As a team member , l can confirm that I have read through the Statement of Ethical Principles issued in 2005 and revised in 2017 by Royal Academy of Engineering and Engineering Council. I have understood that engineers have the responsibility to uphold ethical values in engineering for the safety of people throughout their engineering careers.
The first point of ethical principles is honesty and integrity, it states that engineering professionals have a duty to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct. It motivates engineers to act in a reliable and trustworthy manner and be alert in which their work and behaviour might affect others and respect the privacy, rights and reputations of other parties and individuals. As a team member of the micro mouse project, I showed honesty and integrity by being reliable to my team mates when showing up to lab sessions to work on the project as a team.
The second point elaborated is respect for life, law , the environment and public good. This principle encourages engineering professionals to obey all applicable laws and regulations and give due weight to facts, published standards and guidance and the wider public interest. From this principle I now understand that as engineers we should ensure that the work we do is lawful and justified. We should maximise the public good and minimise both actual and potential adverse effects for their own and succeeding generations. I also understand that this principle goes in hand with the rule 13 of IET rules of conduct which states that members shall at all times take all reasonable care to limit any danger of death, injury or ill-health to any person that may result from their work and the products of their work. I have demonstrated this principle during the micro mouse project by limiting high current supply on experiments for the safety of the environment.
The last principle elaborated is leadership and communication which encourages engineering professions to promote high standards of leadership and communication by being aware of the issues that engineering and technology raise for society , and listen to the aspirations and concerns of others. It also promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. As a team member , I did my best to communicate with my team to update them on the progress for the task I worked on and this has helped us as team to monitor our progress.
I have also read through the NSPE code of ethics in engineering and it elaborates the importance to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. It encourages engineers to issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner and avoid deceptive acts. The article from the ethics of NSPE encourages engineers to not obtain employment or advancement or professional engagement by untruthfully criticizing other engineers, or by other improper . This principle made me understand that as engineers we should show respect and integrity to fellow engineers and not criticize.
Here’s the link to the NPSE code of ethics for engineering professionals: Code of Ethics | National Society of Professional Engineers (nspe.org)