Essay due 04/13/21

ME 3663

Spring 2021

Current Events Essay | 31 pts possible | 5% of final grade

Submit your typed 1000-1200 word essay in PDF form to Blackboard by 10am CT on 4/14/2021.

Please read all instructions carefully! This document has multiple pages.

Instructions:

According to engineering accreditation body ABET, a key student outcome for mechanical

engineering majors is “an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in

engineering situations and make informed judgements which must consider the impact of

engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.”

With this in mind, your assignment is to identify a current events issue and write a 1000-1200

word essay describing its connection to this class as well as the engineering ethics considerations

associated with the topic. For example, you could write your essay about the Keystone XL pipeline,

which is related to fluid mechanics (pipe flow!) and address the societal/environmental issues

associated with its construction. Note that here we will define a current event as something that

has been in the news at any time since 2019.

Note that any essays deemed to contain plagiarized content will receive a grade of zero. All

sources used for your essay should be properly cited (will not count towards word count).

Any direct quotes/paraphrased material should be properly cited and this type of content

should be limited to < 100 words of your total word count.

Your essay will be graded as follows:

1. Clearly state your chosen topic and list the title, author(s), publication venue (name of website,

magazine, newspaper, etc.), and publication date of the primary source you use to develop your

essay. (2 pts)

2. Write a citation for your primary source in the format of your choosing (MLA, APA, etc.).

(1 pt)

3. Describe, in your own words, the background and story behind the issue you have chosen

(recommended ~250 words). (3 pts)

4. Discuss how this issue is related to fluid mechanics (recommended ~150 words). (2 pts)

5. Discuss the ethical/professional responsibilities of engineers associated with this issue

(recommended ~300 words). (5 pts)

6. How would you address this issue if you were an engineer with authority to make decisions on

the matter (recommended ~300 words). (3 pts)

7. Total word count is between 1000-1200 words. (3 pts)

8. Primary source is legitimate news and not simply Wikipedia or an online forum. (4 pts)

I understand this is subjective but an ability to identify factual news versus “fake news” is

important. If you are unsure about your source use this link for some guidance:

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-

check-the-news-and-get-the-facts

9. No typos/grammatical errors. (5 pts)

10. Uniqueness score: was the topic chosen unique relative to submissions of other students? For

example, you will not get points here if you use the Keystone XL pipeline. (3 pts)