when an engineer blows the whistle in a responsible way, would this be
an act basrd on (i)a right, (ii) a moral dut, or (iii)both? when
younow think of the engineer not in the professional role, but as (a)
human being, or (b) a concerned citizen, would your answers differ
from the ones you giv earlier

There is no specific code of ethics for engineers that I know of, but
like all members of society they have a duty and obligation not to go
along with fradulent or dishonest practices especially when they may
harm people. eg in about 1990 a new road was built out to the new
Mirabelle airport at Montreal. The contarcts used cement well below
specification and about 20 km of expensive highway soon broke up.
Dozens of engineers must have know the surface was not to
specification but not a word was said. Software engineers often go
along with the release of a package they know is full of bugs and
should be held back until fixed, but few speak out loud. Whistle
blowers are usually fired.
  In some instances it may be ignorance, eg a chemical company may be
releasing large amounts of heavy metals into the local water supply.
Bringing this to the attention of a senior person may work. If they
decide to save money as "No one has noticed yet" then a responsible
person can either blow the whistle or go elsewhere, or both. Most
LAME's have a very responsible attitude regarding release of aircraft
which have been under repair, aided by the fact they may lose their
licence if a faulty aircraft inadequately repaired is allowed to fly.
Many however take the attitude "That aircraft is not going out of here
until I say it is fit to fly!" as a matter of principle.
  The principle of Universitality works: "Can our society survive if
everybody chose to overlook this kind of design fault"?  Unfortunately
increasingly decisions are made not on the basis of ethical
considerations but on the basis of "What are the penalties if this
gets found out?"
(Dr) B. Gunn

Hi - Many Engineering organizations publish codes of ethics which
their members follow.  For example ASME has the following:

http://www.asme.org/asme/policies/pdf/p15_7.pdf

And for AIAA

http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=198

I remember when I was stuck in a Engineering Ethics course back in the
good old undergrad days my Professors always seemed to present one of
these lists.  Naturally many companies have such lists also.  So the
real question is - if you blow a whistle are we prepared to lose our
jobs?