The Ethics Seminar was held at P19 DK6 on 16 April 2019 by Ir. Juraimi Masood entitled “Challenges of Employment in Engineering”. He is a General Manager of Project Integration Division from PTP Gelang Patah. All SKE students were required to attend this fruitful talk to know more about engineering ethics and the challenges. He also mentioned that some of the challenges are that a design must be economical, feasible and must follow safety guidelines. When it comes to perceptions, workers (engineers) have the view of their managers, believing that their managers can offer experiences. Managers (employers) in general have different view of their employees. They feel that employees have unrealistic compensations expectations, a poor work ethic and are easily distracted.
Ir. Juraimi Masood also explained about employer’s expectations towards the future engineers that will be working with them. The first skill would be to have in-depth technical competence in a specific engineering discipline. The second skill that an engineer must possess is the ability to function effectively in a group as a leader or manager a well as an effective team leader or manager as well as an effective team member. A competent engineer should be able to acquire and apply the knowledge of engineering fundamentals. Next, the ability to communicate at large is also one of the important traits that were mentioned by him. The fifth important skill to have is the ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution. Employers also expects their future employees to have social awareness on sustainable development as well as the ability to utilize a systems approach to design and evaluate operational performances. The last important skill that he mentioned is the ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyse and interpret data.
During the Q&A session, there were a few interesting questions that were brought forward by the UTM students. One of it was about the consequences that an engineer will face if they make a mistake. He explains that the engineer will be dammed in a way where he could be fined or charged. In conclusion, engineering ethics is a field of applied ethics, and system of moral principles that apply to the practice of engineering. The field examines and sets the obligations by engineers to society, to their clients, and to the profession. An engineer holds a very huge responsibility that affects the lives and safety of many. For an example, in the 1950s an airliner crashes simply because it had square windows.
.
Another notable engineering disaster is the RMS Titanic that happened in 1912, a British passenger ship that sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton (United Kingdom) to New York City, in April 1912. Titanic was at the time the largest ship ever built and was considered unsinkable. The tragedy claimed lives of over 1500 people.
This proves that the decisions and calculations that an engineer makes must be checked thoroughly and carefully so it does not cause disasters such as this. Even the tiniest of errors could lead to death of many people. After the talk, I learned that I should be more meticulous and careful when I do my work with a thought in mind that I am responsible for people's safety and a huge amount of money that has been invested into it.
We all make mistakes, and engineers are no exception. But engineering mistakes can cause unforgettable disasters that will forever echo in minds of those who witnessed them, and their causes will be studied by every new generation of engineers. Some will argue that trial and error is a method that pushes our capabilities forward, but the cost can sometimes be unthinkable. A disaster is referred to as a engineering disaster, when it's caused by an engineering failure:design flaws or materials failures, often caused by insufficient knowledge, different underestimations, or even carelessness or negligence.