Humility and new modes of engineering design

Engineering design is seen by some as a form of social experimentation. What are we to make of such experimentation in light of calls for technological humility? Further, what should the engineer do, not just the citizen or the government? Does the engineer have some special social responsibility? T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE engineering management review 2013, Vol.41 (1), p.7-8
Main Authors: Cunningham, Scott W., Hillerbrand, Rafaella, Thissen, Wil A.H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alterations
Communities
Contracts
Design
Design methodology
Engineering design
Engineers
Ethics
Experimentation
Governments
Proposals
Social factors
Testing
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Summary:Engineering design is seen by some as a form of social experimentation. What are we to make of such experimentation in light of calls for technological humility? Further, what should the engineer do, not just the citizen or the government? Does the engineer have some special social responsibility? There have been a number of critiques and propositions for action. These stem from diverse academic communities of ethicists, sociologists, and public administrators. Proposals considered include greater public participation, enhanced procedures for design, and alterations to the design team. Many of these proposals were not originally aimed at engineering designers but rather were intended to stimulate a change in the relationships between actors. A series of crises has rewritten the social contract between engineers, citizens and government. Given this, what is an engineering designer to do?
ISSN:0360-8581
1937-4178
DOI:10.1109/EMR.2013.2244975