8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

8:30

Opening Session:

Moderator:

John Ahearne, Chair, NAE Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society (CEES) Advisory Group

8:30

Welcome—Charles M. Vest, NAE President

8:45

Laying the Groundwork—William A. Wulf, Past NAE President, Distinguished Professor, University of Virginia

9:15

Session I: Engineering and Special Vulnerabilities

Engineers and engineering organizations operate in circumstances of crisis, ranging from conflict to disaster. They operate where human rights problems are highly visible, and where issues of sustainable community development arise. This session reports perceptions about the technical and social constraints and opportunities they face, and whether and how aims for humanitarian action, social justice, and sustainable community development can be met.

Moderator:

Henry J. Hatch, NAE Member, Former Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Presenters:

Abul Barkat, Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abul Hussam, Chemistry, George Mason University, and winner of the NAE Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability

Christopher Seremet, Technical Advisor, Catholic Relief Services

Anu Ramaswami, Civil Engineering, University of Colorado, Denver

Discussants:

George Bugliarello, NAE Member, University Professor, Polytechnic University

Deborah Goodings, Engineering and Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park

11:00

Break

examine technical, political, historical, environmental, economic, and cultural constraints that shape outcomes.

Moderator:

David Crocker, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park

Presenters:

Ron Kline, Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University

Carl Mitcham, Philosophy, Colorado School of Mines

Wesley Shrum, Sociology, Louisiana State University

Discussants:

Priscilla Nelson, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Donna Riley, Science and Environmental Policy, Smith College

12:45 p.m.

Lunch

Early Career Engineers Panel

What led you to your career choices? How do you see them in relationship to the goals of this meeting, to enhance engineering research and practice and improve engineering education through attention to issues of engineering, social justice, and sustainable community development?

Moderator:

Joseph Le Doux, Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

2:30

Session III: Implications for Engineering Education

Engineering educators and professional societies can promote attention to engineering in circumstances of social conflict and environmental challenge, and prepare students and members to address issues responsibly. What kinds of challenges do such activities bring to engineering education? How are educational and professional programs responding? What structural, programmatic, and/or curricular changes, if any, are underway? What alliances are needed?

Moderator:

Woodie Flowers, NAE Member, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Presenters:

Linda Abriola, NAE Member, Dean, School of Engineering, Tufts University

Caroline Baillie, Materials Engineering & Engineering Education, Queens University, Canada

Kevin Passino, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University

Discussants:

Richard Anderson, SOMAT Engineering, Inc.

David Daniel, NAE Member, President, University of Texas, Dallas

3:45

Break

4:00

Small Group Sessions

Participants will deliberate on interventions and actions to enable engineers and organizations to develop and assess strategies for change as well as make proposals for implementation.

8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

8:30

Small Group Sessions II: Prepare for Plenary

9:30

Plenary

Presentation and discussion of the small group reports will be followed by general discussion and suggestions for next steps.

11:00

Roundtable: Addressing the Intersection of Humanitarian Action, Social Justice, Sustainable Community Development

This roundtable will consider how engineering and engineering ethics research, practice, and education might better address the complex choices and cultural conflicts facing engineering in these circumstances. What research and practical efforts are needed? What sources of support for these efforts exist and can be promoted?

Moderator:

Sheila Jasanoff, Kennedy School, Harvard University

Presenters:

Carlos Bertha, Philosophy, U.S. Air Force Academy

Regina Clewlow, Founding Director, Engineers for a Sustainable World

Juan Lucena, Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines

Discussants:

Garrick Louis, Systems Engineering, University of Virginia

Bill Wallace, Wallace Futures Group and Engineers Without Borders, International

Dennis Warner, Senior Technical Advisor, Catholic Relief Services

1:00 p.m.

Lunch, Informal Review of Results, and Next Steps

Small Group Sessions and Topics

Group 1: Engineering for Social Justice and Sustainable Community Development—how to get there: engineers’ perspectives. This group will assess the first session, identifying the main assumptions and findings, as well as what was overlooked.

Group Leader:

Jimmy Smith, National Institute for Engineering Ethics, Texas Tech University

Rapporteur:

Karen Smilowitz, Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University

Group 2: Engineering for Social Justice and Sustainable Community Development—how to get there: social perspectives. This group will assess the second session.

Group Leader:

Ed Harris, Philosophy, Texas A&M University

Rapporteur:

Michael Loui, ECE, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Group 3: New approaches in engineering ethics research and education. This group assesses session three.

Group Leader:

Keith Miller, EECS, University of Illinois, Springfield

Group 4: Roles for NAE and engineering societies.

Group Leader:

Alice Agogino, NAE Member, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley