CEM 585

ENGINEERS IN SOCIETY

World of Engineering
Civil Engineering

 An engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction &

maintenance of the built structures such as buildings, bridges, roads,
railways, canals, dams, reservoirs & spillways.

 The oldest discipline after military engineering, also the starting

point of Engineering branches.

 This oldest branch of engineering had begun to commence between

4000 - 2000 BC in ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia when human
started to abandon a nomadic existence which cause a need for the
construction of shelter .
Specializations In Civil Engineering Discipline
 Sub Discipline:
 Structural Engineering
 Environmental Engineering
 Geotechnical Engineering
 Construction Engineering
 Transportation Engineering
 Earthquake Engineering
 Water Resources Engineering
 Surveying Engineering
 Material Engineering
 Costal Engineering
 Urban engineering
7 WONDERS OF ANCIENT WORLD
Great Pyramid of Giza
• Date of Construction
 2584-2561 BC
• Builder
 Egyptians
• Notable feature
 Believed to have been built as
the tomb of 4th dynasty Egyptian
Pharaoh Khufu
• Date of destruction
 Still in existence
• Modern location
 Giza Necropolis, Egypt
Hanging Garden Of Babylon
• Date of Construction
 Around 600 BC
• Builder
 Babylonians
• Notable feature
 Multileveled gardens reaching 22 m high, complete with machinery for
circulating water. Large trees grew on the roof. Built by Nebuchadnezzar II
for his wife Amytis of Media
• Date of destruction
 After 1st century
• Cause of destruction
 Earthquake
• Modern location
 Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq
Mausoleum of Hilicamassus
• Date of Construction
 351 BC
• Builder
 Carians, Persians, Greeks
• Notable feature
 ~ 45 m tall, with each of the 4 sides a domed with sculptural reliefs.
Origin of the word mausoleum, the built for Mausolus, a satrap in
the Persian empire.
• Date of destruction
 by AD 1494
• Cause of destruction
 The original structure was destroyed. A new structure was built &
was damaged by an earthquake, eventually disassemble by European
Crusaders
• Modern location
 Bodrum. Turkey
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Date of Construction
 466-456 BC (Temple)
 435 BC (Statue)
• Builder
 Greeks
• Notable feature
 Occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple that was built to
house it, & was 12 m tall
• Date of destruction
 5th – 6th centuries AD
• Cause of destruction
 Fire
• Modern location
 Olympia, Greece
Lighthouse of Alexandria
• Date of Construction
 c. 280 BC
• Builder
 Hellenistic Egypt (Greeks)
• Notable feature
 Between 115 -135 m high, it was among tallest structures on Earth for
many centuries. The name of the island that is was built on, Pharos,
eventually became the Latin word for lighthouse, pharos
• Date of destruction
 AD 1303-1480
• Cause of destruction
 Earthquake
• Modern location
 Alexandria Egypt
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

• Date of Construction
 c. 550 BC
• Builder
 Lydians, Persians, Greeks
• Notable feature
 Dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis, it took 120 years to build.
Herostratus burned it down to achieve lasting fame. Rebuilt by
Alexander the Great only to be destroyed again by the Goths.
• Date of destruction
 356 BC (by Herostratus) AD 262 (by the Goths)
• Cause of destruction
 Arson by Herostratus, Plundering
• Modern location
 Near Seljuk, Izmir Province, Turkey
Colossus of Rhodes
• Date of Construction
 292-280 BC
• Builder
 Greeks
• Notable feature
 A giant statue of the Greek god
Helios, god of the sun, 35m tall
• Date of destruction
 226 BC
• Cause of destruction
 Earthquake
• Modern location
 Rhodes, Greece
7 WONDERS OF MODERN WORLD

Channel Tunnel
CN Tower
Golden Gate Bridge
Itaipu Dam
The Empire State Building
Panama Canal
North Sea Protection Works
CHANNEL TUNNEL
CN TOWER
GOLDERN GATE BRIDGE
ITAIPU DAM
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
PANAMA CANAL
PANAMA CANAL

• Characteristics
• Built to prevent the Netherlands, which is below
sea level, from being flooded during severe
storms
• Two areas that were severely affected by the
storms include the large tidal inlet named Zuider
Zee and the delta created by the Rhine and
Meuse rivers
• The tidal inlet called Zuider Zee was dammed
after a storm in 1916
• The dam is 300 feet wide at sea level and 25 feet
high at the level of its causeway
• Then in 1953 another storm hit the southwestern
provinces and caused a lot of damage, which
included more than 1800 deaths
• A plan was then made to dam the southwestern
delta
WONDERS OF MALAYSIA
Civil engineering
Most individuals would find it difficult to think of a life where civil
engineers do not exist. Whether it is building roads, buildings,
sewage systems, dams, bridges or airports, one would have to think of
a civil engineer almost immediately.

• indicator of economy
• Back bone for development

Who “move” the civil engineering?

Civil Engineer
Who is an Engineer?
Individuals who combine knowledge of sciences,
mathematic & economic to solve technical problems
that confront society.
Civil engineer is a problem solver for civil
engineering
2 major elements for engineers:
1. Safety
2. economy
Great Engineers & Their Contribution

John Bradfield

Olive Dennis

E. Sreedharan
John Bradfield
• Famous As: Designer Of Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Nationality: Australian
• Birth Date: December 26, 1867
• 1933- awarded the ‘Peter Nicole Russell Memorial Medal’ by
the ‘Institution of Engineers, Australia’ which he founded in
1919.
• 1933- appointed as a companion to the ‘Order of St. Michael
& St. George’
• 1934- awarded the Telford Gold Medal by
the ‘Institution of Civil Engineers’.
• 2007- awarded the Queensland Institute
• of Engineers Lifetime Achievement award.
Olive Dennis
• Nationality: American
• Birth Date: November 20, 1885
• 2nd women to obtain a Civil Engineering degree from
Cornell University
• 1st woman to become a member of the American
Railway Engineering Association
• In 1940, Olive Dennis was named
as one of the nation's 100
outstanding career women.
E. Sreedharan
• Famous As: Metro Man
• Nationality: Indian
• Birth Date: June 12, 1932
• Education: Civil Engineering From Jawaharlal Nehru
Technological University, Kakinada
• Awards: Padma Shri - 2001
Chevalier De La Légion D'honneur - 2005
Padma Vibhushan – 2008
• played a key role in the building of
the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro.
What is Ethics?
• Greek word: ethos (character)- philosophical
science that deals with the rightness &
wrongness of human actions
• Refers to the most important values & beliefs
of an individual and/or a society. These beliefs
help shape the character of the people, teach
them what is good & bad
• Is concerned with what is good & right for
society

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Professional Ethics
• Refer to the ethical obligations that people in
professional occupants have to follow because of their
professional status
• Every occupation involves its own characteristic ethical
obligation
• E.g. fireman have a special obligation to rescue people
from burning buildings even when it can be dangerous
to themselves to do so
• Related to occupational ethics
• Professional should act in the interest of public good
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Engineering Ethics
• Are:
1. The moral issues & decisions confronting
individual & organizations engaged in
engineering
2. Related questions about the moral ideals,
character, policies & relationships of people
& corporations involved in technological
activities
• Is the activity & discipline, aimed at understanding
the moral values that ought to guide engineering
practice, resolving moral issues in engineering &
justifying moral judgments' concerning engineering
ETHICS

PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS

ENGINEERING
ETHICS
Why Study Ethics?
• Bringing clarity in thought
• Helps strengthen skills in moral reasoning & resolving conflicts
• Facing moral ethical dilemmas with confidence
• Reduce & avoid stress
• People who want to be ethical (they would like to keep their
conduct good in order to rise in their own self-esteem. Thus, if it
can be explained to them that some of their actions are not
consistent with what is ethically expected of them, they would
gladly change)  becoming virtuous
• Reinforcement of ethics
• Help to build a character
• Adjusting to & adhering to organizational values great help in
decision making & prioritizing the expectation to be fulfilled
Why Study Ethics?
Theories of Ethics
• Are developed to light up, unify & correct
common sense judgments & help to refine
common sense judgments
• Have 3 important uses:
-understanding moral dilemmas
-justifying professional obligations & ideals
-relating ordinary & professional morality
• Example of theories:
1. Utilitarianism- most good for most people
2. Respect for people- personal autonomy
Theories of Ethics
1. Utilitarianism

• The moral standard is: those actions are right that produce
the greatest total amount of human well-being
• A utilitarian analysis of a moral problem consists of 3 steps:
a. the utilitarian must determine the audience of the action or
policy in question-those people who will be affected for
good or bad
b. The positive & negative effects of the alternative actions or
policies must be determined
c. The utilitarian must decide which course of action produces
the greatest overall utility
Theories of Ethics
2. Respect for people
• The moral standard is: those actions are right
that equally respect each human person as a
moral agent. (A moral agent is an individual
capable of both formulating & pursuing
purposes of his own & of being responsible for
the actions taken to fulfill those purposes)
• Golden rule: Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you
Review of the 2 Theories of Ethics
• Utilitarianism - to maximize the total amount of preference
satisfaction, even if it means doing an injustice to individuals
• Respect for People- to respect the rights of individuals, even if it
means promoting something less than the total amount of
preference satisfaction
• Given this fundamental divergence between the 2 theories, it is
often best to analyze a complex moral problem from the
standpoint of both theories.
• If the 2 theories converge, we can have some assurance about
the proper course of action. If the 2 theories diverge, a decision
must be made as to which conclusion has priority.
• In general, moral philosophers have adopted the view that
Respect for People considerations should take priority over
utilitarian considerations, except in those instances where the
violation of rights is relatively minor
Case Study 1
• Mr. X is a civil engineer. He joined his parents architectural firm to work
on a hospital project. The project was very big & important project for
his parents’ firm. His role was conduct quality checking, full time site
supervision & project co-ordination.
• The construction execution contract was given to a very small time
contractor by the client. This was against the recommendations of the
Consultants. Hence, due to lack of experience of doing such large
projects, quality control on site had become a major issue.
• Mr. X very strict about the quality aspect, but the small contractor with
less resources unable to cope up the project progress with frequent
correction. The client always felt that what Mr. X was doing on quality
aspect was not so important & such small corrections were
unnecessary. As time passed by, differences in such small matters
increased between Mr. X and client.
• So, one fine day thinking in betterment of the project, Mr. X decided to
stop giving supervision services for this project & rather continue with
only co-ordination works for the project.
Case Study 1
• Questions:
1. What are the moral & ethical issues faced by
Mr. X?
2. Evaluate the actions of Mr. X
3. What would you do in place of Mr. X?
Case Study 2
• Mr. Y is a chemical engineer who changed employment from company
A to company B. Before leaving company A, they asked him to sign a
document by which he agreed to keep confidential any copyrighted
information which he learned at company A.
• Soon after he arrived at company B, he is assigned to solve a problem
involving emission of a new chemical compound C, though toxic was
not controlled by the Pollution Control Board. Mr. Y’s new manager
did not know whether to be concerned about compound C or not.
However, Mr. Y realized that some of the proprietary information he
had acquired at company A might enable him to modify the
manufacturing process at company B, so that the suspicious new
product would not be produced at all.
• This information would be used in an entirely different way than it
was used by company A & would not harm the competitive position of
company A with respect to company B, but Mr. Y still wonders
whether he should approach his new manager with a proposal that
requires the use of this information.
Case Study 2
• Questions:
1. What issues does Mr. Y face?
2. What should Mr. Y do?