Prof Anil K. Kulkarni
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Penn State faculty member since 1980
Synopsis
Title - "Professional Ethics in Engineering and Science"
Is there a role for ethics in science and engineering? If so, can we successfully incorporate ethics into engineering and science curricula? This presentation will attempt to answer these questions using video clips, real cases from engineering and science practice, and prior studies. A brief introduction to frameworks of ethics will be offered followed by a discussion of practices in professional engineering and science and a guideline for resolving unethical situations. Also, a pedagogical study on whether ethics can be taught effectively to students in engineering will be presented. Importance of cultural and international aspects in professional ethics will also be briefly reviewed. The expectation is that a thoughtfully crafted, succinct study of ethics by students, practicing engineers, and scientists will prepare them to identify (and therefore avoid) unethical practice or resolve an unavoidable unethical situation while being fully aware of legal and regulatory constraints. And eventually, when ethics-trained engineers and scientists rise to leadership positions in industry and government, there is a better chance that the world will be more civil!
About the speaker:
Professor Kulkarni, a B. Tech. graduate of Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, joined as a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University in 1980 after completing Sc. M. and Ph. D. degrees from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. His academic areas of interest are, computational fluid mechanics, combustion, materials processing, and more recently, professional ethics and global issues in engineering. Dr. Kulkarni was active in collaborative research programs with institutes in Japan and Australia. He has served as the Professor-in-charge of Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program for eight years, director for Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing Graduate Research Traineeship program, and as elected Faculty Senator and Graduate Councilman at Penn State University, among other positions. In professional ethics and global issues area, he has worked on ethics instruction for engineers, and presented talks and invited seminars at several institutes including, ASME international conference, IIT Mumbai and Chennai, TIFR Mumbai, IISc Begaluru, Rai Foundation colleges, and Oxford Roundtable on Global Warming in Oxford.
For further queries contact:
Prateek Raj
Manager, Lecture Series
Techfest 2008
+91 98201 16174
prateek[at]techfest[dot]org
