Process Design and Optimization

1. Ethics and
Professionalism
Impact of Chemical Engineering Design on Society by
means of Ethics and Professionalism
VISHAL HARAN A/L PANNIRSELVAM - 1103162009
SRI GANESH VARMAA/L VISUNATHAN - 1103152017

2. Ethics
Chemical engineers do anything that impacts
the lives of anyone, their choices of actions
are based on ethics.
Three types of reasons for ethical behaviour:
Moral
Legal
Ethical

3. Engineering ethics
• System of principles and strategies that
engineers use to solve complex problems
involving other people’s lives.
• It includes aspects of moral principles and
legal responsibilities, as well as recognized
codes of ethics and generally accepted norms
of engineering and business behaviour.

4. Moral Autonomy
• The ability to make one’s own ethical decisions is
known as moral autonomy.
• A right decision is:
– Consistent with the engineer’s principles
– Consistent with the generally accepted codes of
engineering conducts
– Consistent with obligations that engineer has accepted
– Consistent with the law
– Consistent with the applicable code of ethics

5. Rehearsal
When learning a new skill, one usually practices or
rehearses.
The goal of rehearsal is:
To work through a scenario that is likely to occur
in the future and to develop the best response
possible.
To work through a scenario representative of a
broad range of situations that are likely to occur
in the future and develop a strategy for
responding to the broad range of problems.

6. Reflection in Action
• Is known as the self-imposed study of events
that have occurred in one’s professional life.
• Reflection in actions is important because:
– It forces one to analyse the strengths and
weaknesses of one’s own strategy.
– It provides continual opportunities and
encouragement for rehearsal.

7. Mobile Truth
• When your affinity to a group clouds your ethical decision
making, you are being affected by mobile truth.
• One should learn to recognize mobile truth and learn to
filter it out of ethical decision making.
• One should be vigilant to identify the intrusion of mobile
truth into the ethical decision making process.

8. Nonprofessional
Responsibilities
• Non professional responsibilities are responsibilities that doesn’t
involve their profession etc.
• Each chemical engineers have personal responsibilities to family,
friends, and even to oneself

9. Duties and Obligations
• Chemical engineers have certain duties by virtue of their
positions and they acquire other obligations in a number of
ways.
• Throughout ethical problem solving, one needs to remind
oneself of all the duties and obligations to which one has
agreed

10. Codes of Ethics
• Formal obligations that persons accept when
they join organizations or when they are
allowed to enter a profession.
• 3 main types
1. Employer
2. Technical society
3. Government

11. AIChe Code of Ethics
• Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of
the public and protect the environment in
performance of their professional duties.
• Formally advise their employers or clients (and
consider further disclosure, if warranted) if they
perceive that a consequence of their duties will
adversely affect the present of future health or
safety of their colleagues or the public.
• Accept responsibility for their actions, seek and
heed critical review of their work and offer objective
criticism of the work of others.

12. AIChe Code of Ethics
• Issue statements or present information only in an
objective and truthful manner.
• Act in professional matters for each employer or client
as faithful agents or trustees, avoiding conflicts of
interest and never breaching confidentiality.
• Treat fairly and respectfully all colleagues and co-
workers, recognizing their unique contributions and
capabilities.
• Perform professional services only in areas of their
competence.

13. AIChe Code of Ethics
• Build their professional reputations on the merits of their
services.
• Continue their professional development throughout their
careers, and provide opportunities for the professional
development of those under their supervision.
• Never tolerate harassment.
• Conduct themselves in a fair, honourable and respectful
manner.

14. Whistle-blowing
• The disclosure by a person, usually an employee in a government agency or
private enterprise, to the public or to those in authority, of mismanagement,
corruption, illegality, or some other wrongdoings
• A whistle-blower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity
that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is
either private or public.

15. Ethical dilemmas
• An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an
apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey
one would result in transgressing another.
• So one has to know how to prepare for those difficult choices

16. Additional ethics heuristics
• Acquire all information you can about the situation.
• Be honest and open
• Acknowledge the concern of others, whether or not they share their concern.
• Remember that one is only as ethical as one can afford to be.

17. Other resources
Center for engineering, ethics and society
• Ethics cases
• Mora; exmplars
• Ethics codes and guidelines
• Educational resources
Engineering ethics at tamu
National Institute for engineering ethics (niee)

18. THANK YOU
: )