Ethics in Engineering

Both Lindsey Bush ’23 and Nicholas Carinci ’23 became absorbed in physics, and by extension engineering, as high school students. Bush’s passion lies in civil engineering, designing and maintaining the infrastructure we rely on every day, from the roads and bridges were traverse to the buildings where we live and work. Carinci’s interest lies in aerospace engineering, imagining and building the crafts that will transport human beings deeper into space. Both plan to dedicate their professional lives to these fields. As they imagine what their futures will look like, it is important to them to perform their jobs not just with great technical skill, but with the utmost integrity. That is something that they have been preparing for throughout their time at Le Moyne.

This spring Bush and Carinci participated in the sixth-annual Lockheed Martin “Ethics in Engineering Competition,” which was held in Bethesda, MD. In each round of the competition, teams competed in pairs with each school representing one of the stakeholders in a realistic business case. Their goal was “not to win by forcing the other team to lose, but to take the lead in coming up with a win-win solution” and to “demonstrate an understanding of the ethics, business and engineering aspects of the case.” Bush and Carinci, who were accompanied by faculty adviser Stamatios Kyrkos, Ph.D., reached the final eight stage in a competition that started with 71 participating colleges and universities. The Air Force Academy prevailed in the quarter final round, and went on to win the competition.

Bush and Carinci said that it gave them the opportunity to work as part of a team, think through ethical dilemmas and to communicate, all skills that will be vital in their professional lives. They were able to articulate what they believed was the right thing to do and why.

“We had the chance to gain experience in learning how to work through ethical dilemmas that we all inevitably face in our professional lives,” Bush said.

Carinci echoed those sentiments.

“It was a great opportunity to practice boardroom etiquette,” he said.