Case Study 1: Kara has been working as an environmental engineer at a consulting firm for overtwenty-five years. Well-known for settling disputes between her corporate clients beforelitigation must be pursued, Kara often analyzes technical data, particularly distributions of solidparticle pollution, presented by disputing parties to help them reach a compromise on the cost ofenvironmental cleanup. For example, two parties may be separated from one another by a strip ofland; however, each party must fiscally contribute in keeping the land free from pollutants.

One day, Kara was contacted by a journalist to talk about her experiences at the firm. Kara spokeabout how she often encountered cases where companies did not accurately depict levels of solidparticle pollution occupying the companies’ respective surroundings. Instead, technical experts,who are mostly engineers, would misrepresent data in order to make it seem that minority partieswere responsible for a greater part of the contamination. At the end of the interview, Karaemphasized the necessity of engineers taking ownership and being honest about the presentationof data.

Q: At what point does an engineer’s interpretation of data move from sound technical reasoningto misrepresentation? How should engineers deal with the pressure to come up with data that

may indicate favorable results for their employers?

Credit: Jocelyn Tan was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa ClaraUniversity.

Case Study2: Solomon is a principal engineer at an environmental engineering consulting firm.His main role is to advise clients on what type of action to take when they are faced with risksand liabilities while conducting certain projects.

In one case, Solomon had a client that wanted to expand their campus until it was withinapproximately 50 meters of a marshland. After construction of this extension, however, the clientmust ensure that a proper waste management plan is in place so that contamination will haveminimal effect on the surrounding habitat.

The client came up with a solution that satisfied, but did not go beyond the bare minimum ofstate regulations. In other words, although Solomon’s client prioritized a cost-effective plan, theenvironment would be subject to a certain percentage of contamination that would, within five to

ten years, stifle the marshland’s flourishing.

Q:Should Solomon push for a more fiscally demanding, yet sustainable strategy–at the risk ofhis client backing out of the partnership altogether?

Credit: Jocelyn Tan was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa ClaraUniversity.

Case Study 3: After earning a graduate degree in Engineering Management, Ashton beganworking for PDRC International. This is a company based in the U.S. which offers engineering,design, and construction services to countries all over the world.

Ashton’s work is focused on international development; her first assignment is to lead a team todevelop a bid for a highway construction project in East Africa. After the engineering proposal issubmitted, Ashton is proud of the work her team has accomplished and promises her managershe will do everything possible to make sure that PDRC receives the contract.

PDRC’s bid is well-received, and Ashton and her team are flown to East Africa to finishnegotiations. Ashton is thrilled when her company receives the bid; the only stipulation is thatthey build their construction headquarters in a specific region in the country. Ashton then beginsscouting the region for a location to build their headquarters.

In order to obtain building permits in the region, Ashton has to negotiate with the local

government. As she begins negotiations, she realizes that bribery is both a common and expectedpractice. If she does not bribe the local officials, she will not be able to build PDRC’sheadquarters in that region and consequently will lose the contract; her first managerial projectwill be a failure. However, it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to bribe a foreign official in order to

obtain business; if she is caught for bribery, she could face jail time and her company could befined millions of dollars.

Q: What should she do? Explain your answer.

Credit: Clare Bartlett was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa ClaraUniversity.

Case Study 4: Jack has been working as a project engineer for a mechanical energy technologyfirm for a few years now, and has recently been promoted to review projects for in-needcommunities overseas. He has been put in charge of managing the current company’s charityprojects, and determining how to distribute the funding for them.

Some of the projects are pretty straightforward in their mission and material requirement, but forone project, Jack isn’t sure whether the company should be funding it. The project’s mission is toprovide new solar panels for an East African community but the project data suggests it is morepractical to just install better lighting inside the homes. Jack wonders whether to bring up hisdoubts with his boss. Based on the company’s research on the community, the communitydesires better lighting system for their homes, and the solar panels would be an expensive andhigh maintenance project. Not to mention, there was a previous project that (when followedthrough) resulted in equipment being stolen from the same region to exchange for money.

Jack understands their local sponsor would gain a great advantage in featuring solar panels in thecommunity. It would also foster a good business partnership between the two companies.However, Jack feels it is his responsibility to provide the community with a more simple andefficient solution to their problem, without diving into a large project that could possibly lead tonegative side effects.

Q: Is Jack’s company wrong to provide technology to the community when they don’t need it?

Credit: Nabilah Deen was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa ClaraUniversity.