In an era of rapid technological innovation that has created such promising advances as ‘big data,’ genomic testing, drones, and driverless cars, progress is often ahead of legislative process. This often places individuals, organizations, and governments on new frontiers of knowledge and ethical debate.  

Professors Chloe Arson (Civil and Environmental Engineering),Lauren Stewart (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Bob Kirkman (Public Policy) hope to better equip Georgia Tech scientists and engineers to anticipate and evaluate the potential ethical implications of innovations in the workshop, “Integrating Ethics and Engineering in the Classroom: The Case of Hydraulic Fracturing.” The interdisciplinary workshop to be hosted April 9-10 in the Wilby Room of the Georgia Tech Library aims to both build a conversation across the core curriculum and to provide the teaching aids and curricular materials for a new way of thinking about engineering practice, research, and education.

“Energy and environmental systems have advanced significantly in the last decade from a technological standpoint,” said Strategic Energy Institute Director Tim Lieuwen. “But many of these systems are themselves not free from ethical controversies. Increasingly, social, political and economic realities will create situations where scientists and engineers face trade-off decisions. Preparing students to critically assess new technologies and ask the tough ethical questions will help support more responsible decision making – not just in energy – but in other areas of societal importance.”

Dr. Kirkman said the connections between ethics and engineering are inescapable and need to be addressed at a deeper level within the curriculum beyond a single, ethics course requirement.

 “Ethical decision making Is very much like design -  both are open ended; both have constrained problems often under time pressure and there are many possible acceptable solutions – some better than others,” said Kirkman. “In design you are also making value judgments. It’s not a stretch to add more ethical values into that process and teach them together. I think it’s a natural flow.”

The two-day workshop is open to faculty and students in the College of Engineering, Ivan Allen College, College of Business, and the College of Sciences and will be held in conjunction with the Sparks Forum on Ethics and Engineering Wednesday, April 8 in the President's Suite A and B of the Student Success Center. Hydraulic Fracturing expert, University of Utah Research Professor, and National Academy of Engineering member Sidney J. Green will be  the keynote lecturer for the Sparks Forum and will participate in the workshop Thursday and Friday.

The workshop will frame broader discussions about resolving ethical conflicts and facilitating productive public deliberation around the hydraulic fracturing debate in the United States.

“As faculty involved in the education of engineers, we are interested in exploring how to train engineers to be more effective and reflective participants in that conversation,” said Kirkman.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,” is a method used for recovering oil and gas from tight reservoir rocks. The process involves injecting water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground to fracture rock formations and release trapped gas. A propping agent, usually sand, is then injected to keep the fractures open and the oil or natural gas flowing.

According to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, 90 percent of all oil and gas wells in the U.S. are “fracked” to boost production. Fracking usually occurs just after a new well is drilled, but many wells are fractured numerous times to get as much production out of a profitable site as possible.

Dr. Arson said the process has come under increasing scrutiny due to the growing concerns about its environmental impact.

“There are many ethical questions relating to the environment, such as the risk of explosion, the long-term effects on seismic activity, the potential contamination of underground aquifer supplies and other issues,” said Arson.

But fracking Arson said also raises a host of other complex ethical, legal and political tangles for consideration, including the definition of the term itself.  

 “How do you define hydraulic fracturing, said Arson? “Is it the process or the product, because depending on how you define it, there will be different regulations applied in terms of your right to exploit the ground; to what depth you can claim the land.”

Arson and Kirkman hope the workshop and resulting curricular materials will encourage engineering students to think about problem-solving in a different, more creative way.

“I have found that engineering students at Tech are very comfortable thinking about utility,” said Kirkman. “They are less comfortable thinking about other kinds of values. We hope the curriculum helps to foster the development of engineers who think more like ethicists and ethicists who can think like engineers.”

Following the workshop, a series of models, decision making tools, and hands-on activities will be made available on SmarTech. The materials will be flexible enough to be integrated into new and existing courses and to meet the curricular requirements of any Georgia Tech academic department. Faculty and students may also access materials from the first workshop, "Risks and Policies of Hydraulic Fracturing: Assessment and Deliberation" on SmarTEch.

Faculty and students interested in attending the follow-up workshop April 9-10, should contact Chloe Arson or Bob Kirkman at: chloe.arson@ce.gatech.edu or robert.kirkman@pubpolicy.gatech.edu

The project is supported by the Offices of the Executive Vice President for Research and the Provost through a Georgia Tech Fund for Innovation in Research and Education (GT-FIRE) grant.