FCE 592: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE & ETHICS

A. Course Outline

• Engineering ethics; Fundamental Principles, Rules of Practice, Professional Obligations, Contractual Obligations,
Engineering Registration Act, Engineering Professional Societies, Engineer I Development. Engineer in Government,
Engineer as Consultant, Engineer as Contractor, Engineer in Contractual Disputes.

B. Recommended References

a. Engineers Act 2011

b. Engineers Rules 2019

c. IEK Constitution

d. Engineering Journals

e. Books on Ethics and Professionalism in Engineering

C. ASSESSMENT

CAT 10/100

Coursework 90/100
 ENGINEER AND SOCIETY

A. ABRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE

Engineering has existed since ancient times, when humans devised inventions such as the wedge,
lever, wheel and pulley, etc.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• Almost every form of engineering was known to the civilizations of antiquity

including Egypt, China, Persia, Chaldea, Babylon, Assyria, Phoenicia, Etruria, Palestine,
Moab, and Peru. They built canals, public water supplies, docks, harbors, lighthouses,
bridges, roads and massive structures. They tested the strength of building materials,
planned fortifications, designed engines of attack, devised methods of transport of
heavy objects and systems of navigation and communication, and were skilled in
metallurgy.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• The word "engine" itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c.
1250), meaning "innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention."

• the term civil engineering entered to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of
such non-military projects and those involved in the discipline of military engineering

• Egyptian hieroglyphs, as early as 2800 B.C record the title "chief of works" for the individual
having primary responsibility and duties in the organized undertakings which might be
considered a combination of engineering, architecture, and contracting.
 ENGINEER AND SOCIETY

A. ABRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE

The term engineering is derived from the word engineer, which itself dates back to the 14th
century when an engine'er (literally, one who builds or operates a siege engine) referred to "a
constructor of military engines. In this context, now obsolete, an "engine" referred to a military
machine, i.e., a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). Notable examples of
the obsolete usage which have survived to the present day are military engineering corps, e.g., the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
 A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• The "chief of works" held a position of power and influence in most ancient communities. He
was the advisor of the king, his ministers, and his generals, and usually held a sacred office in
addition to his secular duties.

• The origin of the title "engineer" is generally considered to have been first indicated about 200
A.D. in the writings of the Latin historian, Tertullian.

• Some 800 to 1000 years later the title ingeniator (engineor, engigneur) came to be used
frequently to refer to the men who made engines of war and built fortresses.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• In the early days engineering was primarily an art and craft; serving a period of
apprenticeship under an experienced engineer.

• Most of the work accomplished was done with a plentiful supply of labor and materials
(primarily wood, stone, and brick).

• Experience and patient trial and error were the most important teachers of the engineer.

• some rudimentary mathematics (primarily geometry) had been used for such things as land
measuring,

• 17th century that there was a rebirth of the science and mathematics which have become the
major tools of the modern engineer.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• In the 19th century radical change in the engineering profession. Carnot brought forth the first
real understanding of the theory of the steam engine in 1824; the dynamo and the electric
generator were introduced in 1831; the telegraph and the electric lamp were respectively
introduced in 1836 and 1880; the Gold Rush of 1849 gave incentive and capital for great advances
in mining engineering; Bessemer presented his important improvement in steelmaking in 1856; and
reinforced concrete was introduced in 1868.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• The new materials and equipment emphasized the need for efficiency and economy of design and led to a
rapidly increasing dependence of the engineering profession on the body of knowledge in mathematics and
science, to supplement art and craft.

• The American West was undergoing a rapid expansion. There were not enough experienced engineers to train
the large number of apprentice engineers needed to keep up with the swift growth of the American frontier
areas.
A. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE. Cont…

• The first organization of the engineering profession is generally considered also to have taken place in relatively
recent times.

• Most of the early engineering works were done under the jurisdiction of the military. Vauban, the famous
builder of fortresses for Louis XIV, initiated the idea which resulted in the engineers of the French Army forming
an organized group, the Corps du Genie, in 1672. In l 716 a French national highway department, the famous
Corps des Ponts et Chaussees, was formed to create an organization of engineers in civil life which paralleled
the Corps du Genie of the Army.

• The parent organization of civilian engineers, is the Institution of Civil Engineers founded in England in
1818.
 B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

The Engineer's Board has stated the attributes of a profession and of a professional
practitioner as follows:
i) Of a Profession:
1. It must satisfy an indispensable and beneficial social need
2. Its work must require the exercise of discretion and judgment and not be subject to
standardization.
3. It is a type of activity conducted upon a high intellectual plane.
a. Its knowledge and skills are not common possessions of the general public; they are
the results of tested research and experience and are acquired through a special
discipline of education and practice.
b. Engineering requires a body of distinctive knowledge (science) and art (skill).
[sic]
c. It must have group consciousness for the promotion of technical knowledge and
professional ideals and for rendering social services.
4. It should have legal status and must require well-formulated standards of admission.
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

Of Professional Practitioners:

1 They must have a service motive, sharing their advances in knowledge, guarding their
professional integrity and ideals, and tendering gratuitous public service in addition
to that engaged by clients.

2 They must recognize their obligations to society and to other practitioners by living up to
established and accepted codes of conduct.

3 They must assume relations of confidence and accept individual responsibility.

4 They should be members of professional groups and they should carry their part of the
responsibility of advancing professional knowledge, ideals, and practice.
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

Primary concepts amongst the above list of attributes of a profession are the necessity for discretion and judgment
and the obligation to satisfy beneficial social needs.
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

• Theodore Von Karman (Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist) has stated
very succinctly the difference between of the engineer and the scientist: "The scientist explores what is, the
engineer creates what had not been." It might also be stated: "The scientist seeks, the engineer does."
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

• Herbert Hoover (American President 1929-1933, an engineer)

• "The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can
see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He
cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with
trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will
forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned...on the other hand, unlike the
doctor, his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are
not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. No
doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician put his name on it. Or
they credit it to some promoter who used other people's money. . . . But the engineer himself looks back at the unending
stream of goodness which flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his
fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants." [ h i s a n o t h e r q u o t e “ B l e s s e d a r e t h e y o u n g , f o r t h e y
shall inherit the national debt”]
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

• The future of the engineering profession is a function of the increasing

dependence of our society upon science and technology. In 1890 there were
280 production workers for every engineer. Today’s complex society requires
one engineer to about 50 production workers; and the ratio continues to
decrease.

• Recognition, prestige, and economic rewards are also advancing in the

engineering profession. The engineering graduate has been able to command
the highest or among the highest starting salaries of all graduates.
 B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

• Yet more important than economic reward and prestige, the engineering profession is a self-
satisfying, creative, challenging profession that offers the utmost in opportunity for every individual
to exercise his vigor, ingenuity, and progressiveness, and to see the tangible results of his efforts.
 B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

We have often worked and strived for luxuries and tended to ignore the world's great
needs. We sorely need to work to over­come the social and political barriers which inhibit
the extension of our known technology to the underprivileged masses of the world. The
underprivileged masses will continually foment war which will tend to engulf us; or our
resources will be depleted as we build up arms for defense.

There has been great progress in developing instruments of war; but we need greater
progress in developing conditions of peace. There has been great progress in developing
communications; but we need greater progress in developing what is being
communicated.
B. PROFESSIONALISM AND THE FUTURE 0F ENGINEERING

• Engineering has worked with structural systems, electrical systems, and machine systems; but
the truly great challenge lies in working with living systems. The beginnings of these endeavors
may be seen in the activities of such fields as bio-medical engineering, environmental
engineering, urban and regional planning, and operation’s analysis. The potential achievements
of engineering in working with living systems offer great hope to usher in the good life for which
so many have waited for so long a time.