Membership Meeting #2 (October) Followed by: Engineering Ethics: From Theory to Practice

Timeline:

• 12pm to 12:10pm: Membership Meeting #2.
• 12:10pm to 1:00pm: Presentation Followed by Q&A.

Engineering Ethics: From Theory to Practice

Presenters: Dr. Carlos Bertha is an adjunct professor at the College of Policy, Ethics, Legal Studies, and Public Safety at Saint Petersburg College. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Florida in 1989 and later pursued a Ph.D. in Philosophy there. Carlos taught at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from 2000 until his retirement in 2024, focusing on ethics, analytical philosophy, comparative religion, and philosophy of science. His research centers on engineering ethics and effective ethics pedagogy for engineering students. Additionally, he co-authored "Engineering Ethics: Real World Case Studies" and retired as a Colonel from the US Army Reserve in 2019, with a final assignment as Deputy Commander of the Army EPLO Group in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Event Description from the Presenter: Most engineering ethics presentations I come across typically involve a case study followed by an analysis of what went wrong and what should have been done differently. I plan to approach this differently. As an engineer-turned-philosopher, I will begin with theory and then discuss its practical application. I will explore the moral theories that form the basis for analyzing case studies and examine what happens when different moral theories recommend different approaches to resolving a dilemma. Lastly, I will discuss the function of professional codes of ethics, such as the NCSEA Code of Ethics, in understanding an engineering professional's moral obligations.