Course Spotlight: Engineering Professional Development 155

The EPD 155 class is part of the Com A requirements and is attended primarily by students who are considering careers in one of the STEM disciplines. The class begins with a chapter from Henry Petroski’s book The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) to expand our understanding of how engineers use hypothesis and the scientific approach in planning and design. The class continues to explore current issues in technology including the use of social media, alternative sources of energy, stem cell development and of course cell tissue experimentation and use as described by Skloot. The first issue was to understand Henrietta Lacks and George Gey in their historical setting, which meant touching on the issues of Jim Crow laws, and northern migration patterns referenced in the book. While we looked at how Lacks was positioned without power to question authority, I also wanted the class to consider the traits that made George Gey a successful researcher, who in his time thought he was acting ethically. In many ways Gey’s characteristic are the same that the students will need to develop.

Next we focused on the ethical issues raised by Dr. Southam’s research. This lead to a discussion of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, as well as Stanly Milgram’s experiment in Obedience to Authority, which we begin to frame using the Nuremberg Code and tutorials required for human subject research. A number of students became interested in bio/ethics and decided to do more research on the topic. All the students were required to write a reflection/reaction paper after each reading where they summed up the material and then ventured their opinion. For the most part the students were glad the book was chosen. George Roesch Johnson Associate Faculty Associate Engineering Professional Development Technical Communication Program