisions that are always preventable.

“Ethical practices” are essential

Materials Engineering vs. Ethics

Role of material engineer is …. Responding to a need by creating something along a

certain set of guidelines (or specifications), which performs a given function .

Such creation should perform its function without fail.

The materials engineer must struggle to select materials in such a way as to avoid failure and, more importantly, the

catastrophic failure that could result in the loss of property, damage to the environment of the user of that technology,

and possible injury or loss of life.

Materials Engineering vs. Ethics

Root cause of materials failure: A deficiency in materials engineering ethics is

found to be one of the root causes Materials engineer are responsible to Their client or employer Their profession General public

Who is the Ethical Materials Engineer?

An ethical material engineer is one who: Fulfills the terms of their contracts or

agreements in a thorough and professional manner

Promotes the education of young materials engineers within their field.

Who is the Ethical Materials Engineer?

An ethical material engineer is one who: Avoids conflicts of interest,

Does not attempt to misrepresent their

knowledge so as to accept jobs outside their area of expertise, acts in the best interests of society and the environment,

Ford Pinto Case

There were defects in gas tank, revealed by the crash test

Test shows the rupture and explosion would happen if the rear-end accident happens while the speed is over 25 mph

Cost analysis of Dangerous design

Cost-Benefit Analysis according to Ford: The unsafe design would cause: Ford estimated that

180 Burn Deaths 180 Serious burn injuries 2100 Burned vehicles per year Now they assumed: $200,000 per death $67,000 per injury $700 per vehicle

Cost analysis of Dangerous design

Ford calculated that altering the part can cost $11.00 per car, therefore

Capital to make “safe” Ford Pinot $12.5 million cars x $11 = $137 million

What would be the legal costs not altering the parts 180 Deaths +180 Injured+ 2100 Burned Cars = $

49.5 million

What happened?

Over $450 million of lawsuits and personal injury filed against Ford

The rear-end collisions resulted in over 500 deaths

Ford got almost out of business after the lawsuits settled

The story generated lack of trust to the company’s products

Discussion of Pinto Case

What went wrong? Who was/were responsible? What were the ethical or unethical decisions? If

any? Describe the cost analysis by Ford?

Case Studies: Challenger Blew Up • Many of the engineering disasters that have been witnessed in the last few decades in the US were due primarily to the fact that engineers or engineering managers made unethical choices in their work. • In some cases, these choices were not simply “doing

something dishonest,” but making a technical choice that was NOT based on the best technical information, but for some other, expedient reason (political, monetary, or simply the “easier choice”).

The Incident January 28, 1986

Launch About 80 seconds after Launch

Challenger Model

In less than 1 second, smoke appeared at the ring

joint, indicating that the rings are burnt and failed to

seal.

First Damage

First Damage: Post Effects

The leak lasted only about 2 seconds then the shuttle rose. In less then a minute of ignition when Challenger was 6 miles up – thick flames start evolving.

Last Damage

Shuttle exploded and broke up in 75 seconds. Rockets crisscrossed and continued flying wildly.

The Investigation Why the Challenger Blew UP

Engineers had all the data they needed.

They knew cold O-Rings were likely to fail.

Engineering management believed them

and told NASA not to launch.

NASA asked for the supporting data

and engineers presented the data poorly,

NASA was unconvinced.

Engineering and management reversed their position

and approved the launch.

Chart by Rogers Commission Showing all launches

Temperature at

Challenger Launch, 32ºF

O-Rings

They are Fuel Tank joint but too sensitive in winter. Mid1985: Scorching becomes noticeable Analysis shows worse on colder days

Engineer Roger Boisjoly warns superiors

“WE COULD LOSE A FLIGHT”

August 1985: NASA Meeting No changes please.

Night Before Launch “too cold, delay launch!” The day of the launch was cold

and windy (~ 18 ° earlier, ~28-29° F at launch). Competition with Russians to be the first to observe Halley’s comet.

Result

The cold O-Rings failed, system exploded and the crew died.

R.I.P.

Term Project Pick an example of a materials engineering failure or disaster of some type (i.e. space shuttle(s), nuclear plant failure, plane crashes, building collapse), preferably occurred in the last ten years Describe the practice in the questionable case study in details Discuss what ethical issues might have been at least partly responsible for the failure. In other words, create a failure analysis report for the incident that includes: “What has/have failed / Why failed /Possible corrective actions (How to make it not fail) / Who was at fault, and why”

Term Project

Describe how a lack of "professionalism" or "conscientiousness" may have helped lead to this failure.

References A. Engineering Ethics. By Davis, publisher: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2005.

B. "To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design” by Henry Petroski,

Publisher: Vintage Books, 1992,

C. "When Technology Fails" by Neil Schlager, publisher: Cengage Gale, 1994

D. “Engineering Ethics: Balancing Cost, Schedule, and Risk - Lessons Learned from the Space Shuttle” Pinkus, R. L. B, publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997