The political context of our project plays a significant role in assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of a re-imagined engineering curriculum at Lafayette College. This research focuses on the idea that all engineering is political, as influenced throughout history from engineering’s roots in the military. We analyze engineering ethics, including engineers’ assumed moral principles, their obligation as engineers towards society and towards the clients, communities, and customers they serve, and towards their own profession. We also examine the ABET criteria for accreditation for the alternate Engineering Studies curriculum and path we will propose later on. This includes looking into our approach, the standards the curriculum sets, and the guaranteed quality in the results of the curriculum.
As seen through its past history and its functions now, it is realistic to say that all engineering is political. If we look at the military and imperial roots of engineering, we see that engineer’s primary emphasis was to transform nature into a predictable and lasting machine that could be controlled to ensure imperial patrons a return on their investment and display superiority over indigenous people that had already inhabited the land for centuries beforehand. These communities were sources of potential imperial subjects to be organized in ways that made it possible to tax them, convert them to the religion of the empire, and often force them into labor for the construction of their grand and expensive imperial projects (Lucena et al., 44). It is an obvious example of exploitation.
In the Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy (EGRS251) class that all Engineering Studies students are required to take, students examine the governance of science and engineering. Course topics include the overall context for science and engineering policy, the public policy process and institutions involved in that process, and several current and relevant science and engineering public policy issues such as climate change and gun control. Through this course, students are able to analyze how certain policies should accommodate and serve everyone, but can’t always be ensured, as seen in many case studies reviewed in the class and in books we have read in this Capstone.
Engineering ethics exist because there are certain expectations for engineers to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. The services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers have to perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. This is separated into three frames of reference: individually, professionally, and socially. Personal decisions about ethical situations in lives and careers involve the individual and the profession. Individuals need to hold honesty, integrity, and fairness as essential. In the profession, engineers must value competence, ensuring quality, and adherence to safety standards. The collective social responsibility of the engineering profession and societal decisions about technology involve the profession as well, but also a social aspect. In regards to the profession, engineers need to think about protecting the environment, public welfare, and product liability. Some social ethics to be acknowledged are sustainable development and bioethics. This code of engineering ethics is integral to the practice of engineering and is a crucial part of engineering problem solving. In this way, engineers can utilize these values to ensure safety against avoidable harm that is inherently built into engineering.
When we analyze the curriculum change we seek in Engineering Studies, we will have to acknowledge the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria. Lafayette currently utilizes this for its Engineering program, so we will have to consider now how our new proposed curriculum will be recognized with such changes. It needs to meet the quality standards of the engineering profession. A problem that may arise is that it may actually limit what we can and can’t do. Some of our projected changes may not even fit into the realm of engineering because we are seeking to incorporate more humanities classes into the curriculum. We then will have to shift to adapt to the certain benchmarks, bringing up once again the definition of what we want the true engineering curriculum to be.
Click below to learn about the technical and economic context of the project.