WHAT IS IT TO BE AN ETHICAL ENGINEER? A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ENGINEERING ETHICS PEDAGOGY

Two concerns are prominent in engineering ethics pedagogy and, together, pose a conundrum for ethics educators: 21st century technologies raise daunting ethical questions that require a strong engagement with and understanding of ethics by engineers; at the same time, however, engineering students don’t care much about studying ethics. Ethics instruction, however, seems nonresponsive to these issues. It continues to rely on Western ethical theories using case studies to analyze professional engineering conduct. And, although instructors want better student learning outcomes, assessment continues to use quantitative measures of ethical knowledge and ethical reasoning skills which disregard students’ emotional engagement with ethics and underestimates ABET’s Engineering Criterion 3(f) which requires that engineering students have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities. In the end, dissatisfaction with instruction and student learning outcomes persists. Given the epistemological foundations of engineering – that engineering is applied science using knowledge that is universal, objective, certain, and discoverable through reason – it is unsurprising that engineering ethics is taught the same way science is taught using a linear, positivistic, problem-solving approach that assumes reason will yield correct and usually quantitatively determined answers to ethical questions. In this dissertation, I argue that, contrary to the dominant thinking passed on to generations of students that engineering is applied science and, as such, largely ethically neutral beyond safe an d efficient design, the practice of engineering actually arises from a contingency model of knowledge and is, correspondingly, imbued with both uncertainty and ethics. I contend that the way we teach engineering ethics must change if we expect different learning outcomes from undergraduate engineering students. In this research, I introduce an engineering ethics pedagogy informed by phenomenology, the study of human meaning from the standpoint of experience. Students are asked to research the phenomenological question, “what is it to be an ethical engineer?” and employ principles of hermeneutic phenomenology to interpret and understand that experience. Quantitative measures test changes in students’ ethical sensitivity and ethical reasoning skills, and qualitative methods informed by philosophical hermeneutics are used to assess changes in students’ emotional engagement with ethics and their understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities. I draw two principal conclusions from my work on this project. First, a one-credit ethics course using a phenomenology-informed engineering ethics pedagogy can contribute to undergraduate engineering students’ improved ethical sensitivity, ethical reasoning skills, emotional engagement with the study of ethics, and understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. Second, qualitative assessment revealed that we educators of engineering ethics are not attuned to what is important to our undergraduate engineering students. While we are intent on imparting ethical knowledge, our students worry about how they will fit into the world of engineering as ethically competent professionals when they move from undergraduate student to practicing engineer. This is a gap we must fill if we expect our students to graduate with an understanding of their professional and ethical responsibilities. A phenomenological approach to engineering ethics education – where students are given the opportunity to investigate, encounter, and understand the real, lived experience of what it is to be an ethical engineer – can help fill this gap

High precision results for a two-point boundary value problem

AbstractIn this note we establish results of high accuracy for the two-point boundary value problem 1.(1a) y″ = n sinh ny with the boundary conditions2.(1b) y (0) = 0, y (1) = 1, where n is real and positive. At the same time a derivation of the approximation for large n3.(2) y′(0) = 8 e−n(1 − 2e−n/2 + 2e−n), which is deduced in [1] from numerical results, is obtained in the course of the development

A remark on the sloshing frequencies for a half-space

The known sloshing frequencies of an incompressible and inviscid fluid in a half-space with circular or strip-like aperture are investigated in some detail, based on previous results [4]. The first two terms in the asymptotic expansion for large eigenvalues are determined and a conjecture is enunciated for the general structure of the next term. The asymptotic results are listed in Table 1 and compared with the known frequencies. Furthermore, the sum of the reciprocal squares of the eigenvalues is computed numerically for each symmetry class; the results suggest a conjecture about the exact value of these sums. Es werden die bekannten Eigenfrequenzen der Schwingungen einer idealen Flüssigkeit in einem Halbraum mit kreisförmiger oder streifenförmiger freier Oberfläche näher untersucht (siehe [4]). Die zwei ersten Glieder in der asymptotischen Entwicklung der Eigenfrequenzen werden hergeleitet und eine Vermutung über das nächste Glied aufgestellt (Abschnitt 2, 3). Die asymptotischen Ergebnisse werden mit den bekannten Frequenzen in Tabelle 1 verglichen.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43331/1/33_2005_Article_BF01593991.pd

Estudio conceptual de un buque modular configurable por misión

This work illustrates how modern high speed craft design tools may be effectively used to evaluate innovative concepts for which empirical data may be limited. The example presented here was motivated by the US Navy’s interest in a finding a replacement for, or complement to, the USN Special Operations Forces’ Mark V high speed craft. Given the conflicting demands of restricted size and weight imposed by air transportability and broad mission requirements, a modular, multi-hull configuration is proposed and studied. The boat parameter space that influences calm water performance, sea keeping accelerations, and structural loads is explored. A proposed trimaran concept shows how intelligent placement of outer, or wing hulls can, in principle, mitigate shock loads and lower resistance, but with the cost of increased structural complexity and potentially a heavier craft.Este trabajo muestra cómo las herramientas modernas de diseño de buques de alta velocidad pueden ser usadas para evaluar conceptos innovadores para los que los datos empíricos pueden ser limitados. El ejemplo presentado fue motivado por el interés de la Marina de los EE.UU. en reemplazar o complementar el buque de alta velocidad Mark V. Dados los requerimientos contradictorios de tamaño y peso reducido impuestos para poder ser transportados por aire frente a la capacidad de realizar un amplio rango de misiones, se propone y analiza una configuración modular multicasco. Se realiza la exploración del espacio de diseño de las variables que influencian el desempeño en aguas tranquilas, el comportamiento en el mar y las cargas estructurales. El diseño conceptual tipo trimarán muestra como la disposición adecuada de los cascos externos puede reducir las cargas de impacto y la resistencia del buque a cambio de un aumento en la complejidad estructural y potencialmente el peso de la embarcación

Co-Opetition Between SAP And Oracle: The Effects Of The Partnership And Competition On The Companies Success

This research paper presents the secondary research findings on the similarities and differences between the strategies of SAP and Oracle, reasons why customers choose one vendor over the other, and how the competition between SAP and Oracle affects their cooperation with each other.  This latter effect we refer to as co-opetition.  A summary and conclusions will follow a detailed discussion of the aforementioned factors of co-opetition between SAP and Oracle

Inadequate supply of vitamins and DHA in the elderly: Implications for brain aging and Alzheimer-type dementia

AbstractAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent, severe, and disabling cause of dementia worldwide. To date, AD therapy is primarily targeted toward palliative treatment of symptoms rather than prevention of disease progression. So far, no pharmacologic interventions have changed the onset or progression of AD and their use is accompanied by side effects. The major obstacle in managing AD and designing therapeutic strategies is the difficulty in retarding neuronal loss in the diseased brain once the pathologic events leading to neuronal death have started. Therefore, a promising alternative strategy is to maintain a healthy neuronal population in the aging brain for as long as possible. One factor evidently important for neuronal health and function is the optimal supply of nutrients necessary for maintaining normal functioning of the brain. Mechanistic studies, epidemiologic analyses, and randomized controlled intervention trials provide insight to the positive effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and micronutrients such as the vitamin B family, and vitamins E, C, and D, in helping neurons to cope with aging. These nutrients are inexpensive in use, have virtually no side effects when used at recommended doses, are essential for life, have established modes of action, and are broadly accepted by the general public. This review provides some evidence that the use of vitamins and DHA for the aging population in general, and for individuals at risk in particular, is a viable alternative approach to delaying brain aging and for protecting against the onset of AD pathology

Étude de la réponse immunitaire et de l'évolution de la quasiespèce du virus de l'hépatite C (VHC) durant la grossesse

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal