Engineering Ethics, Standards, and Project Management

Posted on Aug 31, 2025 in Business Administration and Innovation Management

Equity and Discrimination in Engineering

Equality

  • It is illegal to discriminate based on: age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, and gender reassignment.
  • Direct Discrimination: Treating someone less favorably because of a protected characteristic. For example, not promoting someone because they are older.
  • Indirect Discrimination: A policy or practice that applies to everyone but disadvantages a particular group. For example, a”clean-shave” policy that disadvantages individuals who cannot shave due to religious beliefs.
  • Associated Discrimination: Discriminating against someone because they are associated with a person who has a protected characteristic. For example, denying time off to an employee whose father needs special care.
  • Perception Discrimination: Discriminating against someone based on the perception that they have a protected characteristic, even if they do not. For example, discriminating against someone because others perceive them to be gay, regardless of their actual orientation.
  • Equality Legislation: Ensures equal pay, benefits, and access to training.

Impact of Engineering on Society

  • The industrial revolution led to exponential population growth and increased demand for natural resources.
  • New technologies require a balance between risk, benefits, and cost.
  • Mathematical models can predict future outcomes and inform preventative measures.
  • Societal impacts, such as pollution from new technologies, necessitate regulations.
  • Engineering solutions evolve with time, as seen in the progression of automotive technology.

Professionalism and Safety in Engineering

Professionalism

  • Balance professional responsibility with public safety, which takes precedence over career advancement.
  • Engineers can have a significant impact on public safety; proper training and licensing are crucial.
  • Safety must be incorporated into all engineering practices.

Piper Alpha Case Study

  • A catastrophic incident on an oil and gas platform resulted in 176 deaths.
  • Miscommunication and operational decisions led to a deadly oil fire.
  • The failure to shut down the platform despite safety concerns, due to heat melting steel, caused the fatalities.
  • The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) has the authority to shut down operations.

Standards, Codes, and Regulations

Standards

  • Standards describe procedures for making, measuring, and testing materials and products.
  • They are created by various organizations and can cover protocols, definitions, and more.
  • Standards are developed through a consensus of stakeholders, including producers, manufacturers, sellers, and consumers.
  • Representatives with potentially competing interests must collaborate to create and approve standards.
  • Importance of Standards:
    • It is a professional obligation to consult standards for complete and informed advice.
    • Clients may require adherence to specific standards.
    • Knowledge of standards provides a competitive advantage.
  • Identifying Standards: Look for labels like ASTM (e.g., ASTM F594-09(2015) for stainless steel nuts). Standards require certification.
  • Sources for finding standards include product catalogs and databases like NSSN.

Codes

  • Codes are laws or regulations issued by government bodies or professional associations.
  • Examples include the Code of Ethics for Engineers.
  • Practicing engineering in Quebec requires adherence to the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec’s Code of Ethics.

Project Management

Project Definition

  • A Project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result.
  • Project Management is applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet requirements.
  • Stakeholders are individuals or groups influenced by or influencing a project.

Benefits of Project Management

  • Increases Predictability: Enhances safety, time, budget, and functional outcomes, boosting stakeholder confidence and business stability.
  • Optimizes Value: Selects the best technology, minimizes costs, clarifies scope, and maximizes sustainability.

Project Phases

  1. Business Planning
  2. FEL 1 (Concept Definition)
  3. Gate Review 1
  4. FEL 2 (Pre-feasibility – Option Selection)
  5. Gate Review 2
  6. FEL 3 (Feasibility – Project Definition Development)
  7. Gate Review 3
  8. FEL 4 (Execution)
  9. Start-up & Operation

Project Needs

  • Quality Plan: Outlines project quality objectives, procedures, assurance, control activities, monitoring programs, roles, responsibilities, and continuous improvement.
  • Project Audit & Assessment Plan
  • Change Management: SCOPE CONTROL is critical.

Modularization in Projects

  • Requires simultaneous construction of modules.
  • Coordination of equipment arrival and positioning is essential to avoid delays and cost overruns.

Project Management Principles

  1. Do your homework.
  2. Complete early studies with rigor.
  3. Make a good plan.
  4. Be transparent.
  5. Control changes.

Intellectual Property (IP)

What is Intellectual Property?

  • IP is the product of human intellect that is unique, novel, and valuable in the marketplace.
  • It is a valuable business asset that can prevent costly mistakes, provide a competitive edge, and be sold, licensed, or traded.

Benefits of IP

  • Identify trends and key contacts.
  • Gain insight into competition and find solutions.
  • Avoid duplication and prevent infringement.

Protecting IP with Patents

  • A patent grants the inventor exclusive rights for a limited time in exchange for disclosing the invention.
  • Why Patent? Protection, licensing opportunities, public interest, and encouraging scientific work.
  • Patent Criteria: New, Inventive/Unobvious, Useful.
  • Reasons Not to Patent: Trade secrets, difficulty in detecting infringement (e.g., chemical manufacturing), or small market size.
  • The patent process is often complicated, expensive, and time-consuming.
  • A patent application includes a definition of the invention, how it works, drawings, definitions, and claims.

McGill IP Policy

  • Inventions must be reported to the IDEA team.
  • The university decides whether to proceed with commercialization.
  • Authorship does not automatically equate to inventorship.

Company vs. University IP Ownership

  • Company: Typically owns IP developed by employees.
  • University: Often involves shared ownership and licensing revenue.

Commercialization Strategies

  • Startup Model: Iterate through idea generation, product building, and data measurement.
  • Using Partners: Collaborate for development, funding, and IP defense, with rewards aligned with risk.

Other Forms of IP Protection

  • Industrial Design: Protects the appearance of a product, not its functional aspects.
  • Trademark: Distinguishes goods or services; offers perpetual protection (renewed every 15 years) and is less costly than patents.
  • Trade Secrets: Information kept secret through reasonable efforts, such as recipes, processes, or customer lists.
  • Copyrights: Protect original works of authorship (music, software, books); automatic protection for the author’s lifetime plus 50 years.
  • Computer Programs/Software: Specific issues include scope of protection and reverse engineering.
  • Integrated Circuit Layout Designs: Protects against exact reproduction for 10 years.

Case Study: Silver Communications

  • A telecommunications company is developing a multi-functional device.
  • Concerns exist about design similarity to a competitor’s product and potential information leakage by a former intern.
  • Relevant IP topics include industrial design, trademark, and patent protection.

Types of Engineering Practice

1. Consulting

  • Advising clients on projects requiring specialized engineering knowledge.
  • Hired for expertise or short-term needs.
  • Tasks include design advice, expert opinions, feasibility studies, and project management.

2. Entrepreneurship

  • Starting one’s own consulting firm or technical business.
  • Requires an engineering degree, license, experience, network, determination, confidence, assertiveness, business skills, and good health.

3. Employment

  • Working as an engineer within various businesses.

Business Structures

  • Sole Proprietorship: Single owner, easy to establish, offers management freedom.
  • General Partnership: Two or more partners contribute and manage jointly.
  • Limited Partnership: Partners contribute financially but have limited involvement and liability.
  • Corporation: A legal entity with rights similar to a person, offering personal asset protection.
  • Due Diligence: Officers and directors must take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with statutes.

Engineers in Corporations

  • Fiduciary Duty: Officers and directors must avoid conflicts of interest and self-dealing.
  • Insider Trading: Using non-public information for trading is illegal.

Joint Ventures

  • Agreements to cooperate with another business for a limited purpose.
  • Pros: Access to new markets, resources, technology, shared risk, and increased capacity.
  • Cons: Slower decision-making, potential disagreements, and shared rewards.