Teaching Engineering Ethics Through a Nanoscale Case Study

This paper presents a nanoscale case-study that applies an integrative approach to teaching engineering ethics. This case study involves an NSF-sponsored report on converging technologies for improving human performance. Public debate is widening, policy makers are demanding explicit consideration of ethical, legal, and social aspects, and popular books are explaining the achievements and promises of nanoscience. Since ethical decision-making is essential to the engineering profession – demonstrated by the ethics requirement in ABET approved engineering curricula -engineers should be presented with the ethical implications of engineering within and among nanoscale applications. This case will illustrate the ethical complexity and convergence in engineering domains themselves and in engineering interfaces with other domains within the context of emerging technologies.