2006 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 32 UEC JOURNAL February 2006 The following article was republished from the Web Site of the National Society of Profes- sional Engineers, www.nspe.org . The technical education pro- vided by most accredited engineering schools in this country is very good to ex- cellent. However, awareness of engineer- ing practice pitfalls and an understanding of how they can be avoided is taught in very few schools at the present time, and for good reason. While engineering fac- ulty are well versed in technical areas, with the current emphasis on technical research, most faculty members have kale or no ex- perience working as a project manager in a professional engineering organization. As a result, they are not cognizant of the pro- fessional practice problems which can arise on a daily basis and therefore are not equipped to teach students how to recog- nize and mitigate these issues. 1992, in response to the demand from the practicing engineering community, the Institute for Professional Practice, with sup- port from the General Electric Foundation, sponsored the development of a full course curriculum called Issues in Professional En- gineering Practice. The Institute for Profes- sional Practice is a nonprofit organization originated to focus on professional practice education in the engineering community. The intent of the course is to draw upon practicing engineers and allied profession- als to assist engineering schools in raising the student level of awareness regarding potentially disruptive non-technical issues in professional engineering practice. It was developed by Dr. Ronald Bucknam, who recently retired from full-time consulting practice after almost 30 years of experience in professional engineering practice and is now at the University of Washington. The course material is organized to parallel the progress of a project through a design firm or agency. The spectrum of top- ics ranges from types of engineering orga- nizations, marketing professional services, propose preparation, and types of engineer- ing services contracts through the basics of project management and team building to limitation of professional liability and other loss prevention techniques, alterna- tive dispute resolution, and the climate, process and cost of being sued. Also included are sections on profes- sionalism and the responsibility of the en- gineer to society, as well as in-depth dis- cussions of engineering ethics applied to common day-to-day incidents likely to be encountered in practice. These issues are presented in the formof case histories (sani- tized to eliminate the identities of those involved), based on the experiences of the course author and a number of engineers nationally. The videotape “Gilbane Gold,” produced by NIEE and dealing with an ethical situation in engineering practice, is a recommended resource for this section. The Issues Course lecture notes and in- structional materials have now been re- quested by more than 300 faculty at 210 ac- credited engineering and engineering tech- nology programs in the United States, five Canadian provinces, England, Wales, Co- lumbia, Australia, South Africa, Botswana, India and Austria. In addition, a number of individual firms, agencies and professional UTAH SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS www.uspeonline.com President/Program Chair Jim Belshe Workman, Nydegger Vice President/UEC Alternate Representative Eric Anderson, P.E. Parker Hannifin Corp. Secretary/Newletter Editor Cody Wilson Babcock, Scott & Babcock Treasurer Brian Manwaring UEC Representative Dan Church Parsons Brinckerhoff Contact Information Jim Belshe Phone: 801-533-9800 jbelshe@wnlaw.com Applied Ethics in Engineering Practice While engineering faculty are well versed in technical areas, most faculty members have no experience working as a project manager and are not cognizant of the professional practice problems which can arise on a daily basis and therefore are not equipped to teach students how to recognize and mitigate these issues. By Dr. Ronald E. Bucknam UTAH SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS SOCIETY FORUM Society in general tends to hold the professions, especially the engineering profession, to a elevated standard, and expects practicing engineers to perform on an higher ethical plane. This justifiable expectation is creating a dilemma for engineering students and the young practicing engineer, since most of the enduring bulwarks of moral and ethical decision making are being mocked and abandoned, and young people are not being equipped with the absolute value judgments required to distinguish right from wrong.