The primary objective of this course is to help engineering students navigate the ambiguous world of engineering ethics and equity using case studies drawn from the careers of Canadian engineers. This course tackles complex ethics and equity challenges by focusing on multiple levels of practice: from design work to organizational practice and governance. By applying a systems lens, students will learn to develop the knowledge and skills needed for short-term and long-term action strategies. In addition to being exposed to a range of ethical theories, the PEO code of ethics, and the legal context of engineering ethics, students enrolled in this course will engage in ethical decision-making on a weekly basis.

Engineers are taught to think in systems, but often these are limited in scope to the technical realm. Yet, many of today’s “wicked problems” are as much dictated by social and environmental considerations as by any technical considerations. System mapping is a system thinking tool frequently used in fields such as public health and environmental policy to describe complex, multi-stakeholder problems. Students will apply system mapping techniques to describe complex problems with technical, social and environmental aspects. Students will explore fields outside of engineering critical to these challenges, including: public policy, sociology, and law. Students will complete a team project to develop a system map of a complex problem. The emphasis will be on problem definition, not problem solution, though it is expected maps will point to potential paths for solution.