Assessment of Ethics in Context
Choosing to be Ethically Conscious as Engineers"Engineers have a responsibility to do more than design products. We have a responsibility to use our knowledge and skill sets ethically. We define ethics with the understanding that we as engineers do our best to improve people's lives and make a positive contribution to the world. Using the ASME Ethical Principles, the IEEE Code of Ethics, and Texas Engineering Ethics, we can define ethics in our engineering projects."
~ Arianna |
"As engineers, we must be prepared to consider all impacts of a new piece of technology. Once these impacts are identified, we must consider the appropriate application of the technology to minimize the negative effects on society. Although the technologies of our product are relatively well-known to us, they are new to Rwanda; therefore, we are working diligently to identify any negative consequences and remedy them early on."
~ Camille "According to the IEEE code of ethics, it is our responsibility to make decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of our clients. We are working on a product that has the potential to directly impact the health of a community, both physically and financially, so it was very important for us to review the health and safety aspects of our project with each prototype and iteration. As more data from our testing became available, we have honestly shared our findings and made adjustments as necessary."
~ Yassi "Engineers must always participate in, promote, and lead the charge of technological development. To make future progress as a society it is important to understand our past progress. If we fail to recognize our prior accomplishments, then we are destined to resolve old problems and relive past mistakes. Thus, engineers must always pursue the most current knowledge so that they might truly tackle the problems of the present and progress the achievements of the future."
~ Andrew |
"Our design will need to be able to work in remote locations without access to a large variety of materials and whatever design we produce should be able to be repaired on site with locally available tools and have minimal environmental impact if it breaks down."
~ Josh |
Engineering Ethics
ASME PrinciplesEngineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering profession by:
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IEEE Summary
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Texas Engineering Practice Act and Rules
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The Impact of Our Design Becoming Commercially Successful
Global Impact
Currently no product exists on the market that provides large-volume cooling without use of an electric grid. With future improvements in solar power technology, it is possible to ship single, self-sufficient units to each dairy farmer. With the dairy industry proving 6% of Rwanda's national GDP (Rwandan Development Board) and growing, there is no better time to begin investigating how to assist this market through technology. While our product testing and research was in context of Rwanda, our design is not specific to Rwanda- it uses no unique materials, no Rwanda-specific process. It can be used anywhere in the globe. Our hope is that our small-scale cooling solution can be a solution for any small-business owner, anywhere in the world, needing to refrigerate their product.
Economic Impact
To understand the economic impact of our product, it is essential to examine the current Rwandan dairy market as a case study of similar dairy markets in developing nations. Rwanda produced over 700 million liters in 2016, but 50% of this milk never reached the market (Rwandan Development Board). The goal of the chiller device is to assist artisan dairy farmers in preserving more of their product so that they may sell more product to collection centers and milk collectors. In Rwanda, milk is considered a full meal. The country has created milk collection center infrastructure in response to the demand to milk production. If our product is successful, dairy farmers will be able to sell 50% more of their product at market and add potentially 350 million liters of milk to the Rwandan dairy market. The livelihood of users and of the user's community will improve, whether in Rwanda's dairy market or elsewhere.
Environmental Impact
The environmental impact of the project was at the forefront of our team's approach. In original designs, we attempting to design a product without the need for a conventional battery. While batteries are relatively cheap and widely available, they must be disposed of properly and many developing nations do not have the infrastructure needed for proper battery disposal.Our very first prototype, the insulated cooler, attempted to convert water to ice, a physical states change. After carefully calculating the heat mass transfer calculations needed for our desired volume of liquid, the energy needed for a state change to create ice was more than could be reasonably provided without conventional batteries. Our response to this was to redesign our product to use renewable batteries charged by solar energy, and to turn to thermoelectric cooling over physical cooling. Our final design uses a renewable Lead Acid battery that can be recharged via a 100W solar panel or other available source, allowing milk to be cooled over night and minimal energy impacts being made on the environment.
Societal Impact
The Rwandan government and milk collection centers work to education Rwandan dairy farmers and proper milk handling. With no access to easy refrigeration, this training is necessary, but is sometimes futile, as a farmers entire batch of milk product can be rejected by the milk collection centers, merely because overnight milk was mixed with the morning. Refrigeration is technological convenience we take for granted in first world countries, but in societies like Rwanda, where dairy farming is a personal and country-wide business, the ability to chill milk would change the current stigmas surrounding milk production. Milk collection centers could collect more milk, government-sponsored testing equipment could be reduced, and dairy farmers would walk home with more profit. The biggest social impact will be seen amongst the farming communities in Rwanda that are able to use our refrigeration system. By providing Rwandan dairy farmers with a refrigeration system they can afford, easy operate, and be convinced to use, our technology and final product will help dairy farmers keep their milk from spoiling and increase their profits for themselves and their communities.
Summary
Our project addresses a major part of life for Rwandan dairy farmers, which is why it touches every single one of these areas: global, economic, environmental, societal, or otherwise. While as engineers we could simply look at a piece of designed technology and announce 'it works,' we must also consider the full impact or design or solution will have on the world around us and the people living in it. We have to consider the monetary impact on our product's consumers and on the economy. We have to consider the environment and the effects of our design on communities and nature. We also have to consider our users, their society, and how our product will operate within that society. As our product addresses a culture we were previously unfamiliar with, we made sure to thoroughly research our users and their needs. As a team, this project has allowed us to grow in not only our design skills, but in the way we impact the world as engineers. We are excited to impact our users in a positive way just as this project has positively impacted us.
Currently no product exists on the market that provides large-volume cooling without use of an electric grid. With future improvements in solar power technology, it is possible to ship single, self-sufficient units to each dairy farmer. With the dairy industry proving 6% of Rwanda's national GDP (Rwandan Development Board) and growing, there is no better time to begin investigating how to assist this market through technology. While our product testing and research was in context of Rwanda, our design is not specific to Rwanda- it uses no unique materials, no Rwanda-specific process. It can be used anywhere in the globe. Our hope is that our small-scale cooling solution can be a solution for any small-business owner, anywhere in the world, needing to refrigerate their product.
Economic Impact
To understand the economic impact of our product, it is essential to examine the current Rwandan dairy market as a case study of similar dairy markets in developing nations. Rwanda produced over 700 million liters in 2016, but 50% of this milk never reached the market (Rwandan Development Board). The goal of the chiller device is to assist artisan dairy farmers in preserving more of their product so that they may sell more product to collection centers and milk collectors. In Rwanda, milk is considered a full meal. The country has created milk collection center infrastructure in response to the demand to milk production. If our product is successful, dairy farmers will be able to sell 50% more of their product at market and add potentially 350 million liters of milk to the Rwandan dairy market. The livelihood of users and of the user's community will improve, whether in Rwanda's dairy market or elsewhere.
Environmental Impact
The environmental impact of the project was at the forefront of our team's approach. In original designs, we attempting to design a product without the need for a conventional battery. While batteries are relatively cheap and widely available, they must be disposed of properly and many developing nations do not have the infrastructure needed for proper battery disposal.Our very first prototype, the insulated cooler, attempted to convert water to ice, a physical states change. After carefully calculating the heat mass transfer calculations needed for our desired volume of liquid, the energy needed for a state change to create ice was more than could be reasonably provided without conventional batteries. Our response to this was to redesign our product to use renewable batteries charged by solar energy, and to turn to thermoelectric cooling over physical cooling. Our final design uses a renewable Lead Acid battery that can be recharged via a 100W solar panel or other available source, allowing milk to be cooled over night and minimal energy impacts being made on the environment.
Societal Impact
The Rwandan government and milk collection centers work to education Rwandan dairy farmers and proper milk handling. With no access to easy refrigeration, this training is necessary, but is sometimes futile, as a farmers entire batch of milk product can be rejected by the milk collection centers, merely because overnight milk was mixed with the morning. Refrigeration is technological convenience we take for granted in first world countries, but in societies like Rwanda, where dairy farming is a personal and country-wide business, the ability to chill milk would change the current stigmas surrounding milk production. Milk collection centers could collect more milk, government-sponsored testing equipment could be reduced, and dairy farmers would walk home with more profit. The biggest social impact will be seen amongst the farming communities in Rwanda that are able to use our refrigeration system. By providing Rwandan dairy farmers with a refrigeration system they can afford, easy operate, and be convinced to use, our technology and final product will help dairy farmers keep their milk from spoiling and increase their profits for themselves and their communities.
Summary
Our project addresses a major part of life for Rwandan dairy farmers, which is why it touches every single one of these areas: global, economic, environmental, societal, or otherwise. While as engineers we could simply look at a piece of designed technology and announce 'it works,' we must also consider the full impact or design or solution will have on the world around us and the people living in it. We have to consider the monetary impact on our product's consumers and on the economy. We have to consider the environment and the effects of our design on communities and nature. We also have to consider our users, their society, and how our product will operate within that society. As our product addresses a culture we were previously unfamiliar with, we made sure to thoroughly research our users and their needs. As a team, this project has allowed us to grow in not only our design skills, but in the way we impact the world as engineers. We are excited to impact our users in a positive way just as this project has positively impacted us.
See our full Assessment of Ethics and Context Document here.