Please join us for the inaugural Fred Kan Distinguished Lecture given by Professor Rob Irish, “Beyond the Code: How Should we Teach Engineers about Ethical Decision Making?” This event is FREE.
February 5, 2020 | The Faculty Club Lounge | RSVP with the form below
Registration, 6:00PM| Talk, 6:30-7:30PM | Reception, 7:30 -8:00PM | Light food will be served before and after the talk
This event is FREE
Speaker: Robert Irish was the founder of the Engineering Communication Program at University of Toronto. He directed the program from 1995-2008. During his time at U of T, he has taught in every department of Engineering. Currently, he teaches first-year Design and Communication and Engineering and Society in Engineering Science. His recent work explores the intersection of Worldview, Ethics and Engineering. He is the author of two textbooks: Engineering Communication: from Principles to Practice (Oxford, co-authored with Peter Eliot Weiss), and Writing in Engineering: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2016).
Abstract: Engineers adhere to a professional code of ethics. This is important for maintaining professionalism and ensuring public safety within the various disciplines of engineering. However, codes are always subject to interpretation both as they are enacted by individuals, companies, or organizations and as they are enforced by oversight bodies. Such interpretation has at its heart the worldview of the interpreters. As a result, we face challenges on two fronts:
- First engineering encompasses a diverse population in gender, politics, ethnicity, and religion—some of the main constituent pieces of an individual worldview
- Second, engineering work has already developed products both digital and physical unimagined and unaccounted for by professional codes.
These challenges lead not only to conflicts in interpretation of a standardized code but to the inadequacy of the code to handle critical ethical decisions. To address these challenges, engineering educators would benefit from deeper understanding of worldview, how it is formed, and how we can promote meaningful ethical consensus across individual diversity.
The evening is hosted by ISTEP in partnership with Troost ILead & University of Toronto Engineering Advancement.