DSGN119 - Design as a Generic Tool Professor M Neil James - Web page http://www.plym.tech.ac.uk/si This page gathers together some of the web-based (and other) resources dealing with the topics of ethics and sustainability. Ethics 1. The On-Line Ethics Centre. This is an excellent resource for engineering students to study ethical questions which commonly arise in engineering practice. The first link is to the home page of the centre where the content of the web site is listed in terms of the issues it addresses. There is a link from this page to 'instructional resources' which considers syllabi and content used in university level courses dealing with ethical issues. This is interesting in terms of insight into the thinking of other people regarding what is important to undergraduate teaching. Clicking on the tab marked 'Leaders' leads to several interesting pages dealing with the role of engineers and scientists as moral leaders. The tab marked 'Essays' has some interesting essays dealing with fictional cases (e.g. The Case of the Killer Robot combines elements of software engineering and computer ethics) as well as essays on genuine engineering problems, which are supported by multimedia aids. This web site is comprehensive and organised to provide significant and interesting learning. It is well worth spending some time exploring. 2. The National Institute of Engineering Ethics (USA). The mission of NIEE, like that of its predecessor, is to provide opportunities for ethics education and to promote the understanding and application of ethical processes within the engineering profession and with the public. There are numerous examples of engineering ethics cases presented at this web site, and links from the Resources tab to many other internet sites. 3. National Society for Professional Engineers (USA) have a page on ethics. Their resource guide is available on these pages as a pdf file. Sustainability 1. Sustainability, by definition requires explicit links with the natural environment and with materials resource information. A good web site that is aimed at geoscientists and engineers is hosted by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, Canada. It defines the term, states why the concept is improtant and provides guidance on implementing sustainability in one's practice as a professional engineer. APEG has published downloadable guidelines on sustainability which can be accessed as a pdf file. 2. Sustainability.com provides links to a number of websites that discuss sustainability in British Columbia and other parts of the world although, like many internet resources, it is not particularly orientated to exploring linkages between engineering and sustainability. 3. The Centre for Sustainable Design "facilitates discussion and research on eco-design and broader sustainability considerations in product and service development". It includes a number of useful downloadable documents, including a paper by Professor M Charter on Sustainable Product Design and Development which is accessible on this site as a pdf file. 4. The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering has a nice paper on engineering education and sustainable development, which is accessible from http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=582. 5. Georgia Institute of Technology has an Institute dealing with sustainable technology and development. |