DATE COMMENT

Mar. 17
(Tues)

No class (spring break)

SWITCH TO FULLY ONLINE INSTRUCTION  (MSU Pandemic response)

Mar. 10
(Tues) [9]

Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers

Chapter 6 discussion.

Before March 24, reading assignment:  text, pages 124-134.

Mar. 3
(Tues) [8]

Discuss reading responses and an engineer's sense of safety and risk balance.

For this coming week, complete reading assignment:  text, pages 103-120.  Be ready to discuss text problems 6.1 - 6.16.

 

State of Montana Highways

Year  :  Deaths/100M vehicle miles :  Deaths

----------------
1994 2.22 202 
1995 2.28 215 
1996 2.12 200 <
1997 2.82 265 <
1998 2.47 237 <
1999 2.24 220 <
2000 2.40 237 
2001 2.30 230 
2002 2.59 269 
2003 2.41 262 
2004 2.04 229 
2005 2.26 251 
2006 2.34 264 
2007 2.45 277
2008 2.12 229 
2009 2.01 221 
2010 1.69 189 
2011 1.79 209 
2012 1.72 205
2013 1.90 229
2014 1.58 192
2015 1.81 224
2016 1.44 190
2017 1.46 186
2018 1.43 182

Feb. 25
(Tues) [7]

Accidents, safety, and assessing risks

Discuss in class the text problems 5.1, 5.13, and 5.22.

5.1:  Think of some type of risky or unsafe behavior in which you have participated.  What made it seem unsafe?  Why did you do it anyway?  What does this tell you about your role as an engineer?

5.13:  [Valujet 592 accident]  Should smoke and heat detectors have been installed in the cargo holds?  Why do you think they weren't?

5.22:  [Hyatt Regency walkway collapse]  What responsibility does an engineer have for checking and ensuring that what is in the drawings is what actually goes into the building?

Assigned for the coming week 2/26-3/5:  read text pages 93-98.

AND, for our second EELE 487 reading response on D2L, we will consider the use of mobile phone technology when driving a car.

Address the following question statement using SPECIFIC examples and themes from the readings and other sources.  The response is to be 350-500 words:  not too short but also not too long.  Be careful to focus on your key claims:  do not simply list your opinions, but back up what you claim with facts and evidence.

Increasingly, new cars are equipped with GPS technology and communications methods that allow the car to send and receive information to "the Cloud:" road surface traction, notification of accidents ahead, congestion and routing assistance, coordination with autonomous vehicles, and so forth. The vehicles could have features that enforce the local speed limit, and theoretically, the ability to report illegal turns and driving irregularities that indicate that the driver is intoxicated or falling asleep, and notifies the police.

From your standpoint as an engineer, what do you consider the moral and ethical principles of designing technology that monitors the user and reports on suspected illegal behavior?  Should public safety considerations be considered more important than individual choice and privacy when it comes to posted traffic laws?

All reading responses are due by 11:59PM (midnight) on Monday, March 2, 2020.  Remember, no late work is accepted.


Before class time on Tuesday, March 3, please read as many of your classmates' responses as possible.  Be ready to discuss the topics during class on Tuesday.

Again, D2L reading responses due by midnight, Monday, March 2, 2020.

 Feb. 18
(Tues) [6]

Ethical conflicts, bribes, and kickbacks.

Discuss text problems 4.5, 4.9, and 4.12.

4.5:  If there are potential, but not well-understood, hazards in building a product, what are the future consequences of doing nothing, i.e., of making no changes in the design?  Will warnings to the consumer suffice to get the designer off the hook?  Must the product be engineered to be totally safe at all costs?

4.9:  Many of the studies researching cell phone safety have been funded by the cell phone industry.  What are the ethical implications of this?

4.12:  What should an engineer do in the face of competition from others who are willing to resort to bribery?

Assigned for this coming week:  Reading assignment:  text, pages 74-88.  Be ready to discuss in class the issues raised in the readings.

Feb. 11
(Tues) [5]

The Space Shuttle case study (conclusion).

Begin discussion of Ethical Problems and Approaches

Assigned for this week:  Reading assignment:  text, pages 63-73.  Be ready to discuss in class the issues raised in the readings.

Feb. 4
(Tues) [4]

The Space Shuttle case study (introduction) 

For this week (2/4 - 2/10):  D2L Reading Response

For our initial EELE 487 reading response on D2L, we will consider an aspect of the Challenger space shuttle accident.

Address the following question statement, using SPECIFIC examples and themes from the readings.  The response is to be 350-500 words:  not too short but also not too long.  Be careful to focus on your key claims and views.

Prior to the Challenger accident in January, 1986, the Thiokol engineers had observed O-ring erosion on several earlier shuttle flights dating back to the start of the program in 1980-81.  They felt they had evidence and theoretical rationale that the problem was likely to be worse in cold weather, hence their recommendation that Challenger not be launched until the temperature was at least 53F. 

However, the NASA solid rocket project managers, particularly Larry Mulloy, insisted that without more direct evidence of cold weather issues, Thiokol was overly cautious and needed to go ahead and sign the launch authorization.  Ultimately the senior Thiokol management did sign the authorization over the objections of the engineers. 

Following the accident the investigation revealed internal engineering memos among the Thiokol engineers and managers discussing the O-ring erosion that had been observed, but the NASA managers claimed that they had not been made aware of the seriousness of these observations, and that Thiokol must have downplayed the problem because they were worried about losing NASA contracts.  The Thiokol engineers, on the other hand, said that NASA was so eager to keep the shuttle program on schedule that they basically ignored the warning signs.

YOUR RESPONSE:  When engaged in a complicated activity like launching and operating the Space Shuttle, engineers knew that there were going to be risks. Considering that the Thiokol engineers and the NASA management came to different conclusions about these risks with the Challenger launch decision:  describe WHY you think the viewpoints differed so significantly in this case.  Is it fair to blame NASA for going ahead with the launch, or is it fair to criticize Thiokol for allowing launches to continue with the known design flaw in the booster joints?

All reading responses are due on D2L by midnight on Monday, February 10, 2020.  Remember, no late work is accepted.

On Tuesday before class, please read as many of your classmates' responses as possible.  Be ready to discuss the topics during a future class period.

Also for this week:  Reading assignment:  course text, pages 37-54.

 

 

 Maher and Allan J. McDonald (2012)

(Prof. Maher and Allan J. McDonald, 2012)

Shuttle SRM joint picture from http://metalurgija.org.rs/mjom/vol20/No3/1_Gharouni_MME-2003.pdf

Jan. 28
(Tues) [3]

Discuss Rogers Report, implications of the Shuttle accident.  The role of Allan J. McDonald (MSU alumnus). https://www.montana.edu/news/7173/engineer-who-warned-of-trouble-before-challenger-disaster-to-sign-books-today 

Reading assignment:  Before Feb. 4, read:

Text pages 37-54;

Review remainder of Rogers Report.

Jan. 21
(Tues) [2]

Engineering and the environment:  Lead in the environment, and the case for lead-free solder.

Reading assignment:  Before January 28, read:

Text, pages 7-15.

The Rogers Report (Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident)

Read Rogers Report sections:  Preface, Chapters 1-3.

 

Jan. 14
(Tues) [1]

First class meeting  Roberts Hall Room 321.

Course introduction and overview

Reading assignment:  Before January 21, read:

Text, pages 1-6,
and handout links:

Flint Michigan lead-tainted drinking water

EPA Lead-Free Solder Partnership

Environmental Health:  Lead in Electronics

Impact of environmental regulations on green electronics manufacture