Softcover

ISBN 10: 162705054X ISBN 13: 9781627050548

Publisher: Morgan & Claypool, 2013

Engineering with Integrity: Grappling with Real-World Problems begins with a definition of integrity, linking it both to contextual “wholeness” suggested by the word “integer” and to recent discussions on engineering ethics that relate to authenticity, sustainability, and the problem-solving process.This book is aimed at learners who are interested in global issues with an engineering component. Focusing on real problems in India, it offers a means of integrating globally situated concerns within a local educational context. By examining particular situations and strategies, it provides learners with a generalizable approach to problem-solving that can be used in a variety of contexts.Engineering with Integrity presents strategies to address socio-technical problems identified by village artisans in India, in cooperation with Maiwa Handprints Ltd., a Vancouver-based social entrepreneur. These problems form the backbone of an Applied Science course at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). The authentic nature of the problems demonstrates the need to focus on process-oriented ways of “solving” the problems that cannot be derived from a textbook. The information learners work with is often ambiguous, incomplete and conflicting due to differential access to the artisans and knowledge of their situations. Following an introduction and overview of the problems and stakeholders, we devote a chapter to the following: · Dealing with Ambiguity,· Working with Conflicting and Incomplete Information,· Exploring Unknown Cultural Contexts, and · Recognizing Elements of Global/Local Complexity. Each chapter considers a challenge likely to be encountered in the real-world of global engineering and proposes strategies to develop socially sustainable and technically appropriate solutions with multi-level stakeholders, close to home or half-way around the world.