Engineering Ethics Toolkit: Case studies

Welcome to the case studies pages of the EPC’s Engineering Ethics toolkit, produced in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering. Click here for the toolkit homepage.

Case studies are one tool that can be used to address the context and impact of engineering ethics, and have been proven to be an effective teaching and learning method.

These case studies cover a variety of engineering disciplines, professional situations, and personal dilemmas and focuses on several areas of moral pedagogy. They were developed for use in higher education, but may also be of use in other settings.

To accommodate many educational levels, the case studies are divided between Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced cases. They are written in parts so that educators have the flexibility to use them as is best suited to their teaching content and environment, and all cases permit and encourage the integration of technical content. Along with learning and teaching notes, the cases contain suggested questions and activities as well as supplementary materials.

They are aligned to the Engineering Council and Royal Academy of Engineering’s Joint Statement of Ethical Principles and the expectations of the 4th Edition of the Engineering Council’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes and are therefore appropriate for UK teaching and learning contexts. They are, however, easily adapted for use in other countries.

Guidance articles are also available to help situate the case studies in an educational context and to signpost to additional research and resources on engineering ethics.

In developing the cases and articles in this resource, the authors and advisory group took into account recent scholarship on best practices in teaching engineering ethics through case studies. They also reviewed existing case study libraries in order to add to the growing body of material available on engineering ethics.

Case studies

Case study	Topic	Disciplines	Issues	Level
Aid vs trade	Suitable technology for developing countries	Mechanical engineering Electrical engineering Energy	Sustainability Honesty Integrity Public good	Advanced
Balancing risk and benefits when working with offshore contractors	Dealing with contracts or subcontracts with potential slave or forced labour	Manufacturing Engineering business	Social responsibility Human rights Risk	Beginner
Balancing safety, costs, and the environment in the inspection of wind turbine blades	Maintenance of an offshore wind farm	Mechanical Energy	Sustainability Risk	Beginner
Debating the adoption of nuclear energy	Participatory approaches for engaging with a local community about the development of risky technologies	Nuclear engineering Chemical engineering Energy	Corporate social responsibility Risk Accountability Respect for the environment	Advanced
Developing a decarbonisation roadmap	A country-wide energy transition plan	Energy Electrical	Sustainability Social responsibility Risk	Beginner
Engineers and public protest	Balancing personal values and professional conduct in the climate emergency	Civil engineering Energy and environmental engineering Energy	Respect for the environment Justice Accountability Social responsibility Risk Sustainability Health Public good Respect for the law Future generations Societal impact	Intermediate
Feasibility of installing heat pumps at scale to reach net zero	Home heating in the energy transition	Civil engineering Chemical engineering Mechanical engineering Energy	Sustainability Social responsibility	Intermediate
Financially and politically motivated misinformation about STEM research	Critical digital literacy	Computer science Information systems Biomedical engineering	Cultural context Social responsibility Privacy	Intermediate
Implementing the use of homegrown mass timber for residential housing	Sustainable materials in construction	Civil engineering Manufacturing Construction	Sustainability Respect for the environment Future generations Societal impact Corporate social responsibility	Intermediate
Microplastics in cosmetics	Responsibility for micro- and nano-plastics in the environment and human bodies	Environmental engineering Chemical engineering Mechanical engineering Materials engineering	Respect for the environment Corporate social responsibility Power Safety	Intermediate
Neuroethics of brain-computer interfaces	Data security of smart technologies	Electronics Data Biomedical engineering	Autonomy Dignity Privacy Confidentiality	Advanced
Protecting data in an auto parts production facility	Data security of industrial robots	Robotics Data Internet of things	Safety Health Privacy Transparency	Intermediate
Recycled materials and the circular economy	Materials sourcing and circularity	Materials engineering Manufacturing Environmental engineering Construction	Respect for the environment Risk	Intermediate
Business growth models in engineering industries within an economic system	Ethical entrepreneurship in engineering industries	Mechanical engineering Electrical and electronic engineering Chemical engineering	Justice Corporate social responsibility Accountability	Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Facial recognition for access and monitoring	Development and use of a facial recognition system	Data Electronics Computer science AI	Diversity Bias Privacy Transparency	Advanced
Choosing a career in climate change geoengineering	Soil carbon sequestration and solar geoengineering	Chemical engineering Energy Environmental engineering	Respect of the environment Social responsibility Risk.	Beginner
Glass safety in a heritage building conversion	Safety of construction materials	Mechanical engineering Materials	Safety Communication, Whistleblowing Power	Beginner
Developing an internet constellation	Low earth orbit satellites for internet provision	Electronics Mechanical engineering	Respect for environment Public good Future generations	Intermediate
Industrial pollution from an ageing pipeline and its impact on local communities	Monitoring and resolving industrial pollution	Chemical engineering Civil engineering Manufacturing Mechanical engineering	Environment Health Public good	Advanced
Power to food technologies	Alternative food production	Energy Chemical engineering	Sustainability Social responsibility	Advanced
Developing a school chatbot for student support services	Developing customised algorithms for student support	Computing AI Data.	Bias Social responsibility Risk Privacy	Beginner
Water wars: managing competing water rights	Data centres’ impact on sustainable water resources	Civil engineering Electronic engineering	Sustainability Respect for environment Future generations Risk Societal impact	Intermediate
Smart homes for older people with disabilities	Data security of smart technologies	Electronics Data Mechatronics	Autonomy Dignity Privacy Confidentiality	Intermediate
Choosing to install a smart meter	Smart meters for responsible everyday energy use	Electrical engineering	Integrity Transparency Social responsibility Respect for the environment Respect for the law	Beginner
Solar panels in a desert oil field	Trade-offs in the energy transition	Chemical engineering Electrical engineering Energy	Sustainability Honesty Respect for the environment Public good	Intermediate

Most case studies are also available as PDF documents on the RAEng website.

To ensure that everyone can use and adapt these cases in a way that best fits their teaching or purpose, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Under this licence, you are free to share and adapt this material, under terms that you must give appropriate credit and attribution to the original material and indicate if any changes are made.

Get involved: These case studies were created as part of the EPC’s Engineering Ethics toolkit that is intended to evolve and grow over time. Further case studies are being developed and will be added in due course, along with additional teaching resources to support individual case studies. We are actively inviting experts to submit case studies for review and possible inclusion in this toolkit. For more information, see our Get involved page.

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