Introduction to

Engineering
Profession
Instructor:Mathewos H.
 Course Objectives

1. Familiarize the students with the meaning,

history and different aspects of engineering.
2. Help the students explore future career and
provide resources for job opportunities.
3. Introduce professional practice, responsibilities,
health and safety and engineering ethics in
academia and in the workplace.
 Course Outcome
 Understanding of professional and ethical
responsibilities.
 Ability to study effectively.
 Ability to think critically, being innovative/creative
and apply engineering reasoning to problem
solving.
 Ability to communicate effectively.
 contents
Definition of “ Engineering”
History of Engineering
Responsibilities
The value of the engineering profession
The legal framework of the engineering

profession
 Engineering Majors
 Historical Background of Engineering
 The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as
human devised fundamental invitations such as a pulley, lever, and
wheel.
 Consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting

basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

 The term engineering itself has much more recent etymology,

deriving from the word engineer,

 engine’er (Literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred

to “a constructor of military engines.”

 The word “engine”=older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin

ingenium, and meaning “innate (inborn) quality, especially mental

power, hence a clever invention.”
 Cont…
 Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings
matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered
the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the
construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the
older discipline of military engineering.
 Traditionally there were two divisions or disciplines, military

engineering and civil engineering.

 The practicing engineering began to restrict operations to narrower

channels.
 For instant, civil engineering - concerned primarily with static

structures, such as dams, bridges, and buildings,

 mechanical engineering - dynamic structures, such as machinery and

engines.
 Definition
 Over the years, many definitions of engineering have been put
forth, from that of the famous scientist Count Rumford over 200
years ago: “Engineering is the application of science to the
common purpose of life”.
 To the current standard definition of engineering provided by the

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

 "Engineering is the profession in which a knowledge of the

mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience,

and practice, is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize,
economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit
of humankind. "

NAE of the US defines Engineer 2020 as;“understands the principals of
History of Engineering
History of engineering have four
revolution phases;
1. Pre-Scientific revolution
2. Industrial revolution
3. Second industrial revolution
4. Information revolution
 1. Pre-scientific Revolution
 The fore runners of engineers, practical artists and
craftsmen, proceeded mainly by trial and error.
 Yet tinkering combined with imagination produced many

marvelous devices and monuments.

 The ancient Egyptians temples and monuments such as

the great Pyramids are examples of craftsmanship and

intuitive engineering ingenuity.
 The prehistory of modern engineering features ancient

master builders and Renaissance engineers such as

Leonardo da Vinci.
2. Industrial Revolution
 From the eighteenth through early nineteenth
century, civil and mechanical engineers changed
from practical artists to scientific professionals.
 This phase of engineering lasted through the First

Industrial Revolution, when machines,

increasingly powered by steam engines, started to
replace muscles in most production.
 While pulling off the revolution, traditional artisans

transformed themselves to modern professionals.

3.Second Industrial Revolution
 The second industrial revolution, symbolized by
the advent of electricity and mass production,
was driven by many branches of engineering.
 In the century before World War II, chemical,

electrical, and other science based engineering

branches developed electricity,
telecommunications, cars, airplanes, and mass
production.
4.Information Revolution
 As engineering science matured after the war,
microelectronics, computers, and
telecommunications jointly produced information
technology.
 Microelectronics, telecommunications, and
computer engineering joined force to precipitate
the information revolution in which intellectual
chores are increasingly alleviated by machines.
Summary of
Historical
Evolution of
Engineering
 Greatest Engineering Achievements of 20th Century

1. High performance materials 11. Air-conditioning and refrigeration

2. Nuclear technologies 12. Telephone
3. Laser and fiber optics 13. Computers
4. Petroleum and gas technologies 14. Agricultural mechanization
5. Health technologies 15. Radio and television
6. Household appliances 16. Electronics
7. Imaging technologies 17. Safe and abundant water
8. Internet 18. Airplane
9. Space exploration 19. Automobile
10. Interstate highways 20. Electrification
 Relationships among Science, Technology, and
 Science
Engineering
is an intellectual activity carried on by humans that
is designed to discover information about the natural world
in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this
information can be organized into meaningful patterns.
 A primary aim of science is to collect facts (data).
 Consider some examples. An ecologist observing the

territorial behaviors of bluebirds - scientists making

observations in order to find patterns in natural phenomena.
An astrophysicist photographing distant galaxies - also
scientists making observations, but in more discrete settings.
 Cont…
 The examples above are observational science, but there is also
experimental science. A chemist observing the rates of one
chemical reaction at a variety of temperatures. This scientist
performing experiments to see what consistent patterns emerge.
A biologist observing the reaction of a particular tissue to
various stimulants is likewise experimenting to find patterns of
behavior.
 Engineers use the laws of nature to create and refine the

artifacts of modern life.

 Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge about

matter and energy for particular human uses such as

construction, machinery, products, or systems.”
 Cont…
“ It is most simply, the art of directing the great sources of
power in nature for the use and the convenience of humans
 Technology is a product of engineering and science.
 Technology is the relationship that society has with its tools and

crafts, and to what extent society can control its environment.

 It is the particle application of knowledge especially in a

particular area” and “a capability given by the practical

application of knowledge.”
 The entities, both material and immaterial, created by the

application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve

some value.
 Cont…
 The word “technology” can be used to refer to a collection of techniques.
 Most people, however, think of technology in terms of its artifacts:

computer and software, aircraft, pesticides, water-treatment plants, birth-

control pills, and microwave ovens, to name a few. But technology is more
than these tangible products.
 Science aims to understand the “why” and “how” of nature, engineering

seeks to shape the natural world to meet human needs and wants.
Engineering, therefore, could be called “design under constraint,”
◦ Natural law, cost, reliability, safety, environmental impacts, ease
of use, available human and material resources, manufacturability,
government regulations, laws, and even politics.
 In short, technology necessarily involves science and engineering.
 Cont…
 Scientists try to understand nature. Engineering try to make things
that do not exist in nature.
 Considering the design and manufacturing of an aircraft as follows:
 Scientists- research new materials, such as composites.
 Research engineers- study the scientists’ input and develop feasible

aircraft designs.
 Developmental and design engineers and Technologists- preparing

to manufacture the selected design.

 Technicians and craftsmen – involved in fabrication and testing all

components, as well assemble the aircraft.

 Science
 It is a systematic observation of natural events and
conditions in orders to discover facts about them and to
formulate laws and principles based on these facts.
 Organized body of knowledge that is derived from such

observations and that can be verified or tested by further

investigation.
 Any specific branch of this is general body of

knowledge, such as biology, physics, chemistry, geology,

or astronomy. (Academic Press Dictionary of Science
and Technology)
 Enginee
A
ring
discipline and profession of applying
technical and scientific knowledge and
utilizing natural laws and physical resources in
order to design and implement materials,
structures, machines, devices, systems, and
processes that safely realize a desired
objective and meet specified criteria.
 It
Technology
is a product of engineering and science.
 In general, technology, is the relationship that society

has with its tools and crafts, and to what extent

society can control its environment (knowledge).
 The practical application of knowledge especially in a

particular area and a capability given.

 Technicians and craftsmen involved in fabrication and

testing all components, as well assembling.

Science, Engineering & Technology

Engineer - Applies knowledge of math and the physical
sciences to the efficient design and construction of usable
devices, structures and processes.

Scientist - Like an engineer, but a primary goal is the
expansion of knowledge and understanding physical
processes.

Technologist - Technologists focus on direct application of
established engineering principles and processes. Math, the
physical sciences, and underlying engineering theory receive
limited coverage. More interested in hardware and
processes.
 The Engineer and Scientist
Scientist Engineer
 Discovering things or  Thinking about the application
acquiring knowledge when asking why
 Answers they seek may be
 Concerned with issues about a
product
abstract or practical ◦ Cost
 Asks “Why?” ◦ Demand
◦ Impact on society and the
environment
 Same Industries, Different Roles

Scientist Engineer
 Study planets to understand  Design spacecraft to operate
them on planet
 Atomic structure to  Smaller and faster

understand nature of matter microprocessors

 Study tectonic plates to  Study the movement of

understand and predict tectonic plates to design

earthquakes safer buildings
 Engineer and Technologist
Engineer Technologist
 Apply technology for a  Apply technology
better society for a better society
 Create new technology  Work with existing
through research, technology to
design, and
produce goods for
development
society
 Technologist vs. Engineer
Technologist Engineer
 Identifies
computer  Designs new
proper networking computer boards to
equipment for business transmit data faster
use  Designs new music
 Seeks out equipment
player
needed to construct
music player
 Engineering Disciplines
 The broad meaning of engineering encompasses a range of more
specialized sub disciplines, each with the more specific emphasis on
certain fields of application and particular areas of technology.
 Historically, mainstream engineering is divided into the four broad

disciplines of chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

 Within this discipline there are several branches of engineering,

covering an enormous range of fields. Today, we are seeing the

emergence of new disciplines of engineering.
 Aerospace engineers
 Design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles and supervise the
manufacture of these products.
 Those who work with aircraft are called aeronautical engineers, and those working
specifically with spacecraft are astronautically engineers.
 Develop new technologies for use in aviation, military defense systems, and space
exploration.
 Specializing in area such as structural design, guidance, navigation and control,
instrumentation and communication, or production methods.
 They also may specialize in a particular type of aerospace product, such as
commercial aircraft, military fighter jets, helicopters, spacecraft, or missiles and
rockets,
 Agricultural engineers
 Apply knowledge of engineering, technology and science to agriculture
and the efficient use of biological resources.
 Design agricultural machinery and equipment and agricultural structures.
 Develop ways to conserve soil and water and to improve the processing

of agricultural products.
 Some specialize in area such as power systems and machinery design;

structures and environment engineering; and food and bioprocess

engineering.
 Bioprocess engineers
 Develop device and procedures that solve medical and health-
related problems by combing their knowledge of biology and
medicine with engineering principles and practices.
 May do research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medicinal

scientists, to develop and evaluate systems and products such as

artificial organs, prostheses (artificial devices that replace missing
body parts), instrumentation, medical information systems, and
health management and care delivery systems.
 Cont…

 Most engineers in this specialty needs sound background in

another engineering specialty, such as mechanical or
electronics engineering, in addition to specialized
biomedical training.
 Chemical engineers
 Apply the principle of chemistry to solve problems involving the production or
use of chemicals and biochemical. They design equipment and processes for
large- scale chemical manufacturing, plan and test methods of manufacturing
products and treating byproducts, and supervise production.
 Chemical engineers also work in a variety of manufacturing industries other than

chemical manufacturing, such as those producing energy, electronics, food,

clothing, and paper.

 They also work on healthcare, biotechnology and

business services.
 Chemical engineers apply principles of chemistry,

physics, mathematics, and mechanical and electrical

engineering.
 Pollution
Control

Petroleum Extraction
and Processing

Biochemical engineers
Biochemical engineers study the chemical reactions and processes that occur
naturally in living systems (plants and animal) so that these processes can be
copied and used for human benefit. For example, biochemical processes are
used in brewing beer, sewerage and waste water treatment and in many food
manufacturing processes.
 Food engineers
 Food engineers design equipment, machinery and production methods that
increase the life of food whilst maintaining its quality and nutritional value.
They also ensure that the food produced is free from bacteria and disease and
does not lose its original texture and color.
 They formulate new food products. Design new process lines and packaging materials.
 Petroleum and petrochemical engineers
 Engineers in this field search the world for reservoirs containing
oil or natural gas based on geological study. Once these resources
are discovered, petroleum engineers work with geologist and other
specialists to understand the geologic formation and properties of
the rock containing the reservoir, determine the drilling methods
to be used, and monitor drilling and production operations.
 They design equipment and processes to achieve the maximum

profitable recovery of oil and gas.

 Research and develop technology and methods to increase

recovery and lower the cost of drilling and production operations.

Cont…
 Pharmaceutical engineers
 Equipments that produce life- saving drugs and medicine is
designed and operated by engineers in the pharmaceutical
field.
 These drugs need to be made very precisely in both small

and large quantities.

 Biomedical Engineering
 Biomedical Engineers develop devices and procedures
that solve medical and health-related problems.
 Biomedical Engineers work with medical professionals
to develop medical instruments, monitoring equipment,
artificial organs, and prosthetic devices.
 Laser Systems for
Corrective eye surgery.

Computers for
Blood analysis
Implantable Hip Joints Ultrasound Imaging Equipment
 Process control engineers
 Process control engineers are concerned with creating
and maintaining computer software and systems
designed to control the quantity and quality of a
particular products.
 Computers are used in a chemical plant to control such
as temperature, pressure and liquid level in the tank. It is
also important to ensure that the maximum amount of
waste material is produced during manufacturing.
 Civil Engineers
 Design and supervise the construction of roads, buildings,
airport, tunnels, dams, bridges, and water supply and sewage
systems. They must consider many factors in the design
process, from the construction costs and expected lifetime of
a project to government regulations and potential
environmental hazards such as earthquakes.
 Civil engineering, considered one of the oldest engineering

disciplines, encompasses many specialties.

◦ structural, water resources, construction, environmental,
transportation, and geotechnical engineering.
 Geotechnical engineers
 Geotechnical engineering involves the investigation, analysis,
design and prediction of the properties, characteristics and
performance of naturally occurring materials such as soils,
aggregates and rock.
 Provide information and knowledge on how the soil and rocks
beneath a proposed structure will behave under pressure.
 An understanding of the structures being built is needed in order to
assist in the design of their foundations.
 Geotechnical engineers spend a lot of time outdoors, collecting
samples and testing ground areas and advising on work in
progress.
 Hydraulics (Water) engineers
 Concerned with planning and organizing how water
is provided and removed both for large and local
schemes.
 Hydraulic engineers also deal with the treatment of

waste from industry, the control of rivers and flood

waters, the protection of the coastline.
 Structural engineers
 Natural forces such as wind, waves and earthquakes and their
effects all need to be taken into account when a structure is designed
and built. Certain stresses caused by the modern environment, such
as the traffic of both cars and people, also need to be considered. A
structural engineer ensures that structures are built in such a
way that they stand up to these forces.
 Structural engineers often work with architects, builders and those

in mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering to organize and

supervise the construction of particular structures.
 Costal and Ocean engineers
 Costaland ocean engineers work with at the interface
between land and the sea and in the open ocean
environment and are skilled in understanding this
dynamic natural environment.
 Electrical engineers
 Design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacture of electrical
equipment.
 Includes electric motors; machinery controls, lighting, and wiring

in buildings; automobiles; aircraft; radar and navigation systems;

broadcast and communication systems; and power-generating ,
controlling, and transmission devices used by electrical utilities.
 Electrical engineers specialize in areas such as power systems

engineering, electronics and communications, signal processing,

and control systems or have a specialty within one of this areas
industrial robot control systems or aviation electronics.
 Electrical power engineering
 It is concerned with planning, developing, testing, installing,
using and maintaining power plants or stations that provides
electrical power.
 It also deals with the transmission of that power to where it

is needed-cities, towns, railway lines, large businesses and

industry. Power engineers also conduct research on
developing alternative power sources such as solar and wind
energy.
 Computer engineers (Hardware & Software)
 Computer engineers are involved in the analysis, design, development and
operation of computer hardware and software.
 Research, design, develops, test, and oversee the installation of computer

hardware and supervise its manufacture and installation.

 Hardware refers to computer chips, circuit boards, computer systems, and

related equipment such as keyboards, modems, and printers.

 Computer software engineers often simply called computer engineers who

design and develop the software systems that control computers.

 The work of computer hardware engineers is very similar to that of

electronics engineers, but, unlike electronics engineers, computer hardware

engineers work exclusively with computers and computer related equipment.
Industrial control engineering
 Design, test and improve automatic
control systems for large industries such
as oil refineries, mining operation and
production plants.
 Industrial engineers are concerned with

increasing productivity through the

management of people, methods of
business organization, and technology.
 Material science engineers
 Involved in the development, process, and testing of the materials used
to create a range of products.
 They work with metals, ceramics, plastics, semiconductors and

composites to create new materials that meet certain mechanical,

electrical, and chemical requirements.
 They also involved in selecting materials for new applications.
 Metallurgical and materials engineers extract, process, refine,
combine, and manufacture natural substances to create new materials
that meet specifications that could not be met with raw materials.
Example: Materials that are:
stronger, resist corrosion, lighter, inert, elastic, sticky, insulate, invisible,
etc.
 Metallurgical engineers work with metal only. Teams of
metallurgy and materials engineers created the US Air Force's "stealth"
technology that makes a fighter plane's surface nearly invisible to radar.
 Teflon-1938

Nylon - 1931 Liquid Crystal Displays

1968

Transistors replace
Pyrex - 1924
Vacuum tubes

Glass fibers
Biomimicry
Lead to the
Neoprene- 1931 Invention of
Velcro - 1948

Ultrasuede and Gortex

 Mechanical engineers
 Research, develop, design, manufacture, and test tools,
engines, machines, and other mechanical devices.
 They work on power production machines such as electric

generators, internal combination engines, and steam and gas

turbines, as well as power using machines such as
refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, machine tools,
material handling systems, elevators and escalators,
industrial production equipment, and robots used in
manufacturing.
 A mechanical engineer designs
anything that uses mechanical motion

Computer Modeling

Underwater Vehicle

Robotics

Consumer & Baby products Food Handling Prototyping

 Environmental engineers
 Develop solutions to environmental problems using the
principles of biology and chemistry. They are involved in
water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal,
and public health issues.
 Environmental engineers are concerned with local and

worldwide environmental issues. They study and attempt to

minimize the effects of acid rain, global warming,
automobile emissions, and ozone depletion. They may also
be involved in the protection of wildlife.
Agricultural Engineering
 Agricultural engineering
involves the development of
solutions to problems relating to
both the use and conservation of
soil, water, and forest resources
as well as the development of
technologies to improve crop
and livestock production,
improve food processing
techniques, or extend the
storage-life of perishable
control of vibration, noise, air quality, heating, cooling
within machinery.
harvesters, transporters

Precision
agriculture
utilizing GPS,
remote sensing
and computerized
field equipment.
Environmental controllers for poultry,
swine, beef, aquaculture, plants
Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering: Changing the
DNA in living organisms to create
something new.
This organisms are called
Genetically Modified Organism
(GMO)
Example: Bacteria that produce
Genetically
human Modified organism are called
insulin
transgenic organism; since genes are
transferred from one organism to another.
 Nuclear engineers
Design, develop, monitor, and operate nuclear
plants to generate power.
They may work on the nuclear fuel cycle, the

production, handling, and use of nuclear fuel and

the safe disposal of waste produced by the
generation of nuclear energy or on the
development of fusion energy.
Important Fields for the Future
 Manufacturing frontiers
 Information and communication systems
 Smart and engineered materials
 Bioengineering
 Critical infrastructure systems
 Homeland security
 Improved health care delivery
 Nanotechnology
 Advanced environmental technology
 Sensors and control systems
 Engineering Design Process
 The heart of Engineering is, the engineering process,
sometimes called the engineering design process.
 The engineering design process is a step-by-step method to

produce a device, structure, or system that satisfies a need.

 Most engineering design can be classified as invention

devices or system that are created by human effort and did

not exist before or are improvements over existing devices or
systems.
 Design activity occurs over a period of time and requires a

step- by step methodology.

 Cont…

 What distinguishes design from other types of

problem solving is the nature of both the problem and
the solution.
 Design problems are open ended in nature, which

means they have more than one correct solution.

 The result or solution to a design problem is a system

that possesses specified properties.

 Creativity: Exercise
 See the figure below. Link all nine dots with only four straight
lines, which have to be drawn without any breaks and in one go and
without linking any of the points more than once.
 Cont…
 Solving design problems is often an iterative process: as the solution
to a design problem evolves, you find yourself continually refining
the design.
 While implementing the solution to a design problem, you may

discover that the solution you’ve developed is unsafe, too expensive,

or will not work.
 You then ‘‘go back to the drawing board” and modify the solution

until it meets your requirements.

 During the design process, a number of constraints may be

identified. Whatever these constraints may be e.g., availability of

parts and materials, personnel, and/or facilities the final design must
not only meet all design specifications but also satisfy any
 The first step in the design process is the problem definition.
 The product or customer requirements
 Product functions and features
 Collect relevant information for the design of the product
and its functional specifications is obtained.
 Generates multiple alternatives to achieve the goals and the
requirements of the design.
 Considering cost, safety, and other criteria for selection, the
more promising alternatives are selected for further
analysis.
 Detail design and analysis step enables a complete study
of the solutions and result in identification of the final
design that best fits the product requirements.
 Following this step, a prototype of the design is
constructed and functional tests are performed to
verified and possibly modify the design.
 When solving a design problem, you may find at any
point in the process that you need to go back to a
previous step.
 The solution you chose may prove unworkable for any
number of reasons and may require redefining the
 The Engineering Design Process Steps
1. Assess Customer need or opportunity
2. Problem definition/Specifications
3. Data and information collection
4. Development of alternative solutions
5. Evaluation of design/selection of optimal design
6. Implementation of optimal design
 The role of engineers in the society
 Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics,

and appropriate experience to find suitable solutions to a

problem.
 Engineering is considered a branch of applied
mathematics and science. Creating an appropriate
mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze
it and to test potential solutions.
 Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers

must evaluate the different design choices on their merits

and choose the solution that best meets their requirements.
The role of engineers in the society
 compromises are at the heart of “low level” engineering
designs, while at a higher level the best design is one
which eliminates the core contradiction causing the
problem.
 Engineering typically attempt to predict how well their

designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-

scale production.
 They use, among other things: prototypes scale
models, simulations, destructive testes, nondestructive
 Cont…

 Engineers as professionals take seriously their responsibility

to produce designs that will perform as expected and will not
cause unintended harm to the public at large.
 Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs

to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. However, the greater

the safety factor, the less efficient the design may be.
 Engineering decisions have an enormous impact upon the

quality of life in the global community, for example, the

social and economic effects of building dams in developing
countries or new airports on the outskirts of cities.
 Cont…

 Engineering design is a very powerful tool to make changes to

environment, society and economies,
 The construction of dams and their effects on agriculture and

the environment gains the notice of politics, and technological

innovations such as the internet and cell phones change the
way we live, work and even think about the world we live in.
 The engineer has the opportunity to shape and even
‘design’ society, just as much as the engineers has the
ability to design his projects, be it bridges or computer
programming.
 Cont…
 The question then arises: are engineers responsible for
the impact of their designs?
 Committed to designing systems that are safe for the use

of society; he must account for the different societal

conditions his design will creates
 Thus the engineer must remember his duty to society:

not only to provide a product that society can use, but to

provide a product for society to use.
 his design must be for the improvement of society. The

engineer must remember that his designs have the

impact of designing society, and that his role as an
 Cont…

The summarized roles and responsibilities of engineer are

 Engineers are designers who use scientific principles to

optimize their design.

 Engineers can use systematic, objective engineering

analysis and design techniques.

 Engineers are innovators.
 Engineers have the much potential to impact global

sustainability through the product and processes designed.

 Engineers are charged to be “dedicated to the protection of

the publication health safety, and welfare.”

 Engineering Ethics
Definition
 Ethics is the study of the morality of human action
 Ethics is the standard of life that people should strictly
adhere to
 Without ethics the world would be a dangerous place
and we can’t trust any one
professional
Engineering Ethics represent the attempts of
engineers to define proper course of action in
their dealings with each other, with their clients and
employees, and the general public.
Definition
standards
Professional Ethics represents the norm and
followed by the professionals in all fields in
their dealing with each other, with their colleagues
and with the society in general.
 Doctors and lawyers affect one person at a time,
while engineers may affect hundreds if not thousands
of people at the same time. So, engineering ethics are
very important because they affect most of our
everyday life.
 Cont…

 Engineering ethics will defined as the rules and standards

governing the conduct of engineers in their role as
professionals.
 Engineering is an important and learned profession. As

candidates of this profession, you are expected to exhibit

the highest standards of honesty and integrity.
 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.
 Code of ethics
 Codes of ethics have been established by various
professional engineering societies, such as the National
Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the American
society of mechanical engineers (ASME), the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), etc.
 These codes serve as a framework for ethical judgment for

a professional engineer. The codes also express the rights,

duties, and obligations of the members of the profession.
 The codes serve as starting points for making ethical

decisions. It is important to note what a code of ethics

does not represent.
Code of ethics
 A code of ethics is not a legal document, so a
professional cannot be arrested for violating it
provisions
 Although violating the code of ethics may result in

expulsion from a professional society (such as NSPE

OR ASME), expulsion from a society generally will not
result in an inability to practice engineering
 A code of ethics does not create new moral and ethical

principle; these principles are rooted in centuries of

 The fundamental canons (standard) of the NSPE code of ethics:
 Engineers shall hold paramount (supreme) the safety, health and welfare
of the public
 Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence
 Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and

truthful manner
 Engineers shall act for each employer or client as faithful agents or

trustees
 Engineers shall avoid deceptive (not to be trusted) acts
 Engineers shall conduct themselves honorably, responsibly,

ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and

usefulness of the profession
 Professional obligations
 Engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the

highest standards of honesty and integrity.

 Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public

interest.
 Engineers shall avoid all conduct or practice that deceives

the public.
 Engineers shall not disclose, without consent, confidential

information concerning the business affairs or technical

processes of any present or former client or employer, or
public body on which they serve.
Professional obligations
 Engineers shall not be influenced in their professional
duties by conflicting interests.
 Engineers shall not attempt to obtain employment or

advancement or professional engagements by

untruthfully criticizing other engineers, by other
improper or questionable methods.
 Engineers who believe others are guilty of unethical or

illegal practice shall present such information to the

proper authority for action.
 Engineering as a Profession
 Engineering possesses those attributes that typically characterize a
profession:
 Satisfies an indispensable and beneficial need.
 Requires the exercise of discretion and judgment and is not subject
to standardization.
 Involves activities that require knowledge and skill not commonly
possessed by the general public.
 Has group consciousness for the promotion of knowledge and
professional ideas and for rendering social services.
 Has a legal status and requires well-formulated standards of
admission.
 Engineering Disciplines Functions

 Analysis  Research
 Design  Management
 Test  Consulting
 Development  Teaching
 Operationsand
Maintenance
 Sales
 Engineering Functions
The focus of an engineer’s work typically falls into one or
more of the following areas:

Research - explore, discover and apply new principles

Development - transform ideas or concepts into production
processes

Design - link the generation of ideas and the production

Production and testing - manufacture and assemble
components or products

Sales - market engineering products
Engineering Functions

Operations - maintain equipment and facilities

Construction - prior to construction organizes bids,
during construction supervises certain components of
process

Management - optimize the use of resources (equipment,
labor, finances)

Education - teach engineering principles in university
and industrial settings

Consulting - provide specialized engineering services
Top Ten Benefits of an ENGINEERING CAREER

 Job Satisfaction
 Variety of Career Opportunities
 Challenging Work
 Intellectual Development
 Potential to Benefit Society
 Financial Security
 Prestige
 Professional Environment
 Technological and Scientific Discovery
 Creative Thinking
Thank
you !!!
 Quiz 1
1. What is engineering?
2. What is ethics?
3. What is engineering ethics?