Engineering Ethics

Dr. Baura received her BS Electrical Engineering degree from Loyola Marymount University, her MS Electrical Engineering and MS Biomedical Engineering degrees from Drexel University, and her PhD Bioengineering degree from the University of Washington. Between her graduate degrees, she worked as a loop transmission systems engineer at AT&T Bell Laboratories. She then spent 13 years in the medical device industry conducting medical device research and managing research and product development at several companies. She holds 20 U.S. patents. In her last industry position, Dr. Baura was Vice President, Research and Chief Scientist at CardioDynamics. In 2006, she returned to academia as a Professor of Medical Devices at Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, which is one of the Claremont Colleges.Throughout her career, Dr. Baura has championed engineering curriculum excellence. She has written four engineering textbooks, three of which are medical device textbooks. She is an ABET Engineering Accreditation Commissioner. In her new position as Director of Engineering Science at Loyola, she is constructing a general engineering curriculum that incorporates substantial industry input and prepares new engineering graduates for positions in the medical device, semiconductor, and wastewater treatment industries.

"This is a most extraordinary book. Its contents range from valuable reference material on Sarbanes-Oxley and US engineering codes of conduct to some folksy, almost sentimental, personal case histories. But, remarkably, the author's own personal commitment and integrity shine through on every page." --John Turnbull, The Chemical Engineer, August 2006"At first glance, this book looks like most other recent volumes on this topic. But where other books often written in whole or part by philosophers and academics - can be tedious for engineers who are not coversant with ethical theory, Baura definitely approaches from an industrial perspective. She also addresses the subject with a concrete problem-solving approach and with more elegant prose and a better organization than I find in other treatments." --Gael UlRich, Chemical Engineering 2006"Despite the US focus, the examples are presented with a level of detail that will enable engineers anywhere to understand the underlying technical and behavioral issues. It will be welcomed by those teaching engineering ethics modules, especially with the up-to-date examples we all remember from the news." --Julia King, Materials Today, March 2007

• Part I An Ethics Foundation1 A Personal Engineering Ethics Threshold2 Options for Action When an Engineering Ethics Threshold is ReachedPart II National Case Studies3 1978 - Ford Pinto Explosion4 1981 - Kansas City Hyatt Regency Skywalk Collapse5 1986 - Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion6 1989 - Exxon Valdez Oil Spill7 1989 - San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Earthquake Collapse8 1994 - Bjork Shiley Heart Valve Defect9 1999 - Y2K Software Conversion10 2002 - Bell Laboratories Scientific Fraud11 2002 - Ford Explorer Rollover12 2003 - Columbia Space Shuttle Explosion13 2003 - Guidant Ancure Endograft System14 2003 - Northeast Blackout15 2004 – Indian Ocean TsunamiPart III Individual Case Studies16 Anonymous Industrial Engineering Ethics Cases