Part 1 of 3:

What might professional ethics look like in the world of the business of engineering?

“Jerry Mason, Thiokol’s general manager, told his fellow executives to take off their engineering hats and put on management hats. They told NASA it was a go.

The next morning Mr. Boisjoly watched the launching. If there was going to be a problem, he thought it would come at liftoff. As the shuttle cleared the tower, his prayers seemed answered.

“Thirteen seconds later,” Mr. Boisjoly said, “we saw it blow up.””

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/roger-boisjoly-73-dies-warned-of-shuttle-danger.html  accessed 07FEB2012

Part 2 of 3:

What does life look like for those who dared to come forward and out-loud proclaim their professional interpretation of data?

“Boisjoly testified before the Challenger Commission and filed unsuccessful lawsuits against Thiokol and NASA. He continued to suffer and was ostracized by some of his colleagues. One said he’d drop his kids on Boisjoly’s doorstep if they all lost their jobs, according to his wife Roberta.

“He took it very hard,” she recalls. “He had always been held in such high esteem and it hurt so bad when they wouldn’t listen to him.”

A therapist recommended speaking out even more and for close to three decades, Boisjoly traveled to engineering schools around the world, speaking about ethical decision-making and sticking with data. “This is what I was meant to do,” he told Roberta, “to have impact on young people’s lives.”

Boisjoly continued to respond to emails and letters from engineering students right up until his sudden death in his sleep last month in St. George, Utah. He was diagnosed with cancer two weeks before.

“He always stood by his work,” Roberta recalls, her voice breaking. “He lived an honorable and ethical life. And he was at peace when he died.”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/06/146490064/remembering-roger-boisjoly-he-tried-to-stop-shuttle-challenger-launch  accessed 20FEB2012

Part 3 of 3:

Do professional engineers have a “Safe house” of sorts that promise them a life after what many call “A career death-wish?”

• A Timeline of Whistle-Blowers 
• (worth your time to cut & paste into your browser, and then patiently read)

 http://www.dipity.com/pov/A-Timeline-of-Whistleblowers/

In My Opinion. . . .

In our lives, we each have a limited amount of time within which to choose.

Credit: Google Images

Everyone gets 86, 400 per day, every day.

http://edmullen.net/flash/clock1.swf

Others watching us choose learn what is OK most of the time, what is OK sometimes, and critically, what is NEVER OK.

Once our choices become habits, we are faced with identifying which of our habits are worth being replicated, and which are not.

Changing habits is the single most difficult challenge facing each of us.

But only until we each realize, whatever you chose to continue doing or not, you are a “template” of professional behavior for the next in line.

Are your  professional habits worth emulating?

Of course, I could be wrong!

This past weekend I traveled to Phoenix. In comparison to Chicago, the Southwest geography and climate could not be more different. Despite enjoying a mild winter in the Midwest, we still were very pleased to wear shorts out in the 80-degree Arizona sun. One day we went hiking and learned about the different types of cacti that populate the Sonora Desert. On another day, we drove through the Tonto National Forest en route to Bartlett Lake.  We rented a pontoon party boat and enjoyed the afternoon – a far cry from icy Lake Michigan.

Lake Bartlett

And yet, on my return from vacation, I’m once again thinking about how unnaturally similar Phoenix is to the Midwest. Last night, we had dinner at the Olive Garden. When our daughter caught a cold, we made several trips to Walgreens to get the needed remedies. If it weren’t for the more carefully crafted storefront appearance ordinances, commercial Phoenix would look the same as any other city in the American monoculture.

The similarities extend beyond the stores. Much commercial and home construction closely mirrors the styles of more temperate climates. High rises are glass clad. Residential properties have large windows. Air conditioning makes the 120-degree summers bearable. Solar panels also seem not to have caught on as one might expect below the desert sun. I question the sustainability of these communities if energy prices rise and water resources become even scarcer.

Taliesin West

Notable exceptions to conventional North American design exist. The most famous example is Frank Lloyd Wright’s southern home, Taliesin West. Mr. Wright, as he is respectfully known by the tour guides, embraced local materials and applied sensible architecture to fit the environment. Although the buildings are not air conditioned, each room remains comfortable throughout the year. Windows and skylights are smartly placed and sun shades are built-in to control temperatures. The ceiling heights are modest, but careful variation gives greater prominence to congregating rooms. There were no doors planned, until Mr. Wright’s wife complained of desert critters inviting themselves in.

Cosanti, Scottdale, AZ

The utopian experiment at Arcosanti is another more radical attempt to design to the environment. Conceived in the 1960s, Arcosanti is the culmination of futurist Paolo Soleri’s vision for arcology – the fusion of architecture with ecology. Artist-residents make a living by selling their pottery, paintings, and installations to visitors. Arcosanti intends to present an alternative to urban sprawl. Communal living helps reduce resource use. The buildings have a quasi-futuristic quality reminiscent of the Tatonoie huts from Star Wars – certainly unique to the region.

A more conventional approach to desert architecture can be seen on the way from Scottsdale to Bartlett Lake. The Sincuidados gated community is one such development that smartly applies lessons from historic local construction to high-end living. Sometimes known as Santa Fe or territorial architecture, homes in this style are characterized by flat roofs and straight lines. The designs are inspired by native Pueblo architecture and sometimes employ decorative rough-hewn lintels and wooden corbels in order to appear older. Although construction methods have changed, and may not be as truly local as the original adobe construction, the design is inspired by a response to the local environment. These multi-million dollar houses show that regional design can be efficient and elegant.

Regional building construction should be more adaptive to the environment. There are several case studies that cater to a select few. Hopefully more building designers and developers will implement the lessons learned by these examples to make desert living more sustainable for all.

What does “pay-to-play” mean?

The phrase gets used often in regard to issues related to ethics as well as in regard to involvement with politics.

Is there a clear, commonly accepted definition?

Is “pay -to -play” always an issue of legality?

Is “pay -to -play” always something inappropriate, bad, or a negative connotation?

Would it benefit ASCE as an organization or the membership to develop a definition of the phrase “pay- to- play”?

1) Ethicana, view the film or ASCE News May 2010, pg. 11

2) ASCE News, June 2008, pg 12

3) New York Times, November 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/us/illinois-prison-sought-for-rod-blagojevich.html

4)  ENR – Engineering News Record, http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2010/1018-PaytoPlayRules.asp

5) Access is for NSPE members only.

http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/EthicsResources/YouBeTheJudge/Archives/index.html

6) Searched, but did not find articles at the Online Ethics Center (National Academy of Engineering).

http://onlineethics.org/

 Endnote:  Although I have pondered the question for some time, the motivation to put this in a blog occured after reading today’s

Chicago Tribune, 15th February 2012,

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-chicago-area-has-most-corruption-convictions-in-nation-uic-study-says-20120215,0,1024358.story?track=rss

Questions.

a. What are your experiences with defining pay-to-play in the design & construction industry?

b. Might you have a suggestion as to ASCE developing a policy that supports clarifying and confirming what pay-to-play

is, along with guidleines that define its boundaries?

c. In what way might the “Zero Tolerance” part of the ASCE Code of Ethics apply?

http://www.asce.org/content.aspx?id=7231

At this time, the information above is intended to stimulate dialogue on the subject.

What are your thoughts?

The university has developed a high strength, high ductility concrete that is helping Michigan DOT replace deck joints with a material that will last 20 years, not the typical five years of a normal replacement. Although the kicker is the new concrete costs twice as much, it’s pretty clear to see that spending double now for something that lasts four times as long will mean a savings of 50 percent over the life cycle of that replacement.

One of the ASCE Report Card for America’s Infrastructure’s “5 Key Solutions” to raise the grades is to “address life-cycle costs and ongoing maintenance to meet the needs of current and future users.” The new concrete I saw at the University of Michigan and how it was used fits the bill perfectly.

In your designs and other work, how much of a priority do you give life-cycle costs? Can you relay an experience when you had a tough time persuading clients, be they private or government, that an initially costlier option was a better one in the long term? Did you win or lose that battle? Have any suggestions for coming out on top in those debates?

Code-2007-July

“The future International Standard ISO 26000, Guidance on social responsibility, will provide harmonized, globally relevant guidance for private and public sector organizations of all types based on interna- tional consensus among expert representatives of the main stakeholder groups and so encourage the implementation of best practice in social responsibility worldwide.”

Credit: Google Images

ISO26000.CorpSocialRespon.

“Creating principles across social, industry, public and private, profit and nonprofit, political and country boundaries is daunting. Additionally, laws, regulations, trade agreements, customs and practices pertinent to sustainability and social responsibility must be considered in the development and implementation of business strategies, policies and procedures.

These principles have been updated to reinforce the critical importance of sustainability and social responsibility in its many forms and applications. They may complement existing principles or they may be used as a starting point from which to develop a set of principles to meet the needs of the organization.”

Credit: Google Images

SSRwGuideBook08

Credit: Google Images

In My Opinion. . . .

Back around 1986, the major federal, state, and private organizations “Discovered” quality.

Under study, subsequent to some 50 years or more of Quality Control, the subject was “upgraded” to Quality Assurance.

Eventually realizing the need to engage all those within the organization. . . .to make the population of “The Quality Department” equal 100% of the employees/associates…. the label “Total Quality Management” emerged.

Now, movement from learning after-the-fact about the social impacts of engineered projects have raised general concerns about social impacts, sustainability of human and other resources, which have now begun to be codified. Enter the international standards on the economic global playing field.

These emerging developments and early promulgation of international standards to guide the transition towards “social responsibility engineering” appear to be a major plan/design/build/operate/maintain system change.

“It’s the system, not the people.”  

                 –W. Edwards Deming

Makes one wonder how the context for the expression “Lowest  Bidder” will be interpreted.

Of course, I could be wrong!

Senators must vote on four different portions of the legislation. First up will be the policy portion that was reported from the Environment and Public Works Committee, followed by the transit title from the Banking Committee, then the revenue title that was reported from Finance, and last but not least, safety measures from the Commerce Committee.  Many expect the legislation to be on the Senate floor until President’s Day recess, which will begin at the end of next week.

The Senate’s action this week means that both chambers will be debating surface transportation legislation on their respective floors next week. After years of inaction on the topic, surface transportation has finally become priority number one in Congress!

But even as big as his message is in support of investment in science technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and workforce development,  others must play a role as well if we, as a nation, are truly going to ensure a diverse and well educated workforce that is properly trained for 21st century careers.  

ASCE outreach volunteers and others who support Engineers Week are not waiting around for budgets to swell and governments to act before they do their part to ensure a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce.  You have been, and will continue to dive right in by visiting students in classrooms, afterschool events, scouts, festivals, museums and more to encourage their understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology careers and  to help them see the value of pre-college literacy in math and science.

And you are doing it in a very real way, as ambassadors of our society, going into schools so that kids not only learn science and math, but see, feel and touch engineering and make the connections between concepts in the classroom and the people in the field that are using these concepts to make a positive and lasting difference in the world. 

You are helping them see themselves as future engineers.

As the political winds blow, and the budget cycles pass, there is strong hope that STEM education issues will remain as this nation’s highest educational priority.  In the meantime ASCE stands strong in its commitment to reach students one child at a time, one classroom at a time, or one school at a time.

Engineers Week is February 19 – 25. If you haven’t planned something already, it’s not too late.   Be bold.  Get out there and make it your STEM mission to light a student’s fire for engineering and encourage the next generation of problem solvers and innovators for our profession.

What outreach activities have you been involved in that generated enthusiasm with students?  What would you repeat or do differently?

Leslie Payne
Senior Manager, Pre-College Outreach

Our coordination meetings begin at 8:00. I have yet to leave earlier than 1:30. With so many structural conditions, I really have to be “on” the entire time. By the end of the meeting, I’m exhausted and hungry. When I get back to the office, I check my email, do a few side calculations for other projects, check in with my boss, and somewhere in between try to download the gist of the morning meeting to my team. As we discuss how to proceed with the work, I must repeat myself or start speaking in circles, because I get some pretty strange looks from my colleagues.

I finally realized what these meetings were doing to my concentration, when, at the end of the day, I approached another colleague whose name had come up in the earlier coordination meeting.

“Edward,” I began, “Ed Peck is going to call you.”

“Who?” my colleague responded quizzically.

“Ed Peck, you know the architect from Boston,” I shot back, somewhat annoyed. I knew they had spoken not too long ago.

“Did you say Beck? Can you spell the name?”

Of course! I played along, “P-E-C-K!” And then it hit me. Edward Peck is the name of my colleague, the one I’d been speaking to the whole time. Boy, I really felt silly. I chalked it up to having so much to do and so little time; I couldn’t concentrate.

Recent scientific studies on the effects of multitasking have concluded that my experience is predictable. Heavy media multitaskers perform more poorly on a range of memory tests than people who focus on fewer tasks. In fact, says Clifford Nass, one of the Stanford team, “[heavy multitaskers] are suckers for irrelevancy.” This conclusion is contrary to the popular belief that multitaskers are better able to navigate the new perpetually wired-in world. I was clued into this bombshell by an article by Adam Gorlick, republished by Modern Steel Construction. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html

Over the years, scientists have shown that the brain cannot process more than one string of information at a time. However, many people countered that multitaskers must have a special ability to control their focus, store and organize information, and/or filter out irrelevant information. On the contrary, the Stanford study concludes that multitaskers perform poorly in three tests designed to evaluate each of these hypothesis independently. Heavy multitaskers consistently underperformed light multitaskers. Eyal Ophir, the study’s lead author concluded, “[the heavy multitaskers] couldn’t help thinking about the task they weren’t doing.”

The researchers are still studying whether chronic media multitaskers are born with an inability to concentrate or have damaged their cognitive control. Let’s hope that distracted thinking is a reversible condition – or perhaps my condition had more to do with an empty stomach. Still, the message is clear: by doing less, you might accomplish more.

It was announced that the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is proposing to divert $25 billion in dedicated fuels tax revenues from the Mass Transit Account as part of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (H.R. 7). This would mean that transit would be forced to compete for general funds each year to receive any federal funding. However, according to the American Public Transportation Association, this change represents nearly 50 percent of the federal investment in public transit authorized by the House surface transportation bill.

ASCE believes that transit is a critical component of a comprehensive transportation network, and has long supported the principle that 20 percent of the gas tax revenues that have been put in place since 1982 be allocated to a dedicated mass transit account.  The new House provision represents a major change to surface transportation funding mechanisms. ASCE submitted a letter late today to the Ways and Means Committee opposing the provision, and joined a coalition including the Chamber of Commerce and the National League of Cities in signing a separate letter from Transportation for America voicing similar concerns.

In brighter news for transit, today the Senate Banking Committee approved the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012. The bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support and reauthorizes federal transit funding for two years. Among the bill’s reforms is a provision to establish a State of Good Repair program to assist local transit agencies with a backlog of maintenance needs. The bill will now go to the full Senate. As we saw today, stark differences are emerging between the two bills advancing in the House and Senate.

The last-minute controversial additions to the House bill delay a process that must move forward quickly to avoid another short-term extension for federal surface transportation funding.

Chairman John Mica of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

It’s been a whirlwind week in Washington, D.C. for transportation as both the House and the Senate try to build momentum to pass much-needed reauthorization bills. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled their American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) on Tuesday at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building on an unusually warm winter day.

The bill would reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years. The reforms included in the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act would consolidate nearly 70 duplicative programs, expedite project delivery, create a set of performance measures, and enhance the TIFIA grant program.

ASCE commends the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for advancing legislation to fund surface transportation programs. Read our letter to Chairman Mica.

Meanwhile, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is busy working to advance their two-year reauthorization bill. Right now, it is farther along in the process than the House bill, as the Senate Finance Committee identifies potential pay-fors. It seems that both the House and the Senate are hoping to take credit for completing a reauthorization bill during this session, and that is good news for transportation.

Another flurry of action surrounded the FAA reauthorization bill. After much deliberation between House and Senate leaders, there appears to be bipartisan support for a four-year FAA funding bill. The bill is expected to be voted on as early as tomorrow.

We are at the mark-up today on the House transportation reauthorization bill and will be ready to share additional details on the status of both bills tomorrow.