Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Responsibilities of engineers to society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Responsibilities of engineers to society
To someone, the job of civil engineers may just be designing how to build a building or an infrastructure. To civil engineers, however, their works are far beyond that point. In fact, engineers do not only construct a building. As a civil engineering project has close relationship with the people and environment, engineers should be considerate and responsible to the above sectors. This essay will discuss the social responsibilities of civil engineers.
The foremost purpose of a civil engineering project is probably to serve human, to whom engineers have to responsible. Not only have they to be mindful of the users’ safety of the infrastructure, but they need to minimize the threat and disturbance to neighbors during the construction period of the project.
One of the potential disturbances of construction sites lies on the noise produced during construction. During the building process, noise from piling, concrete mixing and other machines can be as high as 90 dB⑴, which may disturb neighboring residents and induce various health effects such as sleep disturbance. Being in charge of construction process, civil engineers have to reduce the noise nuisance on neighbors, which is bided with the law in Hong Kong. According to the Noise Control Ordinance, construction works using powered mechanical equipment cannot be undergone between 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and during public holidays⑵⑶. This is within the responsibilities of engineers because it is them who design and monitor the schedule of construction.
On the other hand, since construction of infrastructure may occupy some of the public space, it is important for engineers to reduce the disturbance on transports and pedestrians. A majority of construction of transportation infrastruct...
... middle of paper ...
... of construction projects on both human and the environment. By means of reducing resource use, regulating construction process and deriving new technique of construction, engineers can help in improving our society.
Works Cited
1. Buildings Department. Com. (2013). Codes of Practice, Design Manuals and Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.bd.gov.hk/english/documents/index_crlist.html.
2. Hong Kong Government .com.(2013). Building (Administration) Regulation (B(A)R) 37(1) and (2). Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_pdf.nsf/6799165D2FEE3FA94825755E0033E532/4EEE063977E08C98482575EE003ED58A?OpenDocument&bt=0
3. Department of Justice.com. (2013). Building (Administration) Regulations Delivery of notices, plans, etc. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/E1BF50C09A33D3DC482564840019D2F4/961825A7D20F34E9482579CA002D3BBE?OpenDocument
When designing large structures such as bridges, ships, dams and various modes of transportation, engineers must determine what methods and materials should be used in order to design, construct, and maintain the structure for a long period of time. A strict code of ethics must be followed in order to reduce any possible damages and tragedies. Though this process is used to try and minimize any design errors and possible failures, unknown factors such as population increase, natural disasters, and insufficient manpower can cause the structure to fail. Such is the case for the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge and the Mianus River Bridge.
Clark, Rob. “Role of the Structural Engineer in Demolition.” R W Clarke LTD. Beng Ceng Mice Mistructe, 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. .
Currently, with the enormous emissions of greenhouse gases and the large demand for natural resources, the biosphere is in a frail state and many natural disasters are starting to increase both in intensity and frequency, thus civil engineers are now needed more than ever before when it comes to protecting the environment and society. One of the primary issue is global warming; since the temperature of the earth is rising, glaciers are melting faster and forest fires and droughts are occurring more frequently, hence natural wonders like: Lake Louise could be gone in the near future. Therefore, it really motivates me to pursue my civil engineer degree, so that one day I can play a greater role in creating sustainable cities and help protect the environment and natural wonders such as: Lake
This project took me through the history, training, and a day on the job. It could not have been a better experience, and this project proved that a career in construction management is a real possibility in the future. The history of construction management was not a shock, but it was a little bit of a reality check. It is common knowledge that the human race has been building things since the beginning of time, but what is extraordinary is to think about how far the world has come over the thousands of years. Men and women started living in small huts.
Miscommunication plays a huge impact in engineering and it must be addressed. As engineers, it is important to be punctual, detailed, and open-minded; all to which miscommunication can impact negatively. Three key societal issues that engineers must focus on while creating or changing a project is the safety of the public, professional ethics, and environmental responsibilities (Weldon, n.d.). Engineers must focus on the safety of the public due to their unique role in serving as holders of health, safety, and welfare issues. In addition, engineers must make recommendations and approve drawings, plans, and specifications that must meet certain codes (n.a., 2005).
With the help of architectural engineers, our world has become very civilized and advanced over the past decades. Like all other engineers, architectural engineers use logic and creativity to solve problems. They come up with effective designs to assist people in their everyday tasks. In our daily lives we are surrounded by buildings. Places that were once a dessert are turned into cities that now hold amazing buildings. Houses, schools, shopping centers, offices, apartments, airports, etc. are very essential in our society. These buildings do not only please the eye, but they also provide us with shelter and are made to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, snow storms, and strong winds. Would these buildings still function efficiently and provide us with a stable shelter if it were not for architectural engineers? There are different engineers with each their own expertise, but for buildings in particular, architectural engineers are needed. Architectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is an interdisciplinary program that integrates important knowledge from different disciplines such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering , architecture, physics, chemistry, biology, and economics (“Building Engineering”). An architectural engineering professional has to master all the different disciplines because the design of building systems often requires the application of the disciplines. Architectural engineers are important in today’s society because they possess the knowledge and qualifications to work on complex buildings, lead project teams, and most importantly, to provide us with a safe environment.
When there is the work related to the health burden then the proper care is required so the responsible members are answerable in the cases of any bad accident. It is observed that the construction is basically the largest industry. There are several construction projects that are to be held in the country as well as outside the country. Several contracts are really on the large basis. Moreover, the extreme complicated projects are to be headed by the construction companies of Europe. In this case there are necessary precautionary measures that are to be taken by the project managing
In conclusion, civil engineers have a responsibility to deal with current issues in a professional and ethical manner for the benefit of society. The topics discusses included: high energy consumption of buildings, the need for efficient water resources, transportation planning, poor infrastructures doomed to failure, the need to have higher standards to become a licensed professional engineer, how globalization has affected all engineers, and the need to have more professional use advance engineering informatics. All these subjects were pondered about how these challenges can be overcome are there effective methods that engineers can apply today. Unfortunately, not all problems are easy to handle.
Others work in design, construction, research, and teaching. They work with others on projects and may be assisted by civil engineering technicians and technologists. Various levels of government employ civil engineers to do many of the same things done in private industry, except that the government-employed civil engineers may also inspect projects to be sure that they comply with regulations. Civil engineers generally work indoors in offices. However, they sometimes spend time outdoors at construction sites so they can monitor operations or solve problems at the site. Occasionally, civil engineers travel abroad to work on large engineering projects in other countries.
Civil engineering has been one of the most important revolutionary keystones of civilization as it has been able to fundamentally change the development of the society throughout the history of mankind. It is a profession with largely human interest in mind. The civil engineers have been able to make use of the natural resources in the environment to make human life more comfortable and efficient. They have also been able to make our day to day life trouble-free by constructing buildings to live, learn and work, roads and railways to travel, bridges to connect unreachable points, airports for air travel and so on. When planning, designing, constructing the civil engineers have always given a great attention to facts such as safety, serviceability,
The code says that engineers should always be aware that their first responsibility is to protect public safety, health and welfare. If their judgment is rejected in circumstances where under threat security, health, property or welfare of the people, they must notify the employer or client, and, if necessary, other authorities.
Our primary responsibility as professional engineers is to protect public and ensure safety. We should focus on gaining the trust of the public so they feel safe when using one of our products. One of the objectives we see on the ECSA is that as a professional engineer one must encourage excellence within the engineering profession, and prejudice public health and safety (ECSA, 2013, p. 1). We also see that it states that registered persons must at all times have due regard for and give priority to the health, safety, and interest of the public (ECSA, 2013, p. 4). This shows that safety is the first priority as engineers. In this essay I will be taking you through the Failure of St. Francis Dam case study explaining how the duties as a professional engineer where ignored and the outcome of the action.
Like all engineers, architectural engineers apply the theories and principles of science and mathematics to research and develop economical solutions to technical problems. Their work is the link between scientific discoveries and commercial applications. Engineers design products, machinery to build those products, factories in which those products are made, and the systems that ensure the quality of the product and efficiency of the workforce and manufacturing process. Engineers design, plan, and supervise the construction of buildings, highways, and transit systems. They develop new materials that both improve the performance of products and help implement advances in technology. Engineering knowledge is applied to improving many things, including the quality of health care, the safety of food products, and the efficient operation of financial systems.
The purpose of the distribution of transportation infrastructure is to ensure that high standard of infrastructures, such as transit hubs, road intersections, stations and associated road isolation facilities and parking facilities, are planned and delivered to meet the needs of public transport system. Further promote the integration of public infrastructure development, and guide urban functional arrangement. While traffic should contain more detailed design, such as the size of the vehicle lanes, traffic intersections, as well as on the reserved space for walking and cycling, to develop a high quality and frequent public and active transport network linked to regional activity centers and to support walking, cycling and public transport use with new infrastructure and improved
Mechanical engineers have a responsibility of ensuring they abide by general ethics as that have been laid down by engineering bodies such as the American Society of Mechanical engineers. Engineers have to sound alarm whenever safety violations are breached or when the organization does not perform required procedures that may endanger lives. It is the engineer’s duty to inform members of the public whenever legal bodies fail to nullify projects which may cause disasters.