Ethical issues in engineering design - 3TU.Centre for Ethics and ...

Introduction to the case-studies
Empirical data on the following features of the cases were obtained using the
working hypotheses and taking into account the features of design processes
discussed in section 2.2.
• design problem
• design type
• design hierarchy
• the regulative framework: legislation, regulation, technical codes and
standards, interpretations of these codes and regulation given by
professional organisations or certifying organisations
• phase of the design process
• organization of design team (formal and informal)
• social processes within design team
In this research, no distinction is made between managers, engineers or
technicians; whoever is part of the design team is regarded as a designer or
engineer whatever their educational background might be. I looked at the formal
and informal organisation of the design team. Persons that were regularly
present at design meetings were regarded as being part of the informal design
team. The format of the formal design team can be reconstructed using formal
reports and information on the organisation.
All the chapters on the case-studies (chapters 4-7) are structured similarly. 2 First
a description of the design problem, the type of design and the design hierarchy
is given. This section is followed by a section about the organisation of the design
process and the context. The context of the design process includes a description
of the relevant codes, standards and regulations that may constitute the regulative
framework. The way the engineers dealt with safety and sustainability during the
design process is described in some detail. The empirical findings are
summarised and discussed in the last section in which any regulative frameworks
used during the design process are discussed in terms of a confrontation with
Grunwald’s requirements.
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2
If wished the reader need only read the final section of the case-study chapters, followed by
chapters 8 and 9.
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