ENG3072013

Society and the Engineer

Staff information

• Isaac Y.F. Fung (EE)

• Office CF605

• Email: yu-fai.fung@polyu.edu.hk

• Consultation: Monday 3:00pm – 7:00pm

Official teaching materials

• For ENG subject, there will be an official source of information in Blackboard

• learn.polyu.edu.hk

• Unofficial materials– ftp.ee.polyu.edu.hk/yffung/eng307

Assessment

Method of Assessment:

• Continuous assessment – 60%– Weekly learning activities (24%)– Reports (18%)– Presentation (18%)

• Examination – 40%

(3-hour Open-book examination).

Grade Description Observable

F Inability to use relevant information or give meaningful response. ‘Disciplinary’ reasons.

Missing point, plagiarism, and dishonesty

D/D+ Ability to focus on one relevant aspect only.

Identify. Do simple procedure

C/C+ Ability to focus on several relevant features, but they are not connected together.

Enumerate. Describe. List. Combine. Do algorithms

B/B+ Ability to integrate several parts of answer into a coherent whole; conclusions are supported by details; meaning is understood.

Compare/contrast. Explain cause. Analyze. Relate. Apply

A/A+ Ability to generalize structure beyond information given; higher order principles are used to bring in new, broader set of issues.

Theorize. Generalize. Hypothesize. Reflect.

Statistics from 2011

Grade No. of students

%

A+ 1+3 4%

A 6+4 10%

B+ 24+28 52.5

B 14+12 26.3

C+ 5+2 7%

C

99

What to expect in an exam?Recently, the car manufacturer Toyota recalls its vehicles after reports that several vehicles experienced unintended acceleration. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of USA reports that 52 people have died in accelerator-related crashes. The number of car recalled is about 8 million vehicles worldwide. Toyota owners claiming that massive safety recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to drop in the second-hand market have filed at least 89 class-action lawsuits. In addition, two lawsuits complaining of sudden, uncontrollable acceleration in Toyotas that resulted in deaths were filed against the automaker in USA.

What to expect

Based on the above case, or other real-life examples, discuss the Iceberg model applied to health and safety issues.

If you are owner of a Toyota vehicle that is being recalled, will you take legal action against the company, give proper explanation to your answer?

What to expect?

If you are acting as the Health and Safety officer of the Pao Yue-kong Library of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, briefly describe the process that you will apply to perform risk assessment. Identify three potential hazards, with proper explanation, in the library and derive proper measures to minimize the risks.

Objectives• This subject is designed for engineering

students as a complementary subject about the role of the professional engineer in practice and their responsibilities towards the profession, colleagues, employers, clients and the public

• In real-life, engineering is more than equations, computing etc

• There are human side of engineering

Key objectives

• To understand the responsibilities and challenges of engineering practices

• To identify the impacts of engineering operations/projects on society

• To aware of ethical dilemmas in engineering

What is ENG307

• Engineering – Develop– Build something– Consume

Environment

People

Social

Health &safety

Delivery of the subject

• Short lectures to provide essential knowledge and information on the relationship between society and the engineer under a range of dimensions

• Group discussions, case studies to engage student’s in-depth analysis of the relationship

• Seminar(s) (on Saturday!!!!)

References

• P.A. Alcorn, Social Issues in Technology, Prentice Hall

• L. Hjorth et al, Technology and Society A bridge to the 21st Century

• S.F. Johnston et al, Engineering and Society Challenges of Professional Practice

• Other newspaper, journals and web sites

Student learning outcomes• Analyze the different forces that shape and

constrain the engineering and engineers operation dimensions such as: historical, cultural, professional, social, legal, economical, environmental, health and safety;

• Understand the society challenges of professional practice;

• Examine and weigh arguments on either side through critical thinking

Student learning outcomes

• Formulate logical arguments and to present them persuasively

• Be sensitive of issues, obligations and responsibilities in engineering

• Aware of ethical dilemmas in engineering

Topics• Seven dimensions

– Historical – Professional – Cultural and social– Economic – Legal – Health and safety– Environmental

• One week per topic– Week 9 to week 14 project presentation

Recall – assessment

• 24% comes from “Weekly learning activities”

• In-class Participation

In-class Participation

• Students Response System (SRS) using your mobile devices, tablets, or notebook

• To understand who responded in the class active learning activities through Student Response System for assessment purpose, you should make your identity linked to your student ID on the self-owned primary response device!

How to set up SRS • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-

7CrzojwPk&feature=youtu.be• To download the ResponseWare to your

device• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/

responseware/id300028504?mt=8%u200E• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?

id=com.turningTech.Responseware&hl=en• http://www.rwpoll.com/

Seven dimensions

• If there should be an 8th dimension, what would that be?

Discussion

• From an engineering perspective, consider this:– 劏房 板間房

• From a social perspective, consider the same issue

Group project

• You will form into groups and throughout the semester your group will work on one engineering case by completing a number of learning activities

Group project• Case analysis

– After each class, discuss in your group to analyze your case (project) with reference to the societal dimension discussed in that week

– Summarize the conclusion of your group analysis in bullet point in one page

– By the end of the semester you will have analyzed the case from different dimensions including : historical, cultural, professional, social, legal, economical, environmental, health and safety.

Presentation

• Presentation– Each group will present on the analysis of

your case for 1 dimension (by lucky draw or other methods)

– The audience group will provide critical comments and feedbacks and fill out Feedback Forms to the presenter group for their reflection

Group project

• Case portfolioOnce you have selected your case, start

building a folder with the following items:– bullet-point summaries of your analysis of the

case for each week– Feedback forms on your presentations– Other relevant materials about your case such

as journal articles, newspaper cutting, photos, etc.

Group project

• Final presentation– Based on your analysis, feedback on your

dimensional presentation and other materials in your case portfolio, you will prepare an overall presentation to demonstrate the relationship of the engineering project with the society

– You may focus on a few dimensions if you think they are critically important. Equal distribution of each dimension is not necessary in the final presentation

Warning!!!!• The subject relies on your “common

sense” – as the subject materials are very general and generic

• Your participation during the lectures will enhance your learning and make the lecture less boring !!!!

• In addition, your participation will also earn you marks

Why this?

• Fill in the blanks– Society and XXXXXXXXXXX ? – Or XXXXX and Society?– What XXXXXXXXXX could be and why?

Society and the engineer

• What are the responsibilities of professional engineers with regard to the environment?

• Should environmental degradation not involving dangers to human health be a matter of professional ethics or personal ethics?

Professional

• 水電工程 – a professional engineer ?

Professional Engineer• The practice of professional engineering

comprises different factors.– Any act of designing, composing, evaluation,

advising, reporting, directing or supervising;– Wherein the safeguarding of life, health, property or

the public welfare is concerned; and – That requires the application of engineering

principles, but does not include practicing as a natural scientist

– Must be licensed by the engineering professional association

Professional Engineer• Professional engineers are licensed• Accountable for their work • Professional engineers subscribe to a

strict code of ethics and practice standard• Their duty is to serve and protect the

public welfare where engineering is concerned

• The practice of professional is regulated by the professional association

Professional engineers

• Engineering is more than just technical matters• In any authentic engineering operation societal

factors are embedded in any engineering project. In your future career as an engineer, ignorance about the human side of engineering and their possible impacts may render your engineering project risky ineffective and even failure

Why this subject is necessary

• This subject helps you to understand the complex relationship between engineering and society

• We hope that you can avoid design failure in any engineering project when all factors, including the societal ones, are put into consideration

Note

• There is no easy answer for every decision

• You should consider the different aspects as far as possible

• This subject is not going to teach you what is right, rather it tells you what you have to consider in making a decision

Case study• If you are being assigned to design a new car;

what factors are you going to consider before you begin your design?

• Which of the followings is/are more important and why?– Historical – Professional – Cultural and social– Economic – Legal – Health and safety– Environmental

Possible project titles

• Hong Kong related– West Kowloon project– Kai Tak redevelopment – New Government headquarter– Bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai– High-speed railway – New runway for airport

Possible project titles

• National – Three Gorges – Transferring Southern Water to the North– High-speed railway system

• International– Off-shore oil drilling in Mexico Gulf– Space station

You should propose your own project and you need to get the approval from the lecturer

How to get good grade in your presentation

• Critical thinking and digest your data!– Coal fire power plant emits more radio active

substances then a nuclear power station!

• Try to collect the information in person!– Redevelopment of Mongkok, West Kowloon

• Select a project that you are interested in!– Design of an air conditioner?– Large Hadron Collider

The 7 dimensions

– Historical – Professional – Cultural and social– Economic – Legal – Health and safety– Environmental