Facc-100 course summary notes PDF

Title Facc-100 course summary notes
Author Mason Wiz
Course Introduction to the Engineering Profession
Institution McGill University
Pages 17
File Size 420.5 KB
File Type PDF
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Summary

Warning: TT: undefined function: 32 Warning: TT: undefined function: 32©MIN JIANG 2016Lecture2: Engineering Professional Values Professional Values a) Competence b) Responsibility c) Social Commitment d) Ethical Conduct 3 main stakeholders (we have obligations to who?) a) Public b) Client or employe...


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©MIN JIANG 2016 Lecture2: Engineering Professional Values 1) Professional Values a) Competence b) Responsibility c) Social Commitment d) Ethical Conduct 2) 3 main stakeholders (we have obligations to who?) a) Public b) Client or employer c) Engineering profession 3) Standards of responsibility in engineering a) Malpractice Model i) Engineers must conform to standard operating procedures (SOP) ii) Minimalist regulations iii) Responsibility linked with legal liability iv) Focus on blame and punishment v) Ex: Flight 191 American Airlines DC-10 crash (left engine broke off) b) Reasonable Care i) Exceed existing regulations if they are insufficient ii) Meet the standard that a prudent non-professional would expect iii) Concern for public welfare instead of trying to avoid blame iv) Responsibility as a civic virtue v) Focus on prevention of harm c) Good Works i) Going above and beyond the call of duty ii) Engineering who do not meet standard cannot be blamed iii) Often met with resistance (Tight time schedules, limited budgets, etc.) iv) Ex: development of the sealed beam headlamp (improve safety on their own time, with resistance encounter) v) Ex: Engineers Without Borders

Lecture 3: Philosophy and Principles of Ethics 1) Bernard Gert’s moral system a) Definition of moral: applied informal public system […] lessening of evil or harm as its goal b) 10 Moral rules i) Don’t kill ii) Don’t cause pain Do not harm iii) Don’t disable iv) Don’t deprive of freedom v) Don’t deprive of pleasure vi) Don’t deceive vii) Keep your promises Do not violate trust viii) Don’t cheat ix) Obey law x) Do your duty c) 4 Classical Ethical Theories i)

Mill’s Utilitarianism (1) John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) (2) Provide max benefit to max number of people (3) Legal system and democratic government based on these principles (4) Common approach used by engineers (ex: cost-benefit analyses) (5) Difficulty: calculate max benefit (6) 3 key factors: (a) Intensity (b) Duration (c) Number (7) Equality of distribution of benefits (8) No discrimination based on class, gender, race, religion, etc. (9) Greatest avoidance of pain for the max number of individuals (10) Slavery is ethical

ii) Kant’s duty ethics (Formalism) (1) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) (2) Every individual’s duty is to behave in an ethical manner (moral duty) (3) Each person’s conscience imposes a categorical imperative (4) Universally acceptable code of conduct (5) What is fair for one is fair for all (6) Examples of duties (a) Don’t lie (b) Don’t steal

(c) Be fair to others (d) Do no harm (7) Good will = most basic good (8) Good intentions > results or consequences (9) Difficulty: duties never have exceptions (10)Lying can be moral iii) Locke’s Rights Ethics (1) John Locke (1632-1704) (2) Everyone has rights that arise from one’s very existence as a human being (3) Duty is consequence of personal rights (4) Right to life and liberty = fundamental (5) Influenced the French American revolutions (6) Basic human rights embedded in Canadian Chart of Rights and Freedoms (7) Acts are morally right when they are the best way to respect the human rights of everyone affected (8) Difficulty: if some people are affected positively and some negatively, how to decide whose rights are most important? iv) Aristotle’s virtue ethics (1) Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) (2) Virtues: qualities of character (3) Humans can achieve happiness by developing virtues through thought, reason, deduction, and logic (4) An act is good if it is in accordance with reason (5) Should select mean between two extremes (6) Good person > good decisions (7) Assumes that good people will make good decisions (8) Difficulty: how to define virtues? (def: showing moral) d) Recent theory: Care ethics i) Emphasizes responsiveness ii) No standard, universal objective moral rule to follow; be proactively responsive to the contexts, values, and needs iii) Challenge: demands initiative, leadership, sensitivity to intercultural differences e) Solving complex ethical problems i) Recognizing the need or problem ii) Gathering information and defining problem iii) Generating alternative solutions iv) Evaluating alternatives v) Decision making and optimization vi) Implementation

f)

3 Tests for an ethical decision i) Transparency (choice made public) ii) Exemplary (choice serve as an example) iii) Reciprocity (if ever was subject to consequences)

Lecture 4: Diversity and Equity in engineering 1) Clicker questions (more like a survey) a) Most common used by engineers? Mill b) What is the mechanism behind cheating? Rationalization – weighting the benefits of cheating versus self-perception of being a moral or good person c) What is more damaging to society? Small scale of cheating done by large portions of the population 2) Article: Why We Lie a) Behavior driven by 2 opposing motivations: i) Lured by benefits (money, prestige, acceptance, etc.) ii) We want to view ourselves as honest and honorable people b) Small-scale mass cheating most problematic c) Factors that increase dishonesty i) Payoff appears distant in psychological terms ii) Observing others cheating iii) Already cheating iv) Being drained by demands of mentally difficult task v) Believing that others will benefit from one’s own cheating d) Technique to enhance honesty i) Reminders of morality

3) Benefits of diversity, Definitions: a) Equality is the same as equity: False b) Equity: fairness, justice, integrity c) Inclusion and Accommodations: i) Inclusion: (1) Ensuring that everyone can participate (2) Removing barriers to participation ii) Accomodation: (1) Adjusting and adapting to meet a person’s needs if not already met by existing policies, procedures, practices or structures

d) What is unconscious bias? i) Prejudices and stereotypes are held at an unconscious level ii) Ideas that we absorb and that influence our perception and behaviour iii) May lead to discrimination and the reproduction of social inequality e) Systemic barriers: i) Patterns of behaviour, policies, or practices that are part of the structures of an organization and which create or perpetuate disadvantage for marginalized groups ii) can lead to: (1) Higher than average unemployment (2) Lower average salaries (3) Concentration in low-status jobs f)

Social and cultural capital: i) Social: Access to resources based on group membership, relationships, and network of influence/support ii) Cultural: Education, skills, knowledge, etc. that can be leveraged to one’s benefit

Lecture 5: Engineers and society 1) Philosophies of Technology a) Technological anarchy i) Technology is an instrument to be pursued for wealth, power, and the taming of nature b) Technophilia i) Love of technology: defines way of life ii) Technology a panacea for all problems c) Technopobia i) Fear of technology as dehumanizing ii) Recognition of detrimental effects d) Appropriate technology i) Technology designed to consider environmental, ethical, cultural, social and economic aspects of the community it is intended for 2) Bioresource Engineering a) Biomass production as a renewable energy source b) Ethanol produced with corn c) Issues: Inefficient production, food supply 3) Chemical Engineering a) Control of Malaria (Sri Lanka) Indoors spraying with DDT (C14H9Cl5) b) Issues with DDT: Less malaria but may cause other problems 4) Civil Engineering a) Three Gorges Dam (China): Largest electricity generating plant

b) Reduce greenhouse gas emission, reduces potential floods c) Issues: Cultural sites, displace people, ecological changes d) Danger: Teton Dam failure at first usage, 11 death, cause: combination of geological factors and design decisions 5) Computer and Software Engineering a) Internet-based mapping tools: Google Maps b) Issues: Privacy 6) Electrical Engineering a) Space Solar Power b) Satellite in geostationary orbit collects sunlight, converts electrical E into low-intensity microwave beam, sent to receiver on earth c) Good: Reduces dependence on fossil fuels, constant supply of energy, thin, lightweight d) Issues: Fat, Thrusters needed to maintain position, hard to launch and assemble 7) Mechanical Engineering a) Plug-in Hybrids b) Reduces air pollution, dependence on petroleum and fossil fuels, GGE c) Issues: Life cycle analysis: pollution and energy consumption from raw material sourcing to manufacture to disposal, battery replacement 8) Material Engineering a) Nanomaterials b) Applications: medicine, electronics, air pollution control, food, cosmetics, etc. c) Issues: Can become lodged in respiratory tract, Increased rate of absorption in human body, can change or damage DNA 9) Mining Engineering a) Coltan (tantalite) b) Mined in Congo, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China 10) Impact of Technology : Examples of Engineering disasters a) Chernobyl Nuclear Accident i) 1986 ii) Effects: (1) Unauthorized test, shut down cooling system, core meltdown, steam explosion, H release, explosion (2) Radioactive materials released to environment (3) 28 death (radiation exposure) (4) Increase in thyroid cancer among children (5) Massive evacuation (6) Currently a wildlife refuge iii) Causes:

(1) Operators lacked knowledge, experience and training (2) Design flaws in reactor (3) No containment vessel b) Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Accident i) 2011 ii) Causes: (1) Protection needed against tsunami wave underestimated (tsunami was 10m, but designed for 5.7m) (2) Equipment ill located (3) Reactor not designed to shut itself down (4) Cooling needed to remove decay heat even when plant had been shut down c) De la Concorde Overpass Collapse i) Laval, 2006 ii) Collapse crushed 2 vehicles, 5 death, 6 injured iii) Causes: (1) Poor design (2) Improper supervision (3) Poor communication iv) 4 Individuals held responsible for unprofessional work on the overpass

Lecture 6: Environmental issues and sustainability 1) Ecosystem Services a) Mississippi River Valley b) Medicinal Products (majority from natural sources) c) Pollination (1/3 food comes from pollinated plants) d) 60% of the ecosystem degraded 2) The Environmentalist’s Paradox: Why is human well-being increasing as ecosystem services degrade? Hypothesis: a) Critical dimensions of human well-being are not captured adequately b) Food production is more crucial than other ecosystem service for human well-being c) Technology and social innovation have decoupled human well-being from ecosystem degradation d) Presence of time lag between ecosystem service degradation and impacts to human well-being 3) Renewable energy sources a) Nuclear b) Wind c) Hydroelectric d) Solar

Lecture 8: Overview of Engineering Disciplines

Lecture 9: Overview of Engineering Disciplines Lecture 10: Risk Management 1) Risk a) Combination of the frequency or the probability and of the consequences of a specific dangerous event b) Perceptions of Risk i) Voluntary vs involuntary ii) Controllable vs uncontrollable iii) Natural vs catastrophic iv) Visible benefits vs no apparent benefits v) Known vs unknown c) Risk and uncertainty: Ellsberg Paradox i) Ambiguity aversion ii) 50/50 risk preferable to immeasurable uncertainty iii) Risks can be calculated d) What risk management should focus on i) High likelihood-low consequence risks ii) Medium likelihood and serious consequence risks iii) Unlikely or rare risks with critical consequences e) Risk index: R.I. = C x E x P C = Consequence (most likely result) E = Exposure (presence of the danger) P = Probability (that events lead to accident) 2) Safety a) Absolute safety is neither attainable or affordable b) How to determine acceptable risk? Cost/benefit analysis (make a table) 3) Challenger!=normal disaster a) Outcome not due to malice or incompetence b) Not due to technological complexity alone c) Consequence of groupthink 4) Groupthink

a) Term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis b) Occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment. c) Symptomes: 1. Illusion of invulnerability 2. Collective rationalization 3. Belief in inherent morality 4. Stereotyped views of out-groups 5. Direct pressure on dissenters 6. Self-censorship 7. Illusion of unanimity 8. Self-appointed ‘mindguards’ 5) Whistleblowing

Lecture 11: Engineering Design Principles 1) Blocking creativity a) Persistence of a misleading set b) Functional fixedness 2) Brainstorming a) Bunch or rules that I will not list (no holding back, no criticizing, no shame, etc.) b) Better quality of ideas when people working alone and later pooling their ideas 3) Boosting creativity a) Group Process i) Complex problems require specialized knowledge ii) Intersection of disciplines iii) Informal interactions b) Importance of Dissent i) Debate and criticism stimulate ideas ii) Engaging with others and reassessing viewpoints increases productivity and avoids predictability iii) Importance of diversity within engineering teams c) Mix: i) Preparation (1) Acquiring the necessary volume and diversity of knowledge ii) Concentration (1) Hammering out possible solutions (2) Trial and error (3) Importance of failure iii) Incubation (1) Withdrawal of conscious mind to allow subconscious mind to continue to work on problem iv) Verification (1) Testing ideas (2) Overcoming obstacles d) Google i) Boosting creativity with free food omg 4) Dream on a) Dr. Otto Loewi: Idea about chemical transmission of nervous impulse, dreamed of his experiment b) Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz: circular benzene c) Srinivasa Ramanujan: Mathematical formula presented by Hindu goddess

5) Design Process Tool: Pugh Matrix define… a) Baseline (existing product or process that is not optimal) b) Criteria c) Alternative concepts d) Attribute rating scale e) Concept alternatives scaling criteria

Lecture 12: Engineering Project Management 1) Why Do Engineers Make Good Managers? a) We understand that good problem solving starts with fact gathering b) We process data well c) We understand risk assessment d) We don’t often let emotions get in the way of decision-making e) We are creative and intuitive 2) Levels of Management a) Entry level b) Junior engineer/ Engineer in training c) Etc. 3) Important skills for management: 1. Good communications skills 2. A reputation for hard work 3. Good people skills: the ability to interact with others effectively and respectfully 4. The skill to handle multiple issues at the same time 5. Accountability: "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything." 6. The ability to set priorities (time management) 7. The ability to deal with ambiguity 8. Strategic orientation: anticipating what the playing field will look like next week, next month and next year 9. The willingness to take risks 10. Leadership ability: personally create a vision for the future, effectively communicate that vision to the team, and gets the team to follow 4) Gantt Chart

5) PERT Chart

a) How many nodes along critical path way? (path with most nodes) 8 b) What is total time allocated to the completion of the entire design task? (what is the longest time) 20 weeks c) How much slack time is there along the path 1→ 2 → 4 → 9 → 10 → 11? (critical time minus this path’s time) 6 weeks

6) Redo tasks a) Same task: 2x longer than expectation b) Similar task: 5x c) Never: highest shit ever 7) Documentation a) Engineer’s Logbook

Clicker questions 2) Clicker questions: Burj Al Arab a) The shape of Burj Al Arab is inspired by what? Sail of a Dhow b) Built on sand island; what makes if stable? Skin friction between support rods and sand c) What causes friction? All of the above: surface roughness, intermolecular attraction, localised plastic deformation d) To protect harbors work in part by dissipating wave energy within pores formed by interlocking construction. What else is successful? Wedge shapes increase the degree of interlocking under wave action e) Overcome issues of differential thermal expansion? Eccentric “cam” joints f) Max speed of fountain jets? 20cm/s g) Why Dubai committed to luxury tourism? To ensure economic prosperity after their oil supply dwindles 4) Clicker questions: Richard Hammond Space Shuttle a) Which part of the shuttle is not re-usable? The liquid H/liquid O fuel tank b) How do submarine anechoic tiles work? Air voids in the material change the resonant frequency of the tiles and absorb energy c) How do water droplets attenuate shock waves generated during the shuttle launch? Droplets accelerated and shattered by the flow behind the shock d) What material is added to the solid propellant in the Solid Rocket Boosters to increase the T of the combustion products and the booster thrust? Aluminum e) Shape of cross sections of the propellant in a solid rocket booster, which one burns faster? The spherical one

11) Clicker questions: Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Disaster a) How do oil platform not sink? All of the below: i) Supported by ocean floor on trusses, jacks, or pillars ii) They have boat hulls iii) Use of large submersible pontoons or a massive steel cylinder that are positively buoyant. b) What caused the initial accident? Combustible gas seeped through the well up to drilling platform and exploded, causing fire c) Why did the blowoff preventer (BOP) fail to seal the riser pipe? A length of drill string got into the BOP, jamming the shears.

d) What was the main difficulty in killing the well? The depth of the well e) Why were conventional or nuclear explosives not used, despite a solid probability of success based on Soviet experiments (see Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy aka Program #7)? Failure of explosives would leave no other possibility of stopping the spill, previous experience was using explosives on surface blowouts. f) What was the most essential piece of technology in resolving the crisis? ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles)  AUV?! g) Why did the cofferdam fail? Ice and hydrates clogged the coffer h) Which of the following techniques involved pumping household junk and drilling mud into the blowout preventer? Top kill i) What is the critical property(s) of the junk used in a top kill? A mixture of very soft/compliant materials and hard materials. j) Why did top-kill fail? The pressure was too high and kept blowing out the junk and drilling mud mixture. k) What was the worst case scenario that could have happened during the Deepwater Disaster? Complete integrity failure of the well leading to leaking from seabed floor – impossible to stop the spill. l) Why was no attempt made to cap the well until the very end? Could have resulted in the “worst case scenario”. m) Who was ultimately responsible for the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon? British Petroleum 12) Clicker Questions: Millau Bridge a) Why was the Millau Bridge made? Reducing tourist traffic jams in Millau b) What type of bridge is the Millau Bridge? Cable-stayed bridge c) Why does Hammond not get electrocuted by the Tesla coil? The chainmail acts like a Faraday cage: charge carriers distribute along the suit such as to cancel any electric field inside the suit d) What’s the main difference between a plasma and a gas? Ionization/non-negligible concentration of charge carriers e) Teflon (PTFE) has been unseated as the slipperiest substance ever. What was the biological inspiration for SLIPS (Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces), the slipperiest ever nanomaterial (Teflon is now 3rd slipperiest, after SLIPS & B-Al-Mg)? Pitcher plants f) What was the limiting design factor making the sliding wedge installation of the span possible? Friction between the wedges g) Why is wire rope tougher and stronger than chain? Multiple fibres and fibre friction provides redundancy against faults h) If you heat a metal and a rubber disk each with a hole in it, will the holes in the disks get larger, smaller, or stay the same size? Hole in metal disk gets larger; hole in rubber disk gets smaller

i)

j)

When the metal bed of the bridge heats and expands, the concrete supports must move. How did they increase the flexibility of the concrete? Split the concrete support What is the world’s most common building ...


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