Ethical Considerations In The Design, Fabrication, Operation And Disposal Stages Of A New Phone Essay

In engineering, there are various ethical considerations that engineers have to adhere to while creating new designs or even when making certain engineering modifications (Wang, 10). This basically involves asking questions i.e. does the design comply with a society’s moral codes? In the case of designing a new phone, an engineer has to adhere to four key ethical principles:
Multiculturality: In this case, an engineer has to determine whether the goals of the new mobile phone design are bound by cultural imperatives. He/she should consider the specific cultural imperatives that bind the new mobile phone design. On the other hand, the new mobile phone design should consider whether it is acceptable by various global cultures or it is only accepted from a local cultural perspective. A consideration of multiculturality is pertinent as it ensures that new engineering designs do not conflict with consumer’s cultures (Wang, 12).
Environment and Ecology: Environment and ecological processes support various human activities. As such, the design of new mobile phones should consider environmental safety and well-being. In this regard, engineers should answer questions such as: Is the design harmful to the environment? What could be its impacts on human and animal health? Are there solutions to the possible impacts that might be caused by this design? Does the disposal mechanism have impacts on environment and how can this be solved? Are there alternative and safe modes of disposal? Et cetera.
Tools and Methods: In design processes, there are various standard tools and procedures applicable. The application of these tools and procedures are meant to be adhered to by all engineers. As such, the design of the new mobile phone was involve asking questions such as: Does the method used in the design comply with engineering design guideline? Are the tools used accepted by the local cultures, local government and the nation government? What are the impacts of using such tools? Are there alternative solutions to identified problems?
Needs and Wants: Mobile phone designs should serve the needs as well as the wants of its targeted clients. However, a higher consideration is usually directed towards creating designs that meet the needs of targeted clients compared to wants. Thus, the design of the new engineering should be created that meets the needs of targeted consumers as well as wants. This may be achieved by answering questions such as: Is the design meeting only the wants of the targeted clients? Does it meet both needs and wants? Does it only meet the needs? How can identified challenges be solved?

Life Cycle Assessment of a New Phone

Design Stage
In the design of a new mobile phone, engineers focus on creating frames and shapes, dimensions as well orientations of the new phone. This process is guided by certain moral obligations for instance: Considering environmental and ecology by asking questions such as; how does this design impact the environment? What could be the alternatives to this design? How could its impact on the environment be prevented or mitigated?

Fabrication

The concept of fabrication in design process basically involves adding value to a new design; it may involve assembling processes, cutting, bending or even painting (Han et al, 17). Fabrication is usually performed in a manner the meets the requirements of the new designs, as such, engineers have to use the design as a point of reference i.e. following the guidelines of the design (Han et al, 17). Additionally, there are also certain ethical obligations that engineers have to take into consideration for instance: The impact of the fabrication materials on the environment; they should also consider whether the fabrication process meets the needs of the targeted market i.e. does the color meet the needs of consumers? On the other hand, designing a new mobile phone should be based on applicable engineering fabrication standards. It may involve asking question such as: Does the fabrication material and process adhere to applicable engineering guidelines and standards?

Operation

Operation of the new mobile phone designs has a direct impact on humans for instance: Research has indicated that the operations of a mobile phone might lead to certain challenges i.e. brain tumor resulting from continuous exposure to magnetic waves (Kurniawan, 25). In this regard, the design of the new mobile phone should be guided by ethical principles that seek to protect human life as well as environmental well-being. This might involve asking questions such as: What could be the impact of this mobile design on the environment? How can the identified impacts be prevented? What alternative models exist that might not cause any negative impact on users? Moreover, the design should consider whether the manner through, which the new mobile phones are operated meet the needs and wants of a targeted market i.e. the ease of operation.

Disposal

The life cycle of the new mobile phone is 12-24 months; this means that, after 24 months, it has to be disposed. Disposal of electronic gadgets have significant impact on the environment (Kroll & Mark, 597). The design should be created in a manner that considers disposal mechanisms i.e. considering the impacts on the disposal mechanism, available disposal mechanisms and how they might affect human and environmental well-being. Moreover, designers might want to consider whether the disposal mechanism of the new mobile phone design meet applicable disposal criteria.

Considerations in a Canadian Market vs. a Market of an Under-developed Nations

It is apparent that the living standard of most of the population in the Canadian market is higher than most populations in underdeveloped nations. This is based on the fact that Canada is among the major global economies or developed nations. As such, there level of buyer-purchase power varying on a great extent. This has a direct impact on the designs of a new mobile phone of two markets. Considering the fact that the Canadian Market has a higher buyer-purchase power, the design of a new mobile phone to meet its target market may involve application of materials and processes leading to higher life expectancy, easy operations and minimal impacts on the environment. The process of creating such designs is expensive. However, in the case of an underdeveloped market, the design may be characterized by use of cheaper raw materials and processes, leading to low life expectancy, relatively poor modes of operations and certain environmental impacts.

Work Cited

Kroll, Braden W., and Mark W. Kroll. "Disposal emergency cellular phone." U.S. Patent No. 6,115,597. 5 Sep. 2000.
Kurniawan, Sri. "Mobile phone design for older persons." interactions 14.4 (2007): 24-25.
Van Biljon, Judy, Paula Kotzé, and Gary Marsden. "Motivational needs-driven mobile phone design." Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2007. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2007. 523-526.
Wang, Zongjiang. "The study of smart phone development based on UML." Computer Science and Service System (CSSS), 2011 International Conference on. IEEE, 2011.
Han, Sung H., et al. "Identifying mobile phone design features critical to user satisfaction." Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries 14.1 (2004): 15-29.