Professors and engineers from 14 states, Italy and the Netherlands will gather at the University of St. Thomas Thursday, Oct. 6,-Saturday, Oct. 8, for “A Culture of Ethics: Engineering for Human Dignity and the Common Good,” a conference on how engineers can integrate their technical work with their religious beliefs, cultural heritage and social responsibilities.
For three days, conference participants will hear 37 faculty and industry experts speaking at 30 sessions dealing with topics that include global peace, transportation, faith-based engineering, big data, teaching engineering ethics, bioengineering, developing ethical cultures, Christianity and technological progress, and technology and the common good.
All events will be held in Anderson Student Center on the university’s St. Paul campus. While registration is required to attend all of the conference’s 30 sessions, registration is not required for the three keynote talks that are free and open to the public.
The three keynote talks are:
Brad Kallenberg
“Ethics as Design as Ethics” by Brad Kallenberg, professor of theology and ethics at the University of Dayton, Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. Kallenberg has pioneered a course in engineering ethics that compares ethics to engineering design. His six books include By Design: Theology, Ethics and the Practice of Engineering.
Gregg Stedronsky
“Culture, Ethics and Engineering at General Mills” by Gregg Stedronsky, vice president for global engineering, safety and manufacturing excellence at General Mills, Friday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. Prior to joining General Mills in 1991, Stedronsky worked in computer development for Control Data. He holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a mechanical engineering degree from South Dakota State University.
Michael Quinn
“Tuning in to Ethics” by Michael Quinn, dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Seattle University, Saturday, Oct. 8, at 9 a.m. Quinn did pioneering research on parallel computing and his textbooks on the topic are used worldwide. Also used extensively internationally is his text Ethics for the Information Age, which explores moral problems related to information technology.
Also free and open to the public is a panel of the keynote speakers who will discuss “How Can Engineering Educators Prepare Students for a Culture of Ethics in Industry” on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m.-noon.
The conference is sponsored by St. Thomas’ School of Engineering, Department of Theology, and College of Arts and Sciences. To register go here. For more information visit here, send an email to cultureofethics@stthomas.edu or call (651) 962-5300.
In addition to St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota, professors speaking at the conference are coming from the University of Dayton, The Citadel, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, North Dakota State University, University of Washington-Tacoma, Baylor University, University of Notre Dame, Michigan Technological University, University of Nevada, Fairfield University, Santa Clara University, Andrews University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Seattle University, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, and Einhoven University in the Netherlands.
