Engineering Disasters
One of the most famous engineers was Thomas Edison who famously stated that “ [he had] not failed, [he had discovered] 10,000 ways that did not work”. Despite Edison’s numerous failures, he eventually perfected his version of the light bulb, got it patented and proceeded to make his invention available to consumers. Edison’s approach illustrates the engineer’s ideal process, as he repeatedly tests and perfects the design of the desired result before releasing the result to the public. In this manner, Edison ensures that public safety is maintained at all times. Today most developed countries have engineering self-regulating bodies that ensure the country’s engineers are always aware that public safety is always paramount. …show more content…
As a result they 're often focussed on cost minimization and revenue maximization. The engineers who work for these corporations are therefore often tasked to find the most efficient and cost effective ways of doing things. This in general has a positive impact on the economy, the lives of the public, the corporation that employs these engineers and the engineers themselves. However, this benefit can quickly become detrimental to society when profit and cheap production’s importance is placed above that of the public’s safety. The corporations have not received the same training the engineers have, as a result if they fail to accept that certain costs cannot be further minimized, it is the responsibility of the engineer to inform them that public safety will be put a risk if the product is produced any more cheaply. While the corporation may place pressure on the engineer, it is the duty of the engineer to both refuse to comply and report this company’s disregard of public safety to the regulatory body. The greatest engineering disaster caused by this type of pressure was the nuclear reactor disaster in Chernobyl. Despite guidelines being in place for nuclear tests, they were blatantly ignored in favor of rapid results and appeasement of the soviet communist party directors. During the production process of the plant, the lead plant engineer even used materials of substandard quality to complete production sooner, receiving a large bonus as compensation. This was one of the reasons that led to the nuclear meltdown. This case had one of the largest impacts on humanity of any engineering disaster. The radiation released into the earth’s atmosphere remains even today and has caused countless premature cancer deaths in not only the Ukraine, but worldwide. The plant’s lead engineer clearly placed no emphasis on public safety when making his decisions and this was likely a
One of the most famous engineers was Thomas Edison who famously stated that “ [he had] not failed, [he had discovered] 10,000 ways that did not work”. Despite Edison’s numerous failures, he eventually perfected his version of the light bulb, got it patented and proceeded to make his invention available to consumers. Edison’s approach illustrates the engineer’s ideal process, as he repeatedly tests and perfects the design of the desired result before releasing the result to the public. In this manner, Edison ensures that public safety is maintained at all times. Today most developed countries have engineering self-regulating bodies that ensure the country’s engineers are always aware that public safety is always paramount. …show more content…
As a result they 're often focussed on cost minimization and revenue maximization. The engineers who work for these corporations are therefore often tasked to find the most efficient and cost effective ways of doing things. This in general has a positive impact on the economy, the lives of the public, the corporation that employs these engineers and the engineers themselves. However, this benefit can quickly become detrimental to society when profit and cheap production’s importance is placed above that of the public’s safety. The corporations have not received the same training the engineers have, as a result if they fail to accept that certain costs cannot be further minimized, it is the responsibility of the engineer to inform them that public safety will be put a risk if the product is produced any more cheaply. While the corporation may place pressure on the engineer, it is the duty of the engineer to both refuse to comply and report this company’s disregard of public safety to the regulatory body. The greatest engineering disaster caused by this type of pressure was the nuclear reactor disaster in Chernobyl. Despite guidelines being in place for nuclear tests, they were blatantly ignored in favor of rapid results and appeasement of the soviet communist party directors. During the production process of the plant, the lead plant engineer even used materials of substandard quality to complete production sooner, receiving a large bonus as compensation. This was one of the reasons that led to the nuclear meltdown. This case had one of the largest impacts on humanity of any engineering disaster. The radiation released into the earth’s atmosphere remains even today and has caused countless premature cancer deaths in not only the Ukraine, but worldwide. The plant’s lead engineer clearly placed no emphasis on public safety when making his decisions and this was likely a