Engineering as Social
Experimentation
Engineering
• Engineering is the application of science and math to solve
real life problems.
• Engineering is the application of science and math
concerned with the design, building, and use of engines,
machines, and structures.
• Engineers figure out how things work and find practical
uses for scientific discoveries.
• Scientists and inventors often get the credit for innovations
that advance the human condition, but it is engineers who
are instrumental in making those innovations available to
the world.
Engineering
According to Freeman Dyson, "A good scientist is a person with
original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design
that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no
prima donnas in engineering.“
According to United Kingdom Association of Professional
Engineers (UKAPE) “Engineering is defined as any activity
which involves engineering in industry; with the purpose of
generating products and services which society finds useful and
is prepared to pay for. Therefore it includes line management,
project management, marketing and contracting, as well as the
more predictable research, design, development and
manufacturing activities.”
Engineering
According to DEAN GORDON BROWN
“Engineering is not merely knowing and being
knowledgeable like a walking encyclopedia; engineering is
not merely analysis; engineering is not merely the
possession of the capacity to get elegant solutions to non-
existent engineering problems; engineering is practicing
the art of organized forcing of technological change;
engineers operate at the interface between science and
society.”
Experimentation
• A test under controlled conditions that is made to
demonstrate a known truth, to examine the validity of a
hypothesis, or to determine the efficacy of something
previously untried. The process of conducting such a
test is called as a experimentation
• In the scientific method, an experiment is an empirical
procedure that arbitrates competing models or hypotheses.
• Researchers also use experimentation to test existing
theories or new hypotheses to support or disprove them.
Engineering as Experimentation
• Engineering involves development of product or project,
and as a whole it can be considered as an experiment.
• To manufacture a product, or to provide a project, we have
to go through some iterative steps. Like several
assumptions and trials, Design and redesign, etc.
Engineering as Experimentation
• When it is decided to change a new engineering concept
into its first rough design, preliminary experiments or
simulation should be conducted.
• Using formal experimental methods, the materials and
methods of designing are tried out. These experiments may
be based on more detailed designs.
• The experiment for designing should be evolved till the
final product produced. With the help of feedback of
several experiments, further modification can be made if
necessary.
• Beyond these tests and experiments, each engineering
project has to be viewed as an experiment.
Engineering as Experimentation
• Even though various tests and experiments
are conducted at various stages, the
engineering project as a whole in its
totality can be viewed as an experiment
involve technology development, human,
Environment.
Engineering Projects as experiments
• There are three important aspects, which are of essential
for combining every type of engineering works to make it
suitable to look at engineering projects as experiments
First Aspect- Similarities to Standard Experiments
q Any project is carried out in partial ignorance due to
1. The uncertainties in the abstract model used for the design
calculations,
2. The uncertainties in the precise characteristics of the
materials purchased
3. The uncertainties caused by variations in processing and
fabrication of materials and The uncertainties about the
nature of stresses the finished product will encounter.
4. The uncertainties about the nature of stresses
the finished product will encounter
Note-
• definitely, Engineer’s success lies in the ability to
accomplish tasks with only a complete knowledge of
scientific laws about nature and society.
• If an engineer wants to overcome uncertainties ,he must
have a practical knowledge of scientific laws about nature
and society.
Second aspects.
The final outcomes of engineering projects are generally uncertain like that
of experiments what we do, i.e. In engineering, in most of the cases, the
possible outcomes may not be known and even small and mild projects
itself involve greater risks.
The following uncertainties occur in the model designs:
1. Model used for the design calculations
2. Exact characteristics of the material purchased.
3. Constancies of materials used for processing and fabrication.
4. About the nature of the pressure the finished product will encounter.
• For instance, a reservoir (Dam) construction may cause
damage to the surroundings and affect the eco system, If it
leaks or breaks, the purpose will not be served.
• A nuclear reactor Explosion may cause unexpected
problems to the surrounding population leading to a great
loss to the owners (Government).
• Effective Engineering relies upon knowledge gained about
products both before and after they leave the factory-
knowledge needed for improving current products and
creating better ones. That is, ongoing success in
engineering depends upon gaining new knowledge.
3rd aspects
• Effective Engineering relies upon
knowledge gained about products both
before and after they leave the factory.
• knowledge needed for improving
current products and creating better
ones.
• That is, ongoing success in engineering
depends upon gaining new knowledge.
Engineers as Responsible Experimenters
• In the engineering project, the engineers are the main
technical enablers(or) facilitators. But their responsibility
is shared with management, marketing people, public, and
others.
• Engineers are in a unique position to:
– Monitor projects
– Identify risks
– Develop facts for informed consent
• The engineers have so many responsibilities for serving
the society.
To fulfill their obligations as responsible
experimenters, engineers must:
q Ensure the safety of human, providing a safe exit whenever possible,
and respect their right of informed consent.
q Use imaginative forecasting of possible side effects, and reasonable
efforts to monitor them
q Have autonomous, personal involvement in all aspects of a project.
q Accept accountability (Answerability) for the results
q Display technical competence and other attributes of responsible
professionals
Social Responsibilities of engineers in
experimentation are
1. Conscientiousness: A primary duty is to protect the
safety of human beings and respect their right of
consent. [A conscientious commitment to live by moral
values].
2. M o r a l A u t o n o m y : U n r e s t r i c t e d f r e e p e r s o n a l
involvement in all the steps of a project.
3. Relevant information: A constant awareness of the
experimental nature of any project, imaginative
forecasting of its possible side effects and a reasonable
effort to monitor them. [comprehensive perspective or
relative information]
Conti..
4. Accountability: Accept responsibility for results of a
project (avoid fragmentation, diffusion, time pressures)
Conscientiousness:
• Conscientiousness implies consciousness (sense of
awareness). Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a
task well. Conscientious people are efficient and
organized as opposed to easy-going and disorderly.
• As holding the responsible profession with maintaining full
range moral ethics and values which are relevant to the
situation.
• • Example: [Should not involve in…]The small negative
duties
Conscientiousness:
• In order to understand the given situation, its implications,
know-how, person who is involved or affected, Engineers
should have open eyes, open ears and open mind.
• One who thinks of oneself and one’s benefits alone cannot
be moral agents.
• Example: [Should not involve in…]The small negative
duties such as altering data by fraud, violating patent right
and breaking confidentiality
MORAL AUTONOMY
This refers to the personal involvement in
one’s activities. People are morally
autonomous only when their moral conduct
and principles of actions are their own i.e.,
genuine in one’s commitment to moral
values.
• Moral beliefs and attitudes must be integrated into an
individual’s personality which leads to a committed action.
Relevant information
• Without relevant factual information, conscientious is not
possible.
• Moral concern involves a commitment (dedication) to
obtain and assess all available relevant information.
• Another dimension to factual information is the
consequences of what one does.
Accountability(Answerability)
• An engineer is always answerable for what he had undertaken. He
must observe care and caution at every stage of his experiment,
monitor it by his best capacity and skills and ultimately produce the
outcome in the expected manner. If there be failures or errors ,he
must accept them with grace.
• The people those who feel their responsibility, always accept moral
responsibilities for their actions. It is known as accountable.
• In short, ‘accountable’ means being liable and hold responsible for
faults.
• In general and to be proper, it means the general tendency of being
willing to consider one’s actions to moral examinations and be open
and respond to the assessment of others.
Industrial Standards
Standard-
A document issued by a recognized agency, and dealing
with design and safety requirements relating to a specific
product.
Examples:
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(051-IA) and the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI)
OSHA standards are generally legally binding for an
employer,
while ANSI standards are generally of an advisory nature.
set industry standards with input from industry
representatives and consumers.
Industrial Standards
q Industry standards are documents that contain requirements that have
been agreed on by groups of companies and people working in specific
industries or on specific types of products.
q Industry standards are a set of criteria within an industry relating to the
standard functioning and carrying out of operations in their respective
fields of production.
q The standards addressed the product performance, safety, reliability, and
the methods for evaluating product performance, reliability, and safety.
q It provides an orderly and systematic formulation, adoption, or application
of standards used in a particular industry or sector of the economy
q Industry standards vary from one industry to another.
q Industry standards facilitate global as well as domestic competitiveness. It
is a crucial tool for developing and meeting industry goals.
An industry standard is a technical standard used in
technical contexts throughout an industry. It may also refer
to:
v Industry Standard Architecture, the 16-bit internal bus of
IBM Personal Computer/AT
v Industry Standard Coding Identification, a standard
created to identify commercials that aired on U.S. TV
v The Industry Standard, a news website and former
magazine
Example of industry standard In the automotive industry,- Tire sizes and
durability must fall within a standardized range.
Overview of the Industrial Standards Framework
Benefits of Industrial standards
Benefits to companies, manufacturers and developers
• Industry standards make it easier and cheaper for
companies to access and use certain technologies.
• They can also provide manufacturers with real economic
benefits, like access to new markets. This can significantly
contribute to a corporation's bottom line and become a
core part of its business strategy
Benefit to consumers
• Interoperability is a real benefit associated with standards.
Consider it from a consumers' perspective: when you
purchase a laptop, you expect that it will connect
wirelessly to the internet no matter where you are
Benefit to consumers
• For example, think about a time you might have been working at the
office on an online document, then gone to a café and searched for
convenient times for a movie playing nearby, and finally gone home to
review and send emails.
• Throughout the entire chain of events, not once did you have to think
about which standards were being used, whether your laptop's
wireless technology would work in these environments or whether
there would be an issue with your computer's power supply.
Interoperability of standards makes all of this – and much, much more
- possible.
• Standards also maintain choice for consumers, ensuring that several
suppliers can supply similar but compatible products, maintaining
competition and keeping prices low while offering a wider range of
choices in any one category
BENEFITS OF STANDARDS ON A NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
• Standards may firstly support national health and safety; electrical and
fire hazard standards are a prime example.
• In a world of increasing globalization, these benefits are increased by
an order of magnitude.
• European standards hav e been of great importance for the
development of a single European market, and the trend is now
towards ever-increasing international co-operation.
• International standards help to break down trade barriers and further
world trade. The ever expanding globalization of the car industry is a
prime example.
Titanic disaster as Case Study
• The tragedy of ‘Titanic’ happened on 15 th April 1912
Because of the Collision with iceberg on 14 April 1912. Due
to insufficient number of life boats resulting in the death
of 1514 out of 2224 .
• Titanic had a total of 20 lifeboats, comprising 16 wooden
boats (eight on either side of the ship) and four collapsible
boats with wooden bottoms and canvas sides. The life boat
capacity available was only 825.
• Titanic had been designed to ac c o mmo d ate u p to
68 lifeboats which was enough for everyone on board and
the price of an extra 32 lifeboats would only have been
some US$16,000 (equivalent to $429,000 in 2020), a tiny
fraction of the $7.5 million that the company had spent
on Titanic.
Titanic disaster as Case Study
For more details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Titanic
Titanic disaster as Case Study
Engineering issues
• The metal showed no evidence
bending or deformation
• Results of the Charpy test for
modern steel and Titanic steel
[Gannon, 1995]. When a pendulum
struck the modern steel, on the left,
with a large force, the sample bent
without breaking into pieces; it was
ductile. Under the same impact
loading, the Titanic steel, on the
right, was extremely brittle; it broke
in two pieces with little How rivets may have contributed
deformation. to disaster
Structural design issue
Ethical issues
Learning from the past
• Engineers should learn not only from their own earlier
design and operating results, but also from other
engineers.
Engineers repeat the past mistakes of others due to the
following reasons:
• Lack of established channels of communication.
• Misplaced pride in not asking for information
• Embarrassment at failure or fear of Law’s (legal problems).
• Negligence.
