Ethics in Engineering

In carrying out ASME’s charge to promote a high level of ethical practice within our membership and the engineering profession, the following resources and real cases of challenging ethical concerns are available.

We invite you to explore and debate these issues and resources. Please send ethics@asme.org any questions or comments related to this subject.

An ASME Community of Practice on Ethics and Ethical Engineering Practice provides a forum for the discussion of topics related to ethics.

ASME maintains its own Code of Ethics of Engineers as one of its Society Policies.

ASME has issued Criteria for the Interpretation of the Fundamental Canons that are contained in the Code of Ethics.

The ASME Technology & Society Division maintains a committee on Ethics & Technology. This committee coordinates volunteers' actions to achieve aspects of the ASME mission.

A Course on Professional Responsibility contains material on ethics.

A two-hour seminar, typically conducted in a lunch or dinner format, is available.

A web-based module called "Ethics for Engineers: Doing the Right Thing When No One is Looking" has been developed.

The National Institute for Engineering Ethics released its latest contribution to teaching professional ethics in engineering. A 30-minute movie, Henry's Daughters, follows the ethical conflicts of three family members working on a smart highway design project. The characters face ethical issues such as conflicts of interest, sexual harassment, intellectual property, and individual privacy. They disagree over the tradeoffs between technical performance, safety, reliability, and cost and discover how political and social factors can influence technical decisions. In recognition of its $5,000 contribution toward the development of Henry's Daughters, ASME received five copies of the DVD. If an ASME unit would like to borrow one, e-mail the request to soukupd@asme.org.

A video, "Engineering Education and Ethics: A Conversation with Dr. Henry Petroski," is available for viewing.

ASME maintains Society Policies on Conflicts of Interest and on Discrimination, including Discriminatory Harassments.

ASME maintains a set of ethical obligations for authors, reviewers, and conference organizers.

The National Institute for Engineering Ethics at Texas Tech University presents The Applied Engineering Ethics Case of the Month Club & Program. The focus of this program is to present real situations taken from professional practice in order to stimulate greater emphasis on ethical issues, and to hopefully allow our visitors an opportunity to avoid similar pitfalls in their own careers. ASME provides a direct liaison to NIEE.

A Guide to Teachers on Engineering Ethics is available.