How Engineering Represents and Supports Respect for Life, Law, and the Public Good

Sunday, February 19, 2017: 8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Room 302 (Hynes Convention Center)
Richard Maudslay, Royal Academy of Engineering, Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
This presentation on Engineering Ethics explains how the engineering profession in the UK, under the leadership of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Council, developed a Statement of Ethical Principles for use by all engineering professionals. It shows how this has been used in the training and development of engineers along with a set of detailed case studies based on real life events. It addresses the difference between this Statement and the Codes of Practice developed by individual engineering institutions, each of which has an appropriate disciplinary procedure. It then explains how the Statement has been revised to take into account developing themes such as climate change and autonomous vehicles. It concludes by examining whether the introduction of the Statement has been successful and asking what more needs to be done.