Handbook of good practices to be a good engineer

More and more graduates year after year achieve the title of engineer. However, being a solid, reputable and ethical professional is a daunting challenge that requires a lot of discipline. There are many situations in which an engineering professional is sanctioned for deontological breaches or for violating current regulations and legislation. This fact is confirmed by the statistics of the national institutions which regulate the exercise of the profession. A good engineer requires enhanced training in principles and values ​​such as justice and solidarity. On the other hand, an honest and transparent act will allow you to generate the added value necessary for the construction of fairer societies through your contributions in knowledge and knowledge, by applying the good engineering practices.
Engineers transform and optimize elements that already exist in the environment for the benefit of humans, including in areas where life and health are at stake. In order to enhance engineering as a profession, good engineering practices will be discussed, with a focus on ethical and social responsibility, in order to promote a more dignified and commendable exercise of the profession. This topic delves into the MS in Biomedical Engineering with specialization in Clinical Engineering from EIA.

engineering and society

Legally, engineering has been defined as the application of human ingenuity to the generation of new knowledge and tools aimed at improving living conditions. While there are many fields of action in this science, there are fundamental principles that are applicable to all. They are standardized parameters for your exercise that have proven effective and suitable. However, and as we said at the beginning, the main objective of engineering is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the members of society, offering a significant social impact and generating the maximum possible sustainable development.
Alongside the national benchmarks are international standards that require professionals in the engineering field to contribute their contribution rate to inclusive knowledge and systems thinking. Especially in sensitive areas such as healthcare, the presence of honest professionals is required to promote the development of new biomedical technologies such as equipment, systems and devices. These can be preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic in nature.

Handbook of good practices to be a good engineer

He manual of good practices to be a good engineer It is a prepared guide for all engineering professionals to conduct an effective professional practice and increase the confidence that the community has in the profession. To begin with, it must be categorically stated that being a good engineer is synonymous with a competent professionalization which includes the joint networks of specialized multidisciplinary teams in solving social problems. This means that the engineer does not act in isolation, but bases his behavior and his conceptualizations on the support of professionals and assistants from this or other disciplines.
The good engineer does not underestimate the importance of other areas of knowledge for the proper performance of his job. On the contrary, he ensures the promotion of intersectorality and the cohesion of working and learning systems. In Colombia, the National Engineering Professional Council (COPY) It acts as an ethical tribunal and is the body in charge of setting the parameters for an ethical and adequate exercise of the different engineering disciplines.

Decalogue of good practices, especially in clinical and biomedical engineering

1. It is especially important that the engineer is responsible for the tasks assigned to him. In any case, you must keep all the elements placed in your custody in full and you must act with discipline and prudence.
2. It is unacceptable that a good engineer, directly or indirectly, favors the abusive exercise of the profession. As a symbol and demonstration of respect, dignity and vocation, you must respect and follow the academic guidelines and skills required by law for the fulfillment of certain functions or duties.
3. A good engineer carefully and conscientiously studies the environment that will be affected by each of his proposals. For example, the environmental and socio-economic impact.
4. The good engineer always thinks about how his actions will contribute to improving the quality of life of the population, especially the most vulnerable ones. These assessments must be considered in the short, medium and long term.
5. Avoiding unnecessary risks in the performance of one's work is one of the main characteristics of a good engineer. Risk assessment must be rigorous and carried out ex ante and ex post.
6. Issue the professional concepts only when there is a degree of conviction or reasonable certainty about them is, without question, the basis for the transparent practice of engineering. In accepting professional assignments, the engineer must take into account his own professional limits and not exceed in the exercise of the faculties that his title and training have conferred on him.
7. The good name of the engineer must be safeguarded from all non-transparent practices which undermine the good faith of third parties. A good professional reputation is priceless, as well as avoiding the imposition of disciplinary sanctions. The good engineer must act with the prudence and diligence necessary to satisfy the requirements that have been asked of him, and with the greatest probity possible.
8. In sensitive areas, where the subjects of the research study are human beings, care must be taken to respect and ensure compliance with human rightswhich are inalienable and imprescriptible. Here appear rights such as human dignity, the autonomy of the will and the free development of the personality. Epistemologically speaking, the exercise of the profession makes sense when the human being is placed as the central entity of the investigation.
9. The good engineer, provided that he is compatible with the assigned work, must comply with the international standards established on the subject. This will generate quality results, without neglecting good professional judgement. An excellent engineer is someone capable of making their own value judgments and making reasonable decisions with a high degree of awareness. In other words, critical and autonomous thinking should be necessary skills for a modern engineering professional. This will enable you to address today's legal, scientific and ethical dilemmas.
10. The good engineer will be willing to implement active and passive actions to act with a sense of humanity and in favor of socio-economic improvement and the preservation of a healthy environment. The vocation to serve the community will be its main objective, especially in relation to the promotion of values ​​such as equity, justice, solidarity, freedom and equality.

Importance of good practices

He COPNY, in one of his periodic reports, exposes a real case that took place on the Caribbean coast. An engineer designed a sewage system for the city, but did not include the respective topographical study, deeming it unnecessary. Instead, it relied on Google Maps.
This is a simple example of behavior that engineering professionals should avoid, whether it is inappropriate, unethical or illegal, lack of expertise or in violation of technical rules.
THE ethical principles of engineers include acting with sincerity, integrity, responsibility and accuracy. They also involve minimizing risks and optimizing benefits. Ethical disciplinary processes can lead to the imposition of sanctions on engineering practice for actions and omissions that affect the sphere of personal, social, professional, environmental, technical and economic responsibility. Some of the disciplinary measures can be recall, suspension and even cancellation of professional membership. Responsibility may instead be of a civil, criminal, fiscal, disciplinary or administrative nature. It is convenient for the good engineer to know and act in accordance with the professional code of ethics (law 842 of 2003).

Where and when to implement good engineering practices?

At all times and opportunities, the implementation of these good practices must be sought. Celebrating and vindicating the exercise of this profession is an ongoing task, as is the construction of a more just and equitable society that allows for the improvement of the conditions and quality of life of all its inhabitants. THE good engineering practices are particularly important in clinical engineering and biomedical engineering, due to the high degree of complexity and the need to implement and manage health technology for the development of services and products that impact on a better quality of medical care. THE MS in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in Clinical Engineering of the VIA is an excellent postgraduate program for all those students committed to quality, ethical and equitable education. This topic delves into the Master in Biomedical Engineering with specialization in Clinical Engineering from the VIA. We encourage readers to investigate this field.

Bibliographic sources
Molina A., Ana Professional Expertise in the New Millennium Engineer. Journal of the Faculty of Engineering [en línea]. 2000, (8), 65-71[fecha de Consulta 4 de Noviembre de 2021]. ISSN: 0717-1072. Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=11400808
Mohamad, JA What do we mean by social responsibility and ethics in the engineering profession? [en línea]. Preprint of the article published in Revista La Ingeniería 2007,1096. Available in: https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/5496
Bilbao, Forti and Guibert. 2nd edition. Ethics for engineers. Available in https://www.edesclee.com/img/cms/pdfs/9788433020741.pdftu