Social Dimension

Social Dimension
What is Social?
▷ Need to have a clear definition
☐ To understand what can be or should be included in the discussion
▷ Social = friendly?
☐ Ways of living built up by a group of people
☐ Relating to human society and its members
☐ Human society can include many aspects!
Sustainable Engineering Development
Environmental sustainability
Environment
Economic Society
Economic sustainability Society sustainability

Human Well-being
Social & Engineering
Engineering
Social /Engineer
Social Dimension
 How is the work of engineers shaping the society?

 How can we accomplish engineering social responsibility
nowadays and in the longer term ?
 What is “Social Engineering”?
How is the work of engineers shaping the
society?
 Engineers use their skills to develop products, infrastructure, and
services to create value for society.
 Indirectly: Engineers created ‘smartphones’ and now people seldom

write letters to each other or even talk on the phone. Texting has
changed the way people interact.
 Directly: Engineers create modern urban environments and ‘new-

towns’.
 How about high-speed rail? Direct or indirect?
Engineering Social Responsibility
 Engineering social responsibility is the concept that those who are
trained and educated as engineers, often with subsidies from
taxpayers, have an inherent accountability to their fellow human
beings. (True or false?)
 The public is aware of the advancements and human progress that
are enabled because of the work of engineers and they feel it is a
cost that should be shared by all those who are capable.
 Engineers should consider the well-being of the public and society
when carrying out their duties. They should not violate their morals
or the public’s trust when carrying out their duties. They should
preserve the positive public perception of engineers so as to
maintain a healthy profession.
 These are similar to what?
Engineers have developed many technologies
that had significant impact to our society
 Black powder
 Steam power
 Rifled gun barrels
 Internal combustion engines
 Aircraft
 Rocket engines
 Artificial satellites
 Nuclear fission
 GPS technology
 Ceramic body armor
But is that a bad
thing?
 Black powder(mining)
 Steam power (manufacturing)
 Rifled gun barrels (frontier defense)
 Internal combustion engines (transportation)
 Aircraft (transportation)
 Rocket engines (space exploration)
 Artificial satellites (communications)
 Nuclear fission (power generation)
 GPS technology (navigation)
 Ceramic body armor (protection of police officers)
What is “Social Engineering”?
 Social engineering is the act of trying to persuade, convince or change attitudes
or habits of the general public in order to achieve an intended outcome.
 This may be achieved by utilizing the media, creating financial incentives, or
even by force in some extreme cases. In order to achieve sustainability, social
engineering may be necessary to adopt more sustainable habits or practices.
 However, those trained as engineers may have very little involvement with the
actual implementation of social engineering.
Examples may include:
vaccination campaign
Three-child policy in China
GBA
Additional reading materials this week
1) A Case Study of an Emerging Eco-City in China

2) Poverty Alleviation –The Role of The Engineer
3) Urban China - Green Urbanization
Society’s impact on engineering/engineer
Stereotypes of engineering or engineers
Boring
A profession not for women
Work environment is poor
…..
Good students do not study engineering
Most engineering students are male
Society’s impact on engineering/engineer
When society has the needs then it will create engineering
projects
Vaccine development
Temporary hospitals for COVID-19 treatment
Temperature detector ….
The West Kowloon Cultural District
The original design was overturned in 2006
Infrastructure projects
Social Dimension
Case study
Poverty Alleviation – the role of the Engineer
Poverty alleviation: the role of the engineer (by David
Singleton)
▷ The statistics on world poverty are frightening. Close to half the
world’s 6bn people live on less than US$2 a day; conversely 1% of
the population has an income equal to that of the entire bottom
57%.
▷ But poverty is not only about lack of wealth in monetary terms; it
also implies the ‘denial of various choices and opportunities basic
to human development. These include the ability to lead a long,
creative and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, to have freedom,
dignity, self-respect and respect for others, and to have access to
the resources needed for a decent standard of living.’
Poverty alleviation: the role of the engineer (by David
Singleton)
▷ Community infrastructure is key to alleviating poverty – and thus engineers
have an essential role to play. Without ready access to clean water and
sanitation, productivity is severely reduced through illness and time spent in
water collection. Without roads, the poor are unable to sell their goods at
market. Basic infrastructure is not a luxury that can wait for better economic
times, but a precondition for creating them, and its provision is an urgent and
ongoing requirement.
▷ The Economist has observed that ‘over the past 50 years
rich nations have given US$1 trillion in aid to poor ones. This stupendous sum
has failed spectacularly to improve the lot of its intended beneficiaries. Poor
countries that receive lots of aid do no better, on average, than those that
receive very little’. Poverty is thus not being ignored, but alleviation strategies
must be more effective for relief to be achieved.
The origins of poverty
▷ The basic causes are:
1. lack of access to safe water and sanitation
2. lack of facilities for adequate health care
3. lack of access to educational opportunities
4. shortage of adequate nutrition
5. lack of adequately paid employment
6. inadequate or expensive transport facilities
7. limited or expensive power supplies.
Microfinance – Case Study
▷ Microfinance – the provision of financial services to low-
income clients, including consumers and the self-employed,
who traditionally lack access to banking and related
services.
Global Mobility Service
▷ VISION: We create a system in which all hard workers are
recognized.
▷ There are 1.7 billion people worldwide who are denied of
access to financial opportunities such as loans and leases
and are unable to purchase mobility despite their desire to
make a living through the use of mobility.
▷ We work to solve this social problem by creating a system in
which hard workers are given the opportunity to work and
will be correctly evaluated for it.
https://www.global-mobility-service.com/en/index.html
FinTech to Save the 1.7 Billion People in the World
https://youtu.be/PsAe8A4Dles
Your first assignment is to write a 3 to 5-page response (Times New Roman, 12pt font,
1.5 spacing) to ONE of the questions. You will be assessed on Content (50%, depth of
argument/discussion, etc.) and Preparation (50%, quality of writing, structure, etc.).
Submit via Turnitin
Q1: Comparing Hong Kong with another city or country, the role of engineering/engineer in sustainable
development. How we can achieve sustainable development? You can also analyze from the history’s perspective.
Q2: Volkswagen (VW) emission scandal cost the company billions in criminal fine. Watch this video. Discuss how the
scandal impacts the Professional and Social/Cultural Dimensions for VW. Did VW engineers uphold their codes of
conduct? What about their duties to their employers? Has VW’s attitude impacted the social perception of the
company? You may need to conduct independent research to support your position
Q2: Volkswagen (VW) emission scandal cost the company billions in criminal
fine. Watch this video. Discuss how the scandal impacts the Professional and
Social/Cultural Dimensions for VW. Did VW engineers uphold their codes of
conduct? What about their duties to their employers? Has VW’s attitude
impacted the social perception of the company? You may need to conduct
independent research to support your position
You can also consider/compare similar cases such as the Mitsubishi Electric
quality scandal
Q3: Analyze the impact of Fukushima’s wastewater to the environment, the

social perception of the company/country. What are the alternatives?

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Social Dimension

Economic sustainability Society sustainability

 How is the work of engineers shaping the society?

 Indirectly: Engineers created ‘smartphones’ and now people seldom

 Directly: Engineers create modern urban environments and ‘new-

1) A Case Study of an Emerging Eco-City in China

Q3: Analyze the impact of Fukushima’s wastewater to the environment, the

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