Engineering Ethics and Sustainable Development

Engineering is a bridge over whichhumankind passes into nature to understand it, control it,and guide it to its own field of interest and service. In thelast two centuries and in parallel to industrial revolution,engineers made significant contributions to well-being ofsociety elevating the standards of living and adding to thecomforts of life through introducing new technologies.However, they didn’t pay a proper attention to thenegative side of scientific advancements such ascontamination of water, degradation of soil, emissions inthe air, and climate change. This paper is about makinggood decisions by engineers to promote sustainability inuse of technology. Sustainability is the balanced pursuitof ecological health, social equity, and economic welfare.It is grounded in an ethical commitment to meet the needsof present without compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs. The paper startswith an overview of some of the most pressing challengeshumankind faces today, followed by exploring the threepillars of the ethics of sustainability: the socialdimensions, the ecological dimension, and the economicdimensions. Application of the ethics of sustainability todecision making for engineers and scientists are discussedand several strategies used to integrate ethics ofsustainability in engineering education are explored.