Writing Assignment 4 - First Year Engineering - Pittsburgh Campus Writing

Writing Assignment Overview

For Writing Assignment 4, you will be required to find and study two codes of ethics written specifically for engineers:

One code must be from the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE Code of Ethics)
Another code must be written from the field of engineering you plan to go into

Drawing on research from both engineering codes of ethics, as well as further research into the topic itself, you will now:

Articulate the relationship of the topic to particular codes and tenets of engineering ethics
Reflect on how you would approach ethical situations in your future career

Library Resources

An Engineering Issue, Practice, Process, Product, or Structure: Ethical Implications

For this assignment you will reexamine the topic you researched in Writing Assignment 3, placing it within the context of engineering ethics. Use the resources below as a starting point for your research:

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook provides links to major engineering associations. Find the entry for "Engineers" and scroll to the Additional Sources of Information section for a list of professional engineering societies and associations.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook is published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and gives an overview of the type of work, educational requirements, and outlook for a large number of job types in the US.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
This scholarly collection provides journal coverage for most academic areas of study, including biological sciences, economics, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and women's studies. This is an EBSCOHost database.
Engineering Case Studies Online This link opens in a new window
Focuses on engineering successes and failures and can be used for projects, papers, and discussions that focus on ethics. At completion, the collection will contain 250 hours and 50,000 pages of quality documentaries, accident reports, experiments, visualizations, case studies, lectures and interviews from leading engineering institutions around the world.
IEEEXplore This link opens in a new window
Access to technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics.

Hurricane Katrina - A Case Study in Engineering Ethics

Interaction between the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Orleans Levee Board preceding the...
This is the final Independent Levee Investigation Team Final Report (from the National Science Foundation) mentioned in the Katrina article.

Starting Your Search

Think about developing a list of keywords on ethics and engineering:

engineering and ethics
engineering and "professional ethics"
"ethical decisions" and engineers
bioengineering and ethics...

Remember, revision is part of the research process. As you conduct your research, you may identify additional search terms and keywords that you didn't originally consider. Don't be afraid to try new search terms, browse journals, or use citations in an article to find new materials for your research. Contact the Science and Engineering Library for any additional help!

Codes of Ethics

Your assignment requires you to make use of appropriate codes of ethics published by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and by various professional societies and organizations. The Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides links to most major engineering society websites. Locate the entry for "Engineers” and scroll to the bottom of the page to the section on Sources of Additional Information.

Step 1: