Online Ethics Center Panel Series (updated 6.11.2020)

Dear Engineering Ethics Division members,

You may be interested in the following announcement for the OEC (Online Ethics Center) panel series:

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Summer 2020 Online Panel Series

Engineering Solutions for the Next Pandemic: Exploring Ethics Concerns

In collaboration with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Ethics Division, and the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE), the National Academy of Engineering Online Ethics Center (OEC) is hosting a series of panel discussions on “Engineering Solutions for the Next Pandemic: Exploring Ethics Concerns.” We’ll explore how engineers might prepare for future pandemics, through new engineering solutions developed with the insight and knowledge gained during this current crisis. What will it take to develop future solutions that adhere to fundamental principles and codes of engineering ethics? What can we learn from this situation that can inform engineering education?

 

Panel 1: Standards of ethics for R&D, infrastructure, and systems during a crisis

June 19, 2:00-3:15PM (Eastern)

To register in advance for this webinar (required):

https://nasem.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gW2enrh2QTi_L3SrYQbZsg

People are asking FDA and other institutions to “change the rules” because of the extenuating circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. Others would argue that it’s never appropriate to compromise the rules of ethics we have already agreed upon.  That, in fact, times of crisis are when we should adhere most closely to principles of ethics in guiding our choices and behaviors, as they are directly challenged by competing interests and threats.

This panel will consider how important is it to adhere to established ethics guidelines and codes for engineering R&D during a pandemic, such as we are facing now. What are the questions of ethics that arise when we change the rules in a crisis? Right now, as we proceed to develop and institute responses to the virus, lacking is a common understanding, a shared social agreement, on how far we can deviate from acceptable ethical norms. Compromises are being made because of the crisis context. What engineering standards still apply? What engineering standards are to be considered malleable because of a crisis? Do engineers have a crisis standard that comes into play? Guardrails are needed to ensure safety while still moving ahead quickly. And since another pandemic is likely in the future, how might crisis standards of ethics help us to prepare?

Panelists

Steve Ceccio, Vincent T and Gloria M Gorguze Professor of Engineering, Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Associate Dean for Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Angela Bielefeldt, P.E., Professor, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Director, Engineering Plus, University of Colorado-Boulder

Carolyn Compton, M.D., Professor, Arizona State University & Mayo Clinic, Chief Medical Officer National Biomarkers Development Alliance and Complex Adaptive Systems Institute

Jonathan Beever, Assistant Professor of Ethics and Digital Culture, Department of Philosophy and the Texts & Technology Ph.D. Program, University of Central Florida. Co-founder and director of the UCF Center for Ethics

 

Panel 2: Ethics of challenge studies, avalanche testing and other approaches to vaccine development

June 24, 1:00-2:15PM (Eastern)

Register in advance for this webinar (required):

https://nasem.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OGFctPz6SfawpRFl8F5hwQ

We have had pandemics in the past yet we were not prepared for Covid-19. Solutions are being sought with a sense of urgency. For example, human challenge testing will accelerate the vaccination development process. But who are the test subjects to be? At what cost to them is their volunteerism? Testing schemes suggests a solution is needed quickly, but is it right to put risk assessments on the volunteers to evaluate? Short of a vaccine, the “controlled avalanche” approach is proposed to gain herd immunity. Given the need to find solutions quickly, must ethics must be compromised? Such alterations to ethics could have profound implications for engineering practice in terms of R&D supply chains, manufacturing, and production.

Panelists

Peter Schwartz, Director for Bioethics, Indiana School of Medicine

Ezequiel Garfinkel, Global Head Ethics, Risk & Compliance, Novartis Research & Development

David Allison (NAM), Dean & Provost Professor, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington

Arthur Caplan, William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor, Founding Head, Division of Medical Ethics, NYU School of Medicine

Stephanie Bird, Founding Editor, Science and Engineering Ethics

 

Panel 3:  Social (in)justice, disparities in Covid-19 health care delivery

June 26th 4:00-5:15PM (Eastern)

Register in advance for this webinar (required):

Https://nasem.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OjehYfH-ReSktPENkWfYdQ

Racial and social-economic dynamics have become a salient aspect of ethics in our collective response to the pandemic so far. In addition to blatant disparities in poor health outcomes, are social matters such as the high percentage of people of color on the service frontline, and lack of access to the internet where teaching online is presumed as a way to continue education. Could engineers have seen this coming? Do engineers have a role to play in avoiding the stark social and racial disparities of pandemics such as Covid-19? In anticipation of future pandemics, what engineering solutions might be brought to bear to address and prevent these kinds of discrepancies, and the associated injustices, for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous Americans? Some would argue for the importance of engaging vulnerable communities in engineering solutions, and that the history of socio-technical systems ought to inform engineering solutions.

Panelists

Cato T. Laurencin, University Professor, Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Connecticut; Director, The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences; Chief Executive Officer, The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering

Lisa M. Lee, Associate Vice President for Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance, Research Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech. Formerly: Inaugural Chief of Bioethics, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research & Executive Director of the Presidential Bioethics Commission.

Dr. Monica Peek, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago & Associate Director, Chicago Center for Diabetes Translational Research

C.K. Gunsalas, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & Research Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and Professor Emerita in the College of Business

Karletta Chief, Assistant Professor and Assistant Specialist in the Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ; a Diné hydrologist, best known for her work to address environmental pollution on the Navajo Nation and increase the participation of Native Americans in STEM.

Paloma Beamer, Associate Professor, College of Public Health Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona,  Associate Editor for the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. President of the International Society of Exposure Science; lifetime member of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

ASEE Engineering Ethics Division Nominations 2020

Secretary/Treasurer

Dr. Alison Kerr

I wish to express my keen interest in serving the ASEE Engineering Ethics Division as treasurer/secretary for this upcoming year and in continuing in roles on the leadership team going forward. Of all the ASEE divisions, my interest and enthusiasm has always been most committed to this division. Over the past several years, I have endeavored to serve this division by submitting and presenting papers, reviewing manuscripts, and moderation sessions. Going forward, I hope to continue and expand my service to the division through involvement with the business and leadership team. Just this past year, I complete my Ph.D. this last year in Industrial Organizational Psychology at the University of Tulsa. My dissertation research was a comprehensive evaluation of five years of an experiential engineering ethics education program for undergraduate students. I am currently continuing to pursue research in ethics education through a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois with the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics. Over the past several years, I have also had the honor of working with many of our divisions esteemed members and leadership team alumni and it is my aspiration to continue to be involved with engineering ethics education and research for as long as the field will have me.  My fellow researchers will tell you that I am incredibly enthusiastic about pursuing the challenging task of “solving ethics”. I believe this division supports and elevates this aim and I wish to support and elevate this division through this leadership role if you will entrust me to do so.

 

Thank you for your consideration! Enthusiastically, Alison J. Kerr

 

Member at Large

Dr. Claire McCullough

Dr. McCullough received her bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee, respectively, and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Alabama. She is a member of I.E.E.E., Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and Eta Kappa Nu. She is currently Professor and Founding Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the High Point University, and teaches courses in such areas as Engineering Ethics, Controls, and Engineering Design. Dr. McCullough has over 30 years’ experience in engineering practice and education, including industrial experience at the Tennessee Valley Authority and the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Her research interests include Image and Data Fusion,  Bioinformatics, and ethical issues related to engineering, including cyberbullying and under-representation in STEM fields. She is a former member of the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, and is on the board of the Women in Engineering Division of ASEE. Dr. McCullough regards ethics as absolutely critical to the practice of engineering, and has both written papers and supervised honors theses on engineering ethics. It is for this reason that she would like to serve the Ethics Division of ASEE in any way possible.

 

Dr. Don Winiecki

Dr. Winiecki is Professor of Ethics and Morality in Professional Practice at Boise State University. He is a sociologist and has been teaching in the Boise State University, College of Engineering since 1996. At present his principal instructional assignments are focused on professional morality and ethics with the Department of Computer Science where he is a co-PI on an NSF RED grant. Other instructional duties include on-demand presentations and activities throughout the College, from 1st year introductory courses to the Senior Design courses. These courses focus on both the societal values for inclusion and the quality and commercial gains that come from ensuring inclusion and justice in engineering. He is also certified in braille transcription by the U.S. Library of Congress and a principal in an emerging laboratory in the College to convert STEM content (literary, mathematics, graphics) into braille and tactile forms for students who are blind and low vision. This lab involves students with no experience in tactile media, who they train and coach in gradual steps to become sensitive to the needs of students with disabilities, and capable of advocating for them in professional settings, as well as helping them build skills in adapting materials and equipment to facilitate inclusion through higher education and into professional practice. Throughout these efforts, his goal is to normalize the value of inclusion and diversity in engineering education by including it through the entire undergraduate curriculum. By making it part of the normal, everyday focus of engineers it will be seen as an essential element for future engineers and the future of engineering

 

Dr. Jonathan Beever

Jonathan Beever, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Ethics and Digital Culture in the Department of Philosophy and the Texts & Technology Ph.D. Program at the University of Central Florida. He founded and directs the UCF Center for Ethics, and also directs the Theoretical and Applied Ethics Certificate Program. His research interests focus on bioethical and environmental ethical implications of science and technology. He has substantial experience in engineering ethics, including as a former chair of this division, as a postdoctoral and early researcher in engineering ethics, and author or co-author of numerous publications in engineering ethics. Further his most recent book, Understanding Digital Ethics (Routledge 2019), is directly relevant to engineering ethics.

 

Dr. Homero Murzi

Homero Murzi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and the leader of the Engineering Competencies, Learning, and Inclusive Practices for Success (ECLIPS) Lab. He holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS, MS), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and in Engineering Education (PhD). Homero has 15 years of international experience working in industry and academia. His research focuses on contemporary and inclusive pedagogical practices, industry-driven competency development in engineering -with a focus on teamwork and ethical development, and understanding the barriers that Latinx and Native Americans have in engineering. Homero has been recognized as a Diggs scholar, a Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence fellow, a Diversity scholar, a Fulbright scholar, and was inducted in the Bouchet Honor Society. Homero’s interest in becoming a member at large for the Engineering Ethics Division comes from the alignment of this division with the ECLIPS Lab research interests. Homero has been working in the engineering ethics space in countries like Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and the U.S. and can bring a global perspective on the development of engineering ethics.

Support for ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition

Hello Engineering Ethics Division Members,
There is still some funding available through Engineering Unleashed (see below) if you are interested in attending this year’s virtual ASEE conference. The link for the application is included in the email below.
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Thanks to a generous grant from the Kern Foundation/Engineering Unleashed we still have funds available for qualifying ASEE members to have their ASEE Virtual Conference fully paid for.  I am excerpting from a previous email:

We are happy to report a very generous offer from Engineering Unleashed (https://engineeringunleashed.com) to provide a full, $500 registration scholarship for up to 200 members with financial need (a program chair whose division has under $2500 in its BASS account; best-paper awardees; first-time authors; and professional track [non-tenure track] or untenured faculty members).

We have an application process in place for members seeking financial aid. Please find the application here. Applications will be considered until funds are expended, which we anticipate may happen as late as June 1, 2020.

Conference registration is here.

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Thank you!