Master Course Description
No:
EE 398
Title:
INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Credits:
1
Coordinator:
Martin A. Afromowitz Professor, Electrical Engineering
Goals:
To discuss some of the many issues beyond those covered in our technical
courses that a newly-minted engineering professional needs to know in order to
succeed and contribute to the best of his or her ability.
Learning
Objectives:
At the end of this course,
students will be able to:
1. Describe
the advantages/disadvantages of acquiring an advanced degree in the context of
their own professional plans.
2. Describe
the characteristics of a professional.
3. Appreciate
the importance and legal limitations of
the IEEE Code of Ethics.
4. Understand
the advantages of different corporate organization models, associated lines of
authority and job descriptions.
5. Understand
the complexity of ethical
responsibilities and conflicts that can occur as an employee of a
corporation, the advantages of legal
counsel and the patchwork of state and federal laws concerning whistle-blowing.
6. Understand
the limitations of a company's
loyalty to its employees, and employees' loyalty to their company.
7. Understand the economic importance and relative
advantages/disadvantages of trade secrets and patents.
8. Understand the global, economic and societal ramifications of
outsourcing.
9. Appreciate the complexities of the immigration debate with respect to
the H-1B visa.
Textbook:
Professional Issues: a Guide for
Undergraduate Engineering Students, by Martin A. Afromowitz,
sold without royalties through the EE Store.
Reference
Texts: None
Prerequisites
by Topic: None
Topics:
1. Salary
ranges for electrical engineers, and dependence on age, location, education, specialty. (1 wk)
2. Societal
expectations of a professional engineer; the IEEE Code of Ethics. (1 wk)
3. The
corporate enterprise: who's in charge (of your career)?;
corporate organization. (1 wk)
4. The
employment contract, non-compete clauses, intellectual property protection. (1
wk)
5. Responsibilities
of engineers in ethical dilemmas: personal ethics, conflicts of interest. (1
wk)
6.
Whistle-blowing examples and the protection
afforded by Federal and state laws. (1 wk)
7. Trade
secrets and the mobile employee. (1 wk)
8. Patents
and patent rights. (1 wk)
9. Outsourcing
of engineering jobs. (1 wk)
10. The
H-1B visa and the immigration debate. (1 wk)
Course
Structure: The class meets for one hour each week
for discussion of selected topics. A
variety of reading assignments will amplify the issues under discussion, and
short essays and/or web research may be assigned each week. A final paper will
be assigned in lieu of a final exam.
Computer
Resources: Students will respond to class
assignments on a Catalyst website set up for the class.
Laboratory
Resources: None
Outcome
Coverage:
(F) An understanding of professional and ethical
responsibilities. We discuss society's
expectations of a professional, the Code of Ethics established by the IEEE and
its applicability to documented ethical and legal conflicts.
(H)
(G) An ability to communicate effectively. The
class is assigned short essays each week for homework, based on assigned
readings or web-based research. The importance of effective communication in
English is emphasized. The essays are assessed using a standard rubric. (H)
(H) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering
solutions in a global, economic, environmental and societal context. We
discuss several famous lapses of quality engineering practice, such as the Ford
Pinto design flaw, which resulted from faulty economic analysis, and the
Challenger disaster, which resulted from political pressure.
(H)
(I) A
recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning.
We discuss the half-life of technologies, and the need to maintain competence
and sometimes completely reinvent oneself in order to advance one's career. (H)
(J) Knowledge
of contemporary issues. We
discuss many non-technical contemporary issues that impact the engineering
profession, such as changing patent laws, outsourcing and immigration policy.
(H)
Prepared
By: Martin A. Afromowitz
Date: 4 October 2012