At Lockheed Martin's Ethics in Engineering annual case competition, academic institutions, each represented by a two-student undergraduate team and accompanying faculty, present their solutions to a fictional case involving ethical, business and engineering dilemmas. In addition to the hands-on opportunities for students to learn about Lockheed Martin and its technologies, the annual event compels students to think about the importance of ethics in the workplace and the various real-life dilemmas that can arise, especially in the multifaceted and fast-paced world of technology.
This year, a pair of alums from Science, Technology and Society (STS) – Nathan Ravnitzky and Helen Mesfin – competed on behalf of the University of Maryland.
Under the mentorship of STS lecturer Kuan-Hung Lo, Ravnitzky, a Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Science, Technology, Ethics, and Policy (STEP), and Mesfin, an Information Science major with a minor in STEP, set a new record for a UMD team in the history of the competition.
"Their dedication and the knowledge they've gained from both the STS program and STEP minor have greatly emphasized the importance of ethical considerations in engineering practices," Lo said. "Although they were eliminated in the round of 16, their effort and values are commendable."