Engineering Ethics Case Studies

A reference collection of notable engineering ethics cases — the judgements, failures, and reforms that shaped professional practice. Drawn from public record and firsthand testimony.

No.	Title	Topics
1	Boeing 737 MAX
2	Engineers Without Borders
3	The Crisis at Citicorp Center
4	The Flint Water Crisis
5	Cheating Diesel Emissions Tests
6	The Challenger Disaster
7	The Columbia Disaster
8	Roman Engineering
9	Our Need for Energy: Electricity
10	Prioritizing Design Improvements in Cars
11	Climate Change and Human Well-Being
12	John Stuart Mill
13	Yuzuki’s Career Choice
14	Immanuel Kant
15	Airbag Recalls and the Duty to Inform
16	Dr. Elizabeth Hausler
17	Aristotle
18	The Trolley Problem: A Test Case for Ethical Theories
19	Edward Snowden and the NSA
20	Is It Ethical to Report an Employer to a Hotline?
21	An Exemplary Whistleblower?
22	The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse
23	The Titanic Disaster
24	Therac-25
25	Who is Responsible for Tech Addiction?
26	Who Should Get Credit for the Keel that Revolutionized Sailing?
27	Ford Pinto and the Value of a Human Life
28	How Toxic is Trichloroethylene?
29	Spaghetti Code in Toyota’s Software
30	Germany and the Fukushima Accident in Japan
31	Disclosing a Conflict of Interest
32	Gift/Complimentary Seminar Registration
33	Google and the Right to Be Forgotten
34	CCTV Cameras in Smart Cities
35	TeliaSonera in Uzbekistan
36	The Nuremberg Code for Scientific Experimentation
37	Self-Driving Cars Part 1
38	Self-Driving Cars Part 2
39	A Techno-Fix for Global Climate Change?
40	Amish Values
41	Deepwater Horizon and the Macondo Well
42	The Bhopal Gas Disaster
43	The BP Texas City Refinery Explosion
44	The Florida International University Bridge Collapse
45	The Champlain Towers South Collapse
46	Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Levee Failures
47	The St. Francis Dam Failure
48	The Quebec Bridge Collapse
49	The Grenfell Tower Fire
50	The Rana Plaza Collapse
51	The General Motors Ignition-Switch Recall
52	The Takata Airbag Recall
53	Ford, Firestone, and Tire-Tread Separations
54	The Samsung Galaxy Note7 Battery Fires
55	Intel and the Pentium Division Bug
56	The Mars Climate Orbiter
57	Ariane 5 Flight 101
58	The Patriot Missile Failure at Dhahran
59	The Northeast Blackout of 2003
60	The Aberfan Disaster

The Cases

Boeing 737 MAX

Engineers Without Borders

The Crisis at Citicorp Center

The Flint Water Crisis

Cheating Diesel Emissions Tests

The Challenger Disaster

The Columbia Disaster

Roman Engineering

Our Need for Energy: Electricity

Prioritizing Design Improvements in Cars

Climate Change and Human Well-Being

John Stuart Mill

Yuzuki’s Career Choice

Immanuel Kant

Airbag Recalls and the Duty to Inform

Dr. Elizabeth Hausler

Aristotle

The Trolley Problem: A Test Case for Ethical Theories

Edward Snowden and the NSA

Is It Ethical to Report an Employer to a Hotline?

An Exemplary Whistleblower?

The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse

The Titanic Disaster

Therac-25

Who is Responsible for Tech Addiction?

Who Should Get Credit for the Keel that Revolutionized Sailing?

Ford Pinto and the Value of a Human Life

How Toxic is Trichloroethylene?

Spaghetti Code in Toyota’s Software

Germany and the Fukushima Accident in Japan

Disclosing a Conflict of Interest

Gift/Complimentary Seminar Registration

Google and the Right to Be Forgotten

CCTV Cameras in Smart Cities

TeliaSonera in Uzbekistan

The Nuremberg Code for Scientific Experimentation

Self-Driving Cars Part 1

Self-Driving Cars Part 2

A Techno-Fix for Global Climate Change?

Amish Values

Deepwater Horizon and the Macondo Well

The Bhopal Gas Disaster

The BP Texas City Refinery Explosion

The Florida International University Bridge Collapse

The Champlain Towers South Collapse

Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Levee Failures

The St. Francis Dam Failure

The Quebec Bridge Collapse

The Grenfell Tower Fire

The Rana Plaza Collapse

The General Motors Ignition-Switch Recall

The Takata Airbag Recall

Ford, Firestone, and Tire-Tread Separations

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 Battery Fires

Intel and the Pentium Division Bug

The Mars Climate Orbiter

Ariane 5 Flight 101

The Patriot Missile Failure at Dhahran

The Northeast Blackout of 2003

The Aberfan Disaster

Case Index