http://hdl.handle.net/10468/370 Thu, 23 May 2013 11:41:14 GMT 2013-05-23T11:41:14Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/341 Teaching engineering ethics and sustainability Byrne, Edmond P. Most professional engineering code’s of ethics require that engineers shall understand and promote the principles of sustainability and/or sustainable development and have due regard for their environmental, social and economic obligations. However the ethical obligations towards sustainability are incorporated into the teaching of engineering ethics in very few programmes. Typically engineering ethics is taught via relatively straightforward case studies whereby students are asked to identify with a particular individual agent acting alone and determine the correct or optimum course of action. Context, complexity and an interdisciplinary approach tend to lose out to objective reality in such scenarios. This paper describes the teaching of engineering ethics as part of an introductory first year undergraduate module. Students were presented with the real life wicked problem of matching future municipal water supply and demand in Dublin. They were asked to consider the published findings of an engineering consultancy group and then propose and present their own recommendations. This approach was employed to introduce a number of sustainability concepts in the context of professional ethical responsibility while developing their critiquing skills. The paper reflects on the outcomes of this exercise, including the students’ own assessments. Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/341 2010-09-19T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/340 Practical skills and techniques for the transition to a sustainable future, a case study for engineering education Dwyer, Brian; Byrne, Edmond P. This paper seeks to assess the gap between the visions of sustainable engineering practice with its current reality. A case study involving Energetics Pty. Ltd., a leading Australian multi-disciplinary consultancy specialized in engaging public and private organizations in the development of their responses to climate change and sustainability was conducted based on a staff questionnaire developed following a review of current literature and initiatives on sustainability globally. The results of the survey indicate that sustainability in engineering practice is still focused on the technical and financial impacts of perceived sustainable solutions. The broader aspects that have been identified as necessary have yet to be achieved in education or practice. The principle reason for this appears to lie in the perception engineers have of their practice and the ability of engineers to communicate effectively with their clients. These have combined to make regulation one of the principal drivers in environmental and sustainability engineering. A sustainability informed ethics paradigm needs to be brought more to the fore to allow engineers to engage with their clients in a more effective manner. Engineers do have the opportunity to be agents of change, but only when they envisage a broader societal role and context for engineering and can communicate effectively with the decision makers within their client organisations. Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/340 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/379 Proceedings of the 3rd international symposium for engineering education ISEE2010: Educating engineers for a changing world - leading transformation from an unsustainable global society ISEE2010 Byrne, Edmond P. The twenty first century and beyond will present human society with a set of unprecedented challenges emanating from the unsustainable nature of the current societal model. Clearly society must find a transformative model to a sustainable future, and fast. Engineers, with their technical know-how and systems approach to problem solving, are well placed to lead this necessarily multidisciplinary and collaborative endeavour. However, engineering education must provide twenty first century engineers with the necessary tools to undertake the massive challenges ahead. The 3rd International Symposium of Engineering Education took place at University College Cork on 30th June - 2nd July 2010. This significant international conference explored a number of key issues pertaining to engineering education in the twenty first century. These include sustainability in engineering education, IT applications, pedagogical approaches & assessment for learning outcomes, Bologna and industry perspectives. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/379 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/342 Embedding sustainability in the curriculum; enabling engineering take centre stage Byrne, Edmond P. Sustainability has been assuming a more central role within chemical engineering curricula and throughout engineering education as a whole. Meanwhile however, engineering has been fighting an uphill battle to attract a consistent proportion of high quality recruits as the profession suffers from a low public profile and uninspiring image. Engineers are generally seen (and see themselves) as uncritical agents of economic and technological development who simply take direction from policy makers and paymasters, albeit ones that provide innovative technical solutions for society. This sells the profession far short and drains from engineering much of the inspiration, excitement and opportunity to “make the world a better place”. Engineering curricula with sustainability embedded as core would however, particularly in the case of chemical engineering, provide a unique opportunity to; - align the curriculum with the policy lead taken by several professional institutions and hence realign the professional ethos, vision, role, practice and image of engineers. - position engineers to play a more central role in shaping society through influencing policy and debate on creating a sustainable society, and hence increase the visibility, importance, status and reputation of the profession. - act as a powerful marketing tool for prospective engineering students. Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/342 2009-08-23T00:00:00Z