Professionalism and Practice in Engineering

• Professional engineering responsibilities, especially in ethics and safety
• Read Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 18
• Becoming a P.Eng, Professional Documentation, Professions, Organizations, Accreditation, Project Management

• Responsibility of a P.Eng to check and sign off on various projects, structures
• Engineering documentation, log books, keeping track of prototypes and results
• With respect to virtual documents (2D and 3D sketches, calculations), check thoroughly
• *In lab, how to show engineering calculations

Includes what and why, also how accurate and when

• Realize what information is given, what you need, how you will get it
• All these things are expected to be clearly documented
• Problem statement should be written so it can be clearly related to your design work

• Good engineers almost always sketch, use physical and/or symbolic representations
• Sketching works coherently with the problem statement

Realize what information you will have to assume and approximate

• There will be more than one way to solve, short and quick or long and detailed
• Short and quick may be less accurate but sometimes might save time/money
• Long and detailed may or may not give a MUCH better answer
• Take into account how important accuracy really is (1 decimal place vs. 10, not always important)
• Make sure math is correct and units are tracked

• Interpret the results, what does this answer even mean
• Think back to the assumptions, were they correct, does the answer make sense
• Continued reflection, relate answers back to the initial design, does everything fit
• *Engineers not expected to be perfect, however it is our responsibility to catch mistakes, put forward best result possible
• Must be as diligent as possible, refrain from negligence

• Document everything clearly,  check work carefully, have our work checked, sign off and be responsible
• Engineers are a profession, skills include education, training, and experience
• Society of engineers is regulated, certain rules must be followed
• E.g. Ontario has a Professional Engineers Act (defines "practice of engineering")

• Includes:
• Failure to make reasonable provision for public
• Failure to act or report a dangerous situation
• Failure to make responsible provision for standards, codes, rules, laws
• Failure to present clear consequences
• Signing work not actually prepared or checked by you
• Breach of Act or Code of Ethics, show disgraceful or unprofessional actions
• Permitting a non P.Eng. to practice

 Not always definite rights and wrongs, but you must show reasonable effort to serve interest of public

• Expected to be a prudent engineer, not perfect
• Each engineering society has its own code of ethics, and sometimes the systems change
• However, duty to public always comes first, society/safety > money

Follow duty to public, employer, other professionals, respect information, co operate, be nice, uphold honour and integrity of profession

• Give proper credit, contribute fairly, equal rights
• *Codes of companies/schools are additions on to the Code of Ethics of Professional Engineers, Laws

Area specific camps deal with local engineering, also the Iron Ring ceremony

Ritual of the calling of an engineering, reminder to live by high standard

Aims to establish equivalence in engineering qualifications, US, UK, Canada, have signed but it is not yet complete

ISO - International Organization for Standardization

Check courses, facilities, people, processes, student work, use accreditation units (AU's) (e.g. 2000 AU's )

Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, part of Engineers Canada, accredit schools

choose whether or not they accept this accreditation

Review cycle, then report and visit

• Portfolio/Self Reflection - Keep track of all work, keep feedback as well, stay organized, and REFLECT
• P.Eng. Documentation requires engineering experience, 5 elements:
• Application of theory, Practical Experience, Management of engineering, communication skills, and social implications of engineering,
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• Also includes Co-op reports, summary of duties, description of engineering experience, analysis and conclusions

Includes facts about you, your skills, reflection of work to date, be ready to discuss

• Frequently, the end of the project measures success..was it on time, did it work, and was it on budget
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• E.g. Montreal Olympics stadium, late, over budget
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• Project management includes organized allocation of time, money, facilities, and people
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• Also an organized order of operations, what comes first, what can be done simultaneously
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• Split tasks into sub tasks, create an efficient way to do things, recognize skills
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• What does each sub task require, get necessary people/skills, what activities must be done
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• Need to be specific, not necessarily beginning, middle, and end

• Order of tasks, shows which tasks are active when, shows a beginning and end
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• Can also show tasks done concurrently, extended version also shows who, what, how much time, where
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• How much float (wiggle room) do you have, where is the flexibility and how can you use it
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• What are the critical paths, what absolutely must be done before another part can begin
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• Days allocated vs. days required, leave some room so things don`t go over schedule
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• Critical Elements: People, facilities
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• Easy to put everything on paper, hard to actually do