Engineering Ethics classes, courses, seminars, etc.

Question

Engineering Ethics classes, courses, seminars, etc.

JStephen (Mechanical)

(OP)

29 Jul 15 20:56

Some of you are probably also licensed in states that require a certain number of hours of continuing education in ethics, along with the technical stuff. Do any of you have recommendations for specific courses, seminars, etc., that actually seemed meaningful or informative?

Unfortunately, there seems to be a sort of vacuum in worthwhile ethics course...there's got to be something better out there somewhere!

zdas04 (Mechanical) · Answer 1 · 2015-07-29 22:25:23

I took one from Half Moon Seminars that brought in members of the State board (plus a couple of lawyers to talk about general ethics questions). One of the board members was excellent and the material he presented really helped me understand why there was an ethics requirement in this state. The other board presenter was a lump, but overall it was really worthwhile and I'm glad I took it. The good guy ended his prepared talk almost an hour before his time so he could have Q&A that evolved into "If I see ... what are my obligations as a P.E." kind of questions. Really good stuff.

The one I took last year (I can't find the company, I shredded all the info after the class) was bad enough that I wrote to the company asking for my money back. The instructor was not an engineer (or a lawyer) and she equated "ethics" with "social responsibility". The discussion was all about giving of your time to the under privileged. I asked a question towards the end of the class and framed it "Comrade, what happens if ...". She babbled an answer without catching my point.

The online ones I've looked at have been pretty bad, and some states are starting to require that the ethics instructor be in the room (they're even complaining about webinars).

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist

Twinkie (Civil/Environmental) · Answer 2 · 2015-07-30 13:04:50

RedVector has a bunch.

They have a review/rating system so you can see what others have thought.

brandonbw (Civil/Environmental) · Answer 3 · 2015-08-02 18:51:34

An engineering ethics class can be taught by anyone? You can get a degree online, but they don't want continuing education to be done online? This world is starting to play tricks on my mind.

B+W Engineering and Design | Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://civilengineer.la

JedClampett (Structural) · Answer 4 · 2015-08-12 23:57:12

Texas (Texas Board of Professional Engineers) offers a Webinar every December called "TBPE-Professional Engineering Practice Update/Ethics." It's one hour and gets the job done.
It's little limited on attendees, but the price is right (free). I'm not sure if you can take it if you're from another state or not.

JStephen (Mechanical) · Answer 5 · 2015-08-13 21:17:51

ASME has had a 1-hour session here in the Dallas area for that reason, it's $50 or $60, with speakers from the state board. One I went to, was "What's new in engineering registration", which was fairly worthwhile, but another was "When do you need a PE", which is kind of pointless if you are one. But still fulfilled the requirement!

The question really comes up for NM which requires 4 hours of ethics. I assume they have similar stuff, but driving to NM for it is kind of a problem.

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Engineering Ethics classes, courses, seminars, etc.