Case studies in Ethics issues in Engineering Design

Srikanth VedantamDepartment of Engineering Design

Engineering Design

• It’s about doing stuff• Need to make choices• To the best of our knowledge• May not be good enough• What happens when we push the boundaries?

To the best of our knowledge

Fukushima 2011

Some Very Silly Mistakes

• Mars Climate Orbiter was lost in orbit around Mars in Sept 1999

• Reason: units mix-up!!!

• Software required thrust in metric units whereas it was entered in lbfMars Climate Orbiter Launch

We Look for Other Ways

• Wind farm• “Green Energy” • Potential alternative to

nuclear, fossil fuels• Is it better for the

environment?

An Arrogant Error

• “Science helps build a new India … But India needs the technical knowledge of the western world”

Promotional ad for Union Carbide (Danbury, CT) touting construction of shiny, new chemical plant in Bhopal, India.

Continue to Plough Ahead

• ABIOCOR, implantable substitute heart for those awaiting transplant

• Some people wait more than 2 years for heart transplant, or die waiting

Decisions, Decisions

• We’ve picked the wrong occupation to find a comfortable place to blend in

• Choose to work hard• Choose to figure out what you don’t know• Or choose not to do anything to excel– But that’s still a choice!

(c) 2008 C.J. Schwartz, PhD, PE All Rights Reserved

Case Study I: Ford Pinto

• In USA in late 60s demand for sub-compacts was rising– Led to a <2000 lb, < 2000$ car

• Brash CEO Lee Iacocca – Design and production was accelerated

• Gas tanks ruptured in tests over 25 mph• Simple solution was proposed• Overturned on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis

– $200,000 per death, $67,000 per injury = $50 million– Cost of solution $11 per car = $137 million

• Pinto met the safety requirements of the time!• Lost a huge lawsuit and recalled 1.5 million cars

Ford Pinto

• Engineers did not dare to approach charismatic CEO with bad news

• What would you have done?

Case Study II: Lighter Cars

• New York Times study says “Making Cars Lighter Could Cost Lives”– Smallest cars have highest fatality rates– midsize ones are safer than SUVs

• Others have argued that lighter cars are easier to bring to a stop

• Heavier cars are the ones that cause lighter ones to be more dangerous

• What ethical concerns underlie the controversy?

Case Study III: Citicorp case

• LeMessurier structural engineer to build Citicorp building• Unlike traditional buildings this was built on 9 story columns

over a church• Columns were at the center of the side of the building rather

than on corners• Corner wind loads were not accounted for in design• Design procedures did not even require the calculation of

corner loads• Welded joints were replaced by bolted joints during

construction reducing factor of safety• 16 year storm could cause collapse

– A student brought this to attention of LeMessurier

Citicorp case

• LeMessurier worked with Citicorp to create reinforcements

• Storm season approaching but no information given to tenants

• $2 million settlement by LeMessurier to Citicorp

Case Study IV: How much safety is enough?

• You are designing a new product: – A Lab-on-Chip involving use of nanopowders

• As far as you currently know they are safe to use• But there are nagging doubts• How much time and resources will you expend to ensure

safety?• What will satisfy you that you did your job as an engineer?

– Significant part of your resources to look at safety– Life cycle approach– Fail-safe design

Normalization of Deviance

• Most insidious form leading to loss in safety• Arises from the very presence of a factor of

safety• Methods and means to overcome this– Retraining– Automatic fail-safe designs

Ethics in Publishing

• Cases of fraud in reporting results• Researchers manipulate data to publish in

respected journals• Whose responsibility to police the possibility

of fraud– Author?– Editor of journal?