Nine examples are presented illustrating the kinds of problems encounter-ed
in actual practice by conscientious engineers. These cases are drawn from
the records of the IEEE Ethics Committee, and from the experience of the et
hics help line initiated recently by the Online Ethics Center for Engineeri
ng and Science. They range from situations in which companies try to cheat
one another to those in which human health and safety are jeopardized. In o
rte case, an engineer learned that even a quiet resignation can prove very
costly in a personal sense. Some ways in which professional societies might
make ethical practice of engineering somewhat easier ale mentioned.