RESPONSIBILITIES E-190
PROFESSIONAL OF ENGINEERS
PART A -COURSE INFORMATION
1.
Course Description
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF ENGINEERS covers four aspects
of the engineering profession: (1) Legal principles applicable to
the engineering profession: contract law, agency, partnerships,
corporations, real property, professional liability, products
liability, intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks, &
trade secrets), and employment law (discrimination, retaliation &
sexual harassment); (2) Ethical principles of the engineering
profession; (3) Professional development and values; and (4) Verbal
presentations. The class meets twice a week for a total of three
hours per week. In addition, each student gives one verbal
presentation in small sections that meet once a week with a Teaching
Assistant.
2.
Course Objectives
a. To orient engineering students to the professional world
they are about to enter.
b. To introduce engineering students to the areas of law they
will encounter in their profession: contracts, agency, partnerships,
corporations, real property, professional liability, products
liability, intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks,
trade secrets); and employment law (discrimination, retaliation and
sexual harassment).
c. To understand ethical issues and principles that engineers
will confront throughout their professional careers.
d. To improve verbal communication skills by giving a
persuasive professional verbal presentation.
3.
Course Requirements
Each student must purchase the Course Materials available in
the UC Davis Bookstore. It is recommended, but not required, to
purchase the book Engineers and Their Profession by John D. Kemper
and Billy R. Sanders, Oxford University Press, Fifth Edition,
available in the UC Davis Bookstore.
4.
Participation
The information presented in this course is primarily learned
through the class lectures and class discussions. Participation
through class attendance is therefore required, and will count
towards 10% of the final grade.
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5.
Grading
A student's final grade for the quarter is based on the
following allocation of points:
Points
200 - Verbal presentation
500 - Midterm
200 Law - Final Exam
100 - Lecture participation through attendance (20 lectures
@ 5 points per lecture)
1,000 - Total Points
Lecture participation through attendance is required because a
full understanding of the course materials is possible only if the
student personally attends and participates in each class
discussion. 10% of the final grade is therefore based on
participation through lecture attendance. Five points are deducted
for each unexcused lecture absence. On a case-by-case basis, the
Instructor will determine whether or not an absence is excused. In
addition, 5 points are deducted for each lab/section absence that is
not made up.
The Law Midterm will cover only the law topics covered in Part
C of the Course Materials. The Final Exam will cover only the
topics covered in Parts D and E of the Course Materials. Both the
Law Midterm and the Final Exam will be closed book, closed notes. A
Scantron UCD 2000 and No. 2 pencils are required for both
examinations.
6.
Instructors
The Course Instructor is John F. Gisla, a graduate civil
engineer and a retired attorney. Mr. Gisla graduated in 1965 from
the University of Santa Clara with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering.
He was a student officer of Tau Beta Pi, and passed the Engineer In
Training examination. He then obtained his law degree from the
University of San Francisco in 1968. His 38 years of law practice
consists of four years in the Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps
(JAG), including a year in Vietnam; three years in the private
practice of law; eight years as an attorney with the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers in Sacramento; and 23 years with the United States
Attorney's Office in Sacramento defending the United States in civil
litigation.
The Instructor for the Ethics portion and the Professional
Development portion of the Course is Dr. Spyros Tseregounis, Ph.D.,
Associate of the Chancellor and Lecturer in the Department of
Chemical Engineering & Materials Science. Dr. Tseregounis earned
his B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1977 at Aristotelian University
of Thessaloniki, Greece; and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical
Engineering in 1981 and 1984 at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
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