Ethical Engineering by Nick Abel

I am currently studying mechanical engineering here at State, and one of the very first things we go over in our lecture is how to be an ethical person in the engineering workplace. Ethics is not something you would necessarily think you would need to review when studying engineering, but it is definitely an important topic. Engineers are usually dealing with big problems that can affect large groups of people, and sometimes the orders that the boss gives aren't always the most ethical of things you could do. It is important to look at how the decisions you make will affect others and weigh the positives and negatives of those decisions. The environmental impact is also a very important thing to consider when developing different solutions to various problems. It is very important to make sure you are doing as little damage to the environment as possible to promote sustainability. On top of everything else, honesty is very important in the engineering field. Some problems may arise that present you with a conflict of interest and that will change the way you view a situation which in turn could make you choose a solution that may not benefit society as a whole the most. Ethics are something that every engineer needs to take into account in their everyday lives and are very important to be taught to others.