COURSE OUTLINES

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Salman bin Abdul-Aziz University

GE 4031: Ethics of Engineering Profession

Course number and name

GE 4031 Ethics of Engineering

Instructor:
Dr. Rachid Belkacem Djoudjou,
Room # DS25

Class hours: 2 hours/week

Monday 8:00 to 8:50 am
Wednesday 8:00 to 8:50 am

Office hours: 2 hours/week

Monday 9:00 to 9:50 am
Wednesday 9:00 to 9:50 am

E-mail: r.djoudjou@sau.edu.sa

Description
Ethical issues in the practice of engineering, Safety and liability, professional
responsibility to clients and employers, loyalty, conflict of interest, confidentiality,
codes of ethics, career choice, legal obligations.

Prerequisites
None

Co-requisites
None

Course objectives
1. Know why it is important to study engineering ethics.
2. Understand the distinction between professional and personal ethics.
3. Understand what codes of ethics are.
4. Examine some codes of ethics of professional engineering societies.
5. Know the definitions of risk and safety.
6. Determine what ethical issues arise in engineering practice with regard to the
environment.
 Topics covered
Topic # of weeks # of Contact Hours
Introductory concepts: Engineering and ethics 1 2
Engineering Codes of Professional ethics: the case of
3 6
NSPE and Saudi codes
Moral reasoning 1 2
Ethical Theories 2 4
Risk and Safety 2 4

Confidential and Conflict of interest 1 2

Moral Guidelines and Integrity. 1 2
Environmental Ethics and Sustainability 1 2
Case studies 3 6
Total 15 45

Teaching Strategies
The course will be taught via lecture session.
Attendance at lectures and tutorials is compulsory. If you miss more than 25%
of the lectures and tutorials you will not be allowed to attend the final exam
and you will fail the course.

Textbook
Mike W Martins, Roland Schinzinger, "Introduction to engineering Ethics"
Second Edition

References
Charles E. Harris, Michael S. Pritchard, and Michael J.Rabins, "Engineering
Ethics : concepts and cases", Belmont, CA : Thompson Wadsworth, Last Edition

Course Assessment:
First midterm Wednesday 13/2/1439 H 2/11/2017 G (w#8) 20%
Second midterm Wednesday 25/3/1439 H 13/12/2017 G (w#14) 20%
Quizzes 10%
Case Study- presentation 10%
Final Examination 40%