Electrical Engineering and Ethics

by: Sadab Bahar  

Picture Credit: Douglas Detrick

            When people are asked about ethics, they tend to reply what they think or feel is correct. Some people even relate ethics with religion. However, people who follow ethics according to feelings and religion may not do the right thing all the time. Ethics are standards of right and wrong that revolve around benefitting society and fairness (Velasquez). In this blog post I will be discussing the importance of ethics in engineering, specifically electrical engineering. 

            Ethics are a very important part of engineering. Engineers must take ethics seriously or else they can violate public safety. According to the Code of Ethics by the National Society of Professional Engineer, engineers must exhibit the highest standards of honesty, integrity, dedicate to the protection of society (NSPE). There have been countless examples in the past of poor ethics including the Challenger explosion and the Tacoma Bridge collapsing. When building the Tacoma Bridge, engineers used slender spans and noticed the oscillation of the spans but did not take the correct measures to fix it. This led to the collapse of the bridge. Engineers must always think about the safety of the society when developing new technology (Nguyen). 

            I know my major is mechanical engineering, but I have always been interested in electrical engineering as well. It is the engineering things that people do not see such as the wiring of the lights in your house or why your television consists of a few colors but you are able to see every color from it. The consequences that can result from poor ethics in electrical engineering are very dangerous. It can lead to spontaneous fires or electrical shocks that can severely harm the user. As technology becomes more and more incorporated into society, electrical engineers must take the Code of Ethics much more seriously. 

            The Code of Ethics that applies to all engineering is a very important part of the profession. It is taught to all engineers and is emphasized in many of the classes that engineering students take throughout university. This code is very important and it is similar to my own which is simply benefitting society, fairness, and protecting the public health. I, personally, believe ethics is a very important issue, and if someone does not have proper ethics they will have a low moral code. Most people today know that engineers have a strict code of ethics. They expect when buying products, such as smart phones, that it will function properly without bursting into flames or harming the user. 

Sources: 

Velasquez, Manuel, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, and Michael Meyer. “What Is Ethics?” Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

Nguyen, Denise. “Engineering Ethics.” Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Handbook. Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Handbook, n.d. Web 24 Sept. 2016.

“Code of Ethics.” National Society of Professional Engineers. National Society of Professional Engineers, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.