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Course Outline
During this ethics workshop you will:
- Discuss a range of common conflicts of interest that professionals may encounter in their roles
- Explore the importance of recognizing these potential conflicts and how they may be perceived differently by private and public sector firms
- Examine professional codes of ethics and how these guiding documents provide greater clarity when facing ethical dilemmas
- Evaluate real case examples of ethics problems
Course Schedule
Event Date/Time:
5/14/2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm Central Time
Course Notes
The May 14, 2026 course subject is:
PE Ethics Workshop: Communicating Risk and Speaking Up: Ethical Judgment and Public Trust
Many ethical challenges in engineering arise not from clear misconduct, but from uncertainty about how and when to raise concerns, and how to communicate risk responsibly once concerns emerge. Engineers may hesitate to speak up about potential risks when those risks develop gradually, involve past assumptions, or feel personally or professionally exposing. Even when concerns are communicated, careful technical language intended to be accurate and responsible can sometimes be misunderstood by the public or appear misleading in hindsight.
This ethics workshop examines the ethical dimensions of both reluctance to speak up and risk communication in engineering practice. Through scenario-based discussion, participants will explore how professional judgment, organizational norms, and communication choices influence public understanding of risk. The session is designed as a shared learning experience for engineers at different career stages, emphasizing ethical judgment, responsible communication, and the protection of public health, safety, and welfare.
Instructor and Program Director
Instructor
Laura Grossenbacher
Director of Technical Communication
Laura Grossenbacher, PhD, is the Director of the Technical Communication Program in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been teaching courses in engineering communication for over twenty years. Dr. Grossenbacher has been an active member of the Association for Practical and Profession Ethics, serving as a judge at the National Ethics Bowl Intercollegiate Competition for several years. She has served a three-year rotation as an NSF proposal reviewer for the Ethics in Engineering and Science Education panel, and actively develops cases for her undergraduate capstone course, Contemporary Issues in International Engineering.
Program Director
Joy Altwies