IME 420 hwk 1
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School
California Polytechnic State University, Pomona *
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Course
4020
Subject
Industrial Engineering
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
3
Uploaded by ElderScience11534
Page 1
Olivia Faye
Erik Jackiw/Prof. Gonzalez
IME 4020-16: HWK assignment 1
August 30
th
2023
My name is Olivia, and I am a civil engineering student with a focus on environmental engineering. I recently moved to Orange County from Colorado during the start of COVID, which made my transition very challenging and dull. I transferred to Cal Poly, where I am in my third year of study. I do not have a graduation date set yet, as I am still submitting my courses from Colorado University to Cal Poly. Depending on their degree requirements, I hope to graduate within the next 1.5 years.
I have various interests and hobbies, such as exploring new places, trying out different foods, option trading on the stock market, visiting aquariums, and watching musicals. After graduating, I’m considering working for a government entity, such as the US Army Corps of Civil Engineers or CDOT. I have considered internships with these government firms in the past, but now that I’m officially a California resident and student, Ill invest more time in finding employment opportunities with CalTrans as well. My main motivation for this decision is financial, as I have a lot of student debt and I want to qualify for debt forgiveness after ten years of public service.
Another option for me is to possibly use my stepfather’s connections within the global engineering and mining industry to start my career. He was the COO of Sylbanye-Stillwater Ltd US, AngloGold Ashanti Columbia, among other firms, before he recently retired. However, this option raises an ethical dilemma for me. First, is it fair to use his influence and connections to get
a job? And secondly, as someone who cares about the environment, can I justify working for
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companies that may harm it? Both companies, while professionally ethical in their own regard, are not considerably green, environmentally friendly, or even societally friendly and sustainable. This relates to the question you asked us in this paper: “Is there a technical person or an organization that you view as ethical?”
According to personal subjective standard of ethics, that may be no. Personally, I believe there are two types of ethics: personal and professional/obligational. Personal ethics are based on
my own values and beliefs, while obligational. Professional ethics are based on the rules and standards of my profession. I think that much of engineering is an ethical gray area personally because it is hard to say “do no harm” when everything we do has some potential consequences and dilemmas that in fact can do a lot of harm. For example, my family was involved in a legal battle with Louisiana Pacific in Colorado decades ago. This company did the bare minimum to conserve the environment, which might’ve been legally and professionally ethical at the time, but they also polluted the area and harmed the people and wildlife nearby. The EPA had to change their standards because of them, politically the clean air act was created to prevent the harm caused by this and similar industries. LP eventually moved their operations out of the US to
Central and South America.
Therefore, I must balance my personal and obligational ethics when making decisions as an engineer. Canon 1 of the ACSE states that engineers should prioritize the safety, health, and welfare of the public and comply with the principles of sustainable development. This means that
I must uphold the law and follow the codes and standards of my profession. However, this may not be enough to be morally true in society. I may also have to consider the impact of my actions on the environment, the stakeholders, and myself. In this class and at university, I want to learn where the middle ground is between personal and professional ethics.
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