Engineering as Social Experimentation: Importance and Learnings

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Engineering as social experimentation involves engineers conducting experiments and tests at various stages of product or process design to evaluate outcomes and make necessary modifications. This process is crucial for innovation and improvement in the field of engineering, emphasizing the importance of learning from past failures and uncertainties in both projects and standard experiments.

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Engineering as Social Experimentation: Importance and Learnings

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Unit III ENGINEERING AS SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION

ENGINEERING AS SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION Engineering as Experimentation Engineers as responsible Experimenters Codes of Ethics A Balanced Outlook on Law.

ENGINEERING AS EXPERIMENTATION Experimentation (Preliminary tests or Simulations) plays a important role in the design of a product or process. Experimentation refers the activity, process or practice of making experiments In all stages of converting a new engineering concept into a design like, First rough cut design, Usage of different types of materials and processes, Detailed design, Further stages of work design and The finished product, Experiments and tests are conducted to evaluate the product. Modifications are made based on the outcome of these experiments.

ENGINEERING AS EXPERIMENTATION

Engineering Projects VS. Standard Experiments SIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Partial ignorance The project is usually executed in partial ignorance. Uncertainties exist in the model assumed. The behavior of materials purchased is uncertain and not constant Uncertainty The final outcomes of projects are also uncertain, as in experiments. Some times unintended results, side effects (bye-products), and unsafe operation have also occurred. Continuous monitoring Monitoring continually the progress and gaining new knowledge are needed before, during, and after execution of project as in the case of experimentation.

SIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Learning from the past Engineers normally learn from their own prior designs and infer from the analysis of operation and results The absence of interest and channels of communication, ego in not seeking information, guilty upon the failure, fear of legal actions, and mere negligence have caused many a failure Eg: Titanic lacked sufficient number of life boats it had only 825 boats for the actual passengers of 2227, the capacity of the ship being 3547! In the emergent situation, all the existing life boats could not be launched. Forty years back, another steamship Arctic met with same tragedy due to the same problem in the same region. But the lesson was learned

DISIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Experimental Control Members for two groups should be selected in a standard experimental control ie.,Group A and Group B. The members of the group A should be given the special experimental treatment. The group B do not receive the same though they are in the same environment. This group is called the control group Though it is not possible in engineering but for the projects which are confirmed to laboratory experiments. Because, in engineering the experimental subjects are human beings who are out of the control of the experimenter So An engineer has to work only with the past data available with various groups who use the products.

DISIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Humane touch Engineering experiments involve human souls, their needs, views, expectations, and creative use as in case of social experimentation

DISIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Informed Consent Engineering experimentation is viewed as Societal Experiment since the subject and the beneficiary are human beings When new medicines have been tested, it should be informed to the persons who undergo the test. They have moral and legal rights to know about the fact which is based on informed consent before take part in the experiment. Engineering must also recognize these rights. Informed consent has two main principles such as knowledge and voluntariness Knowledge: The persons who are put under the experiment has to be given all the needed information to make an appropriate decision Voluntariness: they must enter into the experiment without any force, fraud and deception

Valid informed consent The consent must be given voluntarily and not by any force. All relevant information shall be presented/stated in a clearly understandable form The consenter must be information and to make manner. The information needed by a rational person must be stated in a form to understand without any difficulty and has to be spread widely. The experimenter s consent has to be offered in absentia of the experimenter by a group which represents many experiments. capable rational decisions in a quick of processing the

Informed consent - Engineering the knowledge about the product risks and benefits of using the product all relevant information on the product

DISIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS Knowledge Gain: Scientific experiments have been conducted to acquire new knowledge. Whereas engineering projects are conducted as experiments not for getting new knowledge Suppose the outcomes of the experiment is best, it tells us nothing new. Mean while, the unexpected outcomes put us search for new knowledge. Engineering experiments at the most help us to verify the adequacy of the design to check the stability of the design parameters prepare for the unexpected outcomes

Responsible experimentation engineers in social The society Conscientiousness: A primary obligation to protect the safety of human subjects and respect their right of consent. Relevant information: A experimental nature of any project, imaginative forecasting of its possible side effects and a reasonable effort to monitor them. Moral autonomy: Autonomous, personal involvement in all steps of the project. Accountability: Accepting accountability for the results of the project. engineers have so many responsibilities for serving constant awareness of the

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS (sense of awareness) Conscientious means showing that one cares about the doing things well and thoroughly It means commitment to live according to certain values Engineers have to be sensitive to range of moral values and responsibilities Willingness to develop the skill and expend the effort needed to reach the best balance considerations. Conscientiousness means consciousness because mere intent is not sufficient. Respect foremost the safety and health of the affected, while they seek to enrich their knowledge, rush for the profit, follow the rules, or care for only the beneficiary possible among various

RELEVANT INFORMATION: Conscientiousness relevant factual information. Engineers have to show the commitment to obtain and properly gauge all the information related to meeting one s moral obligations. Moral concern involves a commitment to obtain and assess all available pertinent information. is impossible without

Comprehensive Perspective The engineer should grasp the context of his work and ensure that the work involved results in only moral ends. Not to Accept Design :-A product has a built-in obsolete or redundant component to boost sales with a false claim

Moral Autonomy Viewing engineering as social experimentation, and anticipating unknown consequences should promote an attitude of questioning about the adequacy of the existing economic and safety standards.

Accountablility Means - The capacity to understand and act on moral reasons Means being responsible, liable, answerable or obligated. Morally responsible peoples are expected to accept morally responsibility for their actions According to standley milgram, people are not willing to accept personal accountability when placed under authority

CODES OF ETHICS Engineering Codes of Ethics have evolved over time Codes of ethics are propagated by various professional societies These codes of conduct are guidelines for specific group of professionals to help them to perform their role What are codes of ethics: it is also referred as codes of conduct. It express the commitment to the ethical conduct shared by members of a profession. It also define the roles and responsibilities of professions This is used to help the professionals to apply moral & ethical principles to the specific situations encountered in professional practice The codes are based on 5canons- principles of ethics-integrity, competence, individual responsibilities , professional responsibilities and human concerns It is also noticed that ethical codes do not establish new ethical principles

Positive Roles of codes of ethics 1. Inspiration It provides +ve inspiration for the professional to exercises their duties effectively 2. Guidance It provide the guidelines for achieving the duties of professionals 3. Support for Responsible Conduct It offers +ve and potential support to engineers to perform their duties in ethical manner 4. discourage and disciplining professional conduct These codes can be used to discouraging & punishing unethical professional conduct

Positive Roles of codes of ethics 5. Education and promotion of mutual understanding The ethical codes can be used in educational institutions and other places for highlighting the importance of moral issues and values 6. Contributing to positive image of the profession It discuss a positive image to the public of an ethically committed professions 7. Protecting the status quo(current situations) and destroying disagreement within the profession 8. Promoting business interests through limit of trade

Some of engineering societies ASME- American society of Mechanical Engineers IE- The Institution of Engineers NSPE- National Society of professional Engineers IEEE- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Limitations of Codes of ethics The codes are not remedy for all evils. They have many limitations, namely 1. Codes are restricted to general and vague wording. They cannot be straightaway applied to all situations. 2. It have internal conflicts, which may result in morel dilemma 3. The codes cant serve as the moral authority for professional conduct 4. The circulation of codes of ethics for different branches of engineering gives a feeling that ethical codes are relative 5. Not applicable to all situations 6. Even as members of the professional society, many are unaware of the codes 7. Different societies have different codes

Balanced Outlook of Law A balanced outlook of laws emphasizes the necessity of laws and regulations and their limitations in governing engineering practice What is Law? It is a body of rules of action prescribed by controlling legal authority and having binding legal force In general laws means all the rules established by authority or custom for regulating the behavior of members of a community or country Relationship between Laws and ethics: Ethics- what is ought to do, what is not Law standard behavior required for individual 1969- Santa Barbara (offshore Spril)- 235000 gallon crude oil 1758- babylons Building Code 1852 US Streamboat Code Baby Cribs

Balanced Outlook of Law Laws with respect to social implementation Laws are necessary because People are not fully responsible The companies are not encouraged to have moral initiative due to competition Engineers are expected to play vital role in framing implementing and propagating the rules of engineering. Strictly follow rules Laws lag in technological development Industries feel that laws are imposing excessive restrictions on engineering applications

Proper Role of Laws The rules which govern engineering practice should be construed as of responsible experimentation rather than rules of a game. In situations where the experimentation is large and time consuming, the rules must not try to cover all possible outcomes, and they should not compel the engineers to follow inflexible courses of action. The regulation should be broad, but make engineers accountable for their decisions,

Industrial Standards Standardization primarily means setting up standards by which level, quality, quantity, value performance or service may be evaluated Simply, It is the process of defining and applying conditions required to ensure that a given range of requirements can be easily met with minimum changes in an economical and reproducible manner by the latest technique. What are standards? They are formed by companies for their in-house use and by professional associations and trade associations for industry-wide use. Some times standards are parts of laws and official regulations ISO 9000-2000 series are typical examples in this direction The financial industry has given us countless scandals and front-page news stories about financial professionals who have defrauded investors, employers and their peers. There is no doubt that greed is a powerful emotion, but sometimes unethical behavior boils down to a lack of education on basic principles of financial standards

Standards Facilitate Interchangeability Accuracy in measurement Ease of handling Prevention of harms Decreased production costs Quality products

Types of standards

Benefits of standards It helps manufacturers, clients and public It maintain a steady and balanced competition among industries It ensure a measure of quality

Negative aspects of standards Reduce choice for customers It reduce initiative and interests of workers

Problems with law in engineering Minimal compliance Technological development Many laws are nolaws (without enforceable sanctions) Influential powerful persons violate the laws

The Challenger Disaster A Case-study in Engineering Ethics Shuttle Components Orbiter Liquid Rocket Booster Solid Rocket Booster

Shuttle Components

Chronology of the Related Events 1974 NASA contracts Morton Thiokol 1976 NASA accepts the design based on the Titan missiles The joints are sealed by Two synthetic rubber O-rings, 177 clevis pins, Heat shield putty

The Cause of the Disaster

Early Problems 1977 Tests at Thiokol show O-ring leakage Joint is made stronger by changing sizes 1981 Post-launch investigation showed O-ring erosion due to hot gages.

Early Problems January of 1985 launch First cold-weather launch Post-launch investigation showed joint failure Tests showed O-rings inability to fill the gap due to joint rotation at lower temperatures

Early Problems July 1985 Thiokol redesigns the joints w/o O-rings The design was not ready for Challenger launch

Political Climate Congress is unhappy with NASA Competition with Russians to be the first to observe Halley s comet. Pressure to launch before President Reagan s State of the Union Address

Days before Launch First launch attempt postponed The next launch date was set and was to be attended by Vice President Bush. The temperature at launch: 29 degrees F.

Days Before Launch NASA starts an investigation of the effect of low temperatures on the O-ring seals Organization involved NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Morton Thiokol

Engineering Investigation Before Launch Players at NASA Larry Mulloy: SRB Project Manager at Marshall Players at Thiokol Roger Boisjoly: A SRB engineer Arnie Johnson: A SRB engineer Joe Kilminster: SRB engineering manager Alan McDonald: SRB engineering director Bob Lund: Vice president for engineering Jerald Mason: General manager

Engineering Investigation Before Launch Boisjoly and Johnson recommend the launch to be postponed. Bob Lund, the VP for engineering agrees and makes a similar recommendation.

Investigation Before Launch Larry Mulloy, the NASA manager of SRB asks Joe Kilminister, the SRB manager at Thiokol, for his opinion. Kilminister agrees with other Thiokol engineers and recommends a launch delay.

Investigation Before Launch After discussion with Mason Lund reverses his decision regarding launch! Thiokol recommend the launch to proceed

The Launch in January 1986 The overnight temperatures drop to 8 F The temperature of SRB at launch is 28 F There is an immediate blow-by of hot gas at launch. The seal fails quickly over an arc of 70 degrees.

The Launch in January 1986 The by-products of combustion forms a glassy oxide that reseals the joint. The brittle oxide is shattered Hot gases quickly burn through the liquid rocket booster

The Aftermath Causes of the accident are attributed to Inability of the O-rings to expand and seal at low temperatures. Heat shield putty did not perform at low temperatures Fits and seating of the O-ring was affected by low temperature.