Engineering entails solving societies’ real-world problems using machines, systems, materials and processes. There are many different engineering disciplines and diverse specializations, but all involve solving problems for people and therefore they all inherently affect society.
This means licensed professional engineers are ethically obliged to hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public. Although our country and the world looked different in 1946 when the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) endorsed its first code of ethics, engineers’ obligation to the public has become more important than ever as the infrastructure and technology around us become ever more complex.
