THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

Ethics in the Machine Shop: A Student's Guide

Author(s): Eric%20L.%20Gravengaard%20

Foreword

Motivation

This year I became involved with an environmental design project through Course 1E (Environmental Engineering). My goal was to design and build a robot to clean out nuclear waste tanks. I am a student in Mechanical Engineering (Course 2), so when it came time for me to build my project, I used one of the many facilities owned by the department. While working there I became aware of the large amounts of waste that machining can create. I felt that this waste was wrongly being thrown away and I confronted the shop supervisor about the matter. I was quickly dismissed. Thus began a personal project of mine to get to the bottom of this matter.

Course of Action

I first contacted several friends who were Environmental Engineers and asked them in general terms, what is and isn't allowed in the trash. This led nowhere as most of the students were unfamiliar with Massachusetts State Law. I then turned to the Administration of MIT. Before following this trail I developed a 'hypothetical' scenario. I then proceeded to interview the Safety Office. From there I was sent to Massachusetts' Department of Environmental Protection. Through numerous phone conversations I was able to obtain the regulatory information I was seeking. Finally, I interviewed several shop managers, shop workers, and students who frequent these shops. I then developed a model of a composite shop manager to assure the confidentiality of the interviews.

• Discussion of Interviewees Responses to the Scenario (Ethics in the Machine Shop)

  A scenario in which a student is faced with finding out whether his laboratory is appropriately disposing of the scrap metal which he produced in a Machine Shop.

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