Essay on Making Decisions as an Engineer - 1410 Words

Have you ever thought about how many precautions engineers have to take when designing new structures? Engineers have to take into account many â€Å"what ifs† about the new structure that is going to be made. They are in charge of the design, construction, and the maintenance of the physically and naturally built environment. The most important aspect engineers face is the safety for the community. Everything has to be perfect because the margin of error is really small. They also face tough decisions everyday especially when it comes to construction. They are usually present when construction has begun and are there to supervise the operation. If anything goes wrong the engineer is there to decide what is going to occur. These decisions are†¦show more content†¦A responsibility of the engineer of record is to identify without ambiguity the objectives of the project and potential unexpected and surprising outcomes. Before decisions can be made by the engineer of reco rd, an unambiguous understanding of the objectives must be constructed. A case in point was the two barriers proposed by the Corps of Engineers between the east end of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi (Heiberg 2007). These barriers would have closed when a flood surge threatened New Orleans and surroundings. This was an advocacy stance by the Corps. This shows that the right decisions were made in case of emergency. A contrary stance was taken by Save Our Wetlands, Inc. in the role of protecting environmental features that would have been threatened by the use of the barriers. The decision maker has both responsibilities and also an obligation to behave responsibly. Any decision has associated responsibilities and Klein (1995) suggests four: causal responsibility, legal responsibility, moral responsibility and role responsibility. Responsibility is a big factor towards making a decision. Often, many people are involved in a decision, but ultimately there is only one owner resp onsible for that decision. These are some great factors that engineers take account of when making decisions but there are ways of makingShow MoreRelated Engineering Ethics Essay1653 Words   |  7 Pagesethics consists of. This means that students should be taught that instead of making their own decisions about moral issues, they are to follow the guidelines set out for them by engineering institutions. Many agree with this philosophy, for example Thomas Strubel says, ‘without the code of ethics as a guide engineers would be ill-suited to take on challenges of the future’ [1]. His reasoning for his argument is that engineers carry out work that have a great-influence on society and the environmentRead MoreGoing Abroad Essay1091 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Problem solving and decision-making are important skills for business and life. 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[1] Framework meaningRead MoreEthics Essay - Stuck in the Middle1206 Words   |  5 Pagesimportant to understand why ethical decisions are made in business and what, if any, factors can influence the processes/procedures and ultimately the consequences of these decisions (Crane and Matten, 2010). All business activities involve some sort of decision-making but how people integrate ethics in that process varies from person to person. Many employees today are faced with situations that require decisions to be made based on their moral judgment. Our civil engineer was challenged with an ethicalRead MoreWorking As An Engineer For Electrical Engineering1047 Words   |  5 PagesWorking as an engineer is much different than training to be an engineer, unlike school, there is no typical day. Typically, engineers work in office buildings, laboratories, or industrial plants, but others work outdoors at construction sites, oil exploration and production sites. 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