Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Bioethics Question: What does it mean to be
a good engineer?
urbanization, we need all the technical horsepower we
can educate.
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From the Ancient Greeks, excellence is a dichotomous
phenomenon. Good was considered to be given and almost
undefinable (although Socrates can be credited with
starting the process of defining it). Excellence requires
skill and character. Our academic and professional prep-
aration is designed to give us the former and some of the
latter. For example, the engineering curriculum continues
to place high demands on the student's grasp of mathe-
matical and scientific concepts. This has never let up.
However, the curriculum of today increasingly requires an
understanding of the social sciences and humanities and
demands core competencies in interpersonal skills.
Engineering is active. It is a process that takes the raw
materials and energy that exist at a given time and creates
new things and improves things that already exist. En-
gineers solve problems and build. Engineers do things.
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We are seldom satisfied merely in possessing information
or mastering skills.
The real test of engineering is when we put our
knowledge and aptitude into practice. I noticed this in the
Duke engineering students who recently returned from
Indonesia and Uganda after participating in the Engineers
without Borders projects abroad. They were joyous about
their opportunities to apply the theoretical information
in real projects. It is this eagerness to apply what we know
is a gift that has truly made the world a better place. Many
of the improvements in public health, safety, and quality
of life are largely attributed to engineers.
In North America and Europe, public works projects
designed by engineers have given us clean water,
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which has
prevented many of the diseases responsible for the majority
of premature deaths and disabilities so common 100 years
ago. Pollution control equipment has allowed for cleaner
air. Vehicle and transportation designs continue to improve
the safety of travel. Chemical engineering advances
have improved product manufacturing, leading to higher
quality and safer consumer products and pharmaceuticals.
And, biomedical devices and systems have lengthened
and extended an improved quality of life to millions.
The engineering call will be even stronger in the
future. The knowledge and creativity of the engineer will
have to grow in proportion to the increased societal ex-
pectations. Kristina Johnson, Dean of Duke University's
Pratt School of Engineering, characterized the engineer's
future obligation to society:
As in all aspects of engineering, however, there are
challenges and obstacles. We are familiar with design
challenges, such as the unique conditions of situations
that make us think outside of the box. An equation or
model seems to work well in most cases, but those few
instances that fail can be the difference between good
engineering and poor design. Or, we commonly experi-
ence the challenge of the lessons to be learned when we
move from a prototype to an actual application. Slight
changes in scale or complexity (i.e., effects of some un-
known variable) limit the application of a design. One
specific challenge, the subject of this topic, is the ethical
challenge, specifically the challenge of how engineering
decisions and actions affect human life, for good or ill.
Feedback and enhancement
of design
Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach
perfection. And engineers, like poets, are seldom
completely satisfied with their creations.
Henry Petroski (1985)
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Engineering is not only active, but, as Petroski reminds
us, it is a system filled with feedbacks. We are frequently
told where we fall short, but we are sufficiently
optimistic to recognize our progress. This continuous
improvement was formalized by another engineer,
W. Edwards Deming, who established the total quality
management (TQM) process. TQM is defined as ''a
management approach of an organization, centered on
quality, based on the participation of all its members and
aiming at long-term success through customer satisfac-
tion, and benefits to all members of the organization and
to society.''
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This is a strong mandate. However, it
should not imply that engineering advances are linear. In
fact, growth is incremental and is often accompanied by
setback, hypothetically shown in
Figure 8.1-1
.
Especially in biomedical and biosystematic applica-
tions, engineers push the envelope. They must. The
growth in medical science is directly attributable to new
technology, pharmacology, and systems. The unforeseen
setbacks depicted in
Figure 8.1-1
go with the territory,
but the public does not take kindly to those that could
have been prevented if reasonable steps had been taken.
It hurts the professional and the profession because
a preventable failure delays the overall advance in engi-
neering solutions to problems, as shown in
Figure 8.1-2
.
It is even worse if the setbacks are the results of mishaps
and mistakes. And, since engineering requires intensive
and extensive training and experience, most situations
[A]s an engineering dean, I'd argue that it is our
responsibility as good citizens of the planet to solve
many of our global problems, such as developing
renewable energy sources, purifying water, sustaining
the environment, providing low-cost health care and
vaccines for infectious diseases, to mention a few.
Coupled with global climate issues, transportation and
