CROUSE | The Ethics of Engineering
Poor engineering kills people. The Champlain Towers collapse caused 94 deaths; two Boeing 737 MAX crashes caused 346 deaths; the OceanGate Titan implosion caused five deaths. All of these are examples of catastrophic engineering errors that took lives. More significantly, these have all happened within the last decade and were the result of technical issues that were noticed but negligently went unresolved. In the case of the Boeing 737 MAX, low level engineers and training pilots both told senior staff about the issues that led to the crash years before they occurred. No action was taken to correct the issues due to corporate pressure and the company actively concealed safety concerns from regulators. A combination of calculation errors and ethical failures needlessly cut short the lives of over 300 people. Since the conception of the steam engine over 300 years ago, there is no doubt that engineering and safety regulations have greatly improved. Nevertheless, there is still always a risk that the buildings, bridges and vehicles you use everyday may actually be a ticking time bomb.
One wrong equation, an inaccurate model of a system or a poor material selection could disrupt millions of lives. As an engineer you carry this weight on your shoulders. Lead engineers are required to sign their........
