“There are three lenses that we can use when thinking about ethics within Engineering: Professional, Theoretical, and Practical.”

If you’d like to improve your own ethics learning, then our Engineering Ethics Toolkit guidance article What is ethics? is a great place to start.

This article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to better understand ethics and its connection to engineering education. It will also be useful for students who are being introduced to the topic. 

We have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you as you expand your understanding of engineering ethics, and begin to embed it within the curriculum, and an Ethics Explorer to get you started. We also have a library of case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

With over 60,000 views to date (as of April 2025), it’s not surprising that awareness of the Ethics Toolkit is growing. This has also been boosted by academics and advocates including the Toolkit in their events and talks.

In the last few months, the Ethics Toolkit has been featured at recent events both home and abroad:

June 2025

December 2024

November 2024

October 2024

July 2024

As academics know, it’s been “conference season” recently, with the usual rush of meetings and symposia and events that mark the beginning of summer. We’re pleased that the Engineering Ethics Toolkit has been featured at several of these, both home and abroad:

September 2023

Between February 2022 and April 2025 the Ethics Toolkit has had over 60,000 views, so we know you’re looking at it, but we also want to know about where you’re talking about the Ethics Toolkit! Have you featured a resource in a conference presentation or meeting? Tell us about how the resources have helped you over the past year—we’d love to feature your story.

 

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You have been selected as the Lead Engineer in a project to provide a bespoke design unmanned air vehicle to India. You identify some potential risk factors that could indicate your contractor is using forced labour in its workforce. What do you do?

This is the dilemma presented in our Engineering Ethics Toolkit case study Balancing risk and benefits when working with offshore contractors.

We’ve provided this, and other case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching. We also have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you in your teaching, and an Ethics Explorer to get you started.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

The Engineering Ethics Toolkit is a suite of interactive resources, guidance and teaching materials that enables educators to easily introduce ethics into the education of every engineer.

We’re always pleased to see the #EngineeringEthicsToolkit featured in news articles, blogs, podcasts etc., and we’ll be keeping track of those mentions here.

The latest workshops, conferences and events to feature the Ethics Toolkit

Sarah Jayne Hitt talks to Neil Cooke and Natalie Wint about the EPC’s Engineering Ethics Toolkit

Educating the educators – why the UK’s engineering teachers need reskilling too 

A look at engineering ethics education and research in 2023

Ethics workshop

Using the Engineering Ethics Toolkit in your teaching

Engineering ethics in the spotlight

Seen us in the news? Let us know!

Want to feature us? Get in touch for press kits, interviews etc.

 

This post is also available here.

“Discussing ethical issues can be a daunting prospect, whether one-to-one or with an entire classroom.”

If you feel daunted by the prospect of dealing with tricky subjects in class, our Engineering Ethics Toolkit guidance article Tackling tough topics in discussion has some tips and techniques that will make it easier for you.

This guidance article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to integrate ethics into the engineering and design curriculum, or into module design and learning activities.

We have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you as you expand your understanding of engineering ethics, and begin to embed it within the curriculum, and an Ethics Explorer to get you started. We also have a library of case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

You are an early career engineer working in the civil nuclear industry for Ultra Nuclear. Your manager has assigned your first major project which involves making the plans for the development of a new power plant. To complete your project successfully, you are expected to ensure community approval for the new nuclear power plant. How will you go about this?

This is the dilemma presented in our Engineering Ethics Toolkit case study Debating the adoption of nuclear energy.

This case study asks students to identify and define an open-ended problem in engineering and develop a socially acceptable solution, and addresses AHEP 4 themes.

We’ve provided this, and other case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching. We also have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you in your teaching, and an Ethics Explorer to get you started.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

If you’d like to improve your own ethics learning, then our Engineering Ethics Toolkit guidance article Why integrate ethics in engineering? is a great place to start.

The article author, Konstantinos Konstantis of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, believes that “It goes without saying that the way we design and use technology plays a crucial role in our daily lives. Engineers and their decisions have a huge impact on society.”

He goes on to say: “The ubiquitous presence of ethical challenges that the contemporary technological condition poses is well beyond doubt. Thus, the approach of these imminent ethical challenges in their appropriate context becomes a necessity. This article designates the importance of Engineering Ethics, which cross-cuts all engineering disciplines, and is a field that seeks to address these ethical issues, conceiving them as organically incorporated into the actual, ongoing engineering practice, research and education.”

Why integrate ethics in engineering? should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to integrate ethics into the engineering and design curriculum or module design.

We have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you as you expand your understanding of engineering ethics, and begin to embed it within the curriculum, and an interactive Ethics Explorer to get you started. We also have a library of case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

You are an engineering consultant working for a commercial heat pump company. The company handles both the manufacture and installation of heat pumps. You have been called in by a county council to advise and support a project to decarbonise both new and existing housing stock. How do you go about this?

This is the dilemma presented in our Engineering Ethics Toolkit case study Feasibility of installing heat pumps at scale to reach net zero.

This case study offers students an opportunity to practise and improve their skills in making estimates and assumptions. It also enables students to learn and practise the fundamentals of energy pricing and link this to the increasing issue of fuel poverty. Fundamental thermodynamics concepts, such as the second law, can also be integrated into this study.  

We’ve provided this, and other case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching. We also have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you in your teaching, and an interactive Ethics Explorer to get you started.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

“Universal and inclusive co-design of the built environment and transportation systems must be seen as an ethical act in engineering.”

Our Engineering Ethics Toolkit guidance article Universal and inclusive co-design of the built environment and the transportation systems espouses the belief that “Every citizen must have the same equality of opportunities in using spaces because the existence of an accessible built environment is fundamental to guarantee vitality, safety, and sociability.”

If you want to learn more about this subject, this is a great place to start. This article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to integrate social sustainability, EDI, and ethics into the engineering and design curriculum or module design.

We have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you as you expand your understanding of engineering ethics, and begin to embed it within the curriculum, and an interactive Ethics Explorer to get you started. We also have a library of case studies, for you to use and adapt in your teaching.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

 

What are the legal issues relating to machine condition monitoring? What ethical codes relate to data security and privacy? What responsibilities do engineers have in developing these technologies?”

These are some of the questions posed in our Engineering Ethics Toolkit case study Protecting data in an auto parts production facility.

This case study involves an engineer hired to develop and install an Industrial Internet of Things online machine monitoring system for a manufacturing company. It incorporates a variety of ethical components including law and policy, stakeholders, and risk analysis. 

We’ve provided this and other case studies for you to use and adapt in your teaching. We also have a growing library of guidance articles available to support you in your teaching, and an interactive Ethics Explorer to get you started.

Want to contribute your own content to the Ethics Toolkit? Get involved here.

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