THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

Professional Practice Essays & Articles

• Optimization, Option Disclosure, and Problem Redefinition: Derivative Moral Obligations of Engineers and the Case of the Composite-Material Bicycle
  This article describes the moral obligation of engineers and how it is related to design, manufacturing and responsible conduct of research; specifically composite material used in bicycle frame design.

• Towards a Theory of Moral Change
  This set of pages comprises a sample lecture that might be given to an audience of engineering students on the topic of the importance of ethical behavior in the engineering profession. Text for slides, an annotated bibliography and several examples of engineering ethicspledges and oaths are also included. The talk was prepared by the authors for the Ethics Committee of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Washington, DC.

• Essays on International Engineering Ethics
  Essays on Engineering Ethics education and experience in Portugal, France, and with respect to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

• Ethical Decisions - Morton Thiokol and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster - Index
  This essay provides a summary of important events leading to the Challenger disaster. Plus, a detailed account will show why the off-line telecon caucus by Morton Thiokol Management constituted the unethical decision-making forum which ultimately produced the management decision to launch Challenger without any restrictions.

• The Structural Engineer's Standard of Care
  This paper briefly describes cases of engineering failure with which the author has become familiar in his practice as a consultant and expert in construction defects lawsuits, and other engineering failures in the published record, in order to expose students to the concept of the engineer's standard of care.

• Ethics and Reverse Engineering
  This student project uses interviews with Texas Instruments employees to explore the ramifications of reverse engineering.

• Engineering Ethics in a Corporate Setting
  Essays and cases on engineering in a corporate setting including Texas Instruments (TI) and Lockheed Martin.

• A Design Engineer's View of Liability in Engineering Practice: Negligence and Other Potential Liabilities
  This paper examines concept of professional libility for engineering activites and products and its relation to the concepts of professional negligence and product liability as defined in law, particularly in the United States. Elements of tort liability discussed in this paper reflect societal expectations for engineering practice and engineering products. The paper first examines the basis for legal liability for general tortious conduct and then specifically examines the concepts of professional malpractice (professional negligence) and strict liability for products in the United States.

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