ECE 290 Engineering Profession, Ethics and Law

For class, tutorial, and laboratory schedules, see the Undergraduate Schedule of Classes.

Instructor

Douglas Wilhelm Harder
EIT 4018
dwharder

Office Hours: TBA

Course Description

An introduction to the engineering profession, including standards, safety, background (Charter of Rights and Freedoms), contracts, torts (negligent malpractice), forms of carrying on business, intellectual property (patents, trade marks, copyrights and industrial designs), professional practice (Professional Engineers Act, professional misconduct and sexual harassment), alternative dispute resolution, Labour Relations and Employment Law, Environmental Law.

Course Objectives

To introduce the student to those aspects of the engineering profession related to interactions with society, employers, clients, other practitioners and professionals, and the engineering profession.

Required text

D.L. Marston, Law for Professional Engineers, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2008.

Optional text

G.C. Andrews et al., Introduction to Professional Engineering in Canada, 4th Ed., Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

Evaluation Structure

Your mark will be based on

• Class participtation: 10 %
• A mid-term examination: 20 %
• Two essays: 20 %
• A final examination: 50 %

A student who misses the mid-term examination (due to either a severe illness, a death in his or her immediate family, or other extreme conditions) and provides appropriate documentation (e.g., a Verification of Illness Form for an illness, a death certificate, etc.) will have the weight of the mid-term moved onto the final examination.

The weight of the mid-term examination will not be changed under any other circumstances.

The instructor reserves the right convert one or more questions on either the mid-term or final examinations to bonus questions after the examinations are graded.

A student who misses the final examination (due to either a severe illness, a death in his or her immediate family, or other extreme conditions) and provides appropriate documentation (e.g., a Verification of Illness Form for an illness, a death certificate, etc.) will write the final examination with the next offering of the course.

Acceptable Rules for Group Work

Collaboration is an essential component of engineering practice; however, a sudent is required to type each essay up individually. We will be running the essays through

Late and Missed Submissions

The essays will be due at 22:00 (10:00 P.M.) on the Sunday following weeks 5 and 10, respectively. At that point, a late drop-box will open and the penalty will be 1 grade out of 120 for each minute.

Turnitin.com

Plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) will be used to screen assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in assignments is documented. Students will be given an option if they do not want to have their projects screened by MOSS. A student may inform the instructor that he or she wishes to opt out of MOSS during the first two weeks of the term. In this case, the instructor and the laboratory instructor will be comparing the code visually to submissions from both previous and current students.

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ for more information.]

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department's administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing academic offenses and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about "rules" for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.

Plagiarism-detection software will be used on any submitted projects.

Appeals

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.

Note for students with disabilities

The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.

Plagiarism detection software will be used to screen assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in assignments is documented. In the first lecture of the term, details will be provided about the arrangements for the use of plagiarism detection software in this course.