Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, three hours; outside study, five hours. All professions have ethical rules that derive from moral theory. Bioethics is well-established discipline that addresses ethical problems about life, such as when do fertilized eggs become people? Should ending of life ever be assisted? At what cost should it be maintained? Unlike physicians, bioengineers do not make these decisions in practice. Engineering ethics addresses ethical problems about producing devices from molecules to bridges, such as when do concerns about risk outweigh concerns about cost? When are weapons too dangerous to design? At what point does benefit of committing to building devices outweigh need to wait for more scientific confirmation of their effectiveness? Bioengineers must be aware of consequences of applying such devices to all living systems. Emphasis on research and writing within engineering environments. Satisfies engineering writing requirement. Letter grading.

Units: 4.0