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A case is made for augmenting individual-based engineering ethics with a social ethics of technology framework. A social ethics approach takes as problematic the mutable social arrangements for decision making in technology. The example of the design group is used. It is suggested that this expanded approach is more relevant to technology decision-making, which is normally done collectively, than individual ethics alone. Recent changes in the social relations of industry are discussed as evidence that this expanded approach may be well received in the workplace. more...

Engineers deploy their skills in contexts that require decisions based on certain criteria and on an understanding of processes that were not learned in college. This paper explores how these supplemental, “contextual” skills may be taught and reports on an experimental, fairly successful upper-division course at Pennsylvania State University in the fall of 1995. more...

How can we understand design in a global economy and prepare engineering students to play creative leadership roles? Further, what can we do through research to re-conceptualize design ideas, methods, and processes in creative ways that raises productivity and improves the lives of people throughout the world? The authors address these questions by discussing the Prestige Consortium that was established to advance global design education through the combined resources of seven universities in four countries. more...

Recent efforts in global engineering in the College of Engineering at Penn State were begun in the early 1990s, but there were earlier programs. It is now on the radar screen in the Dean's office and almost all engineering departments. This informal report is mostly focused on the activities in the Engineering Design Program where many of the initiatives have been based. more...