UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Registration is now open for undergraduate students interested in participating in the upcoming Penn State Ethics and Engineering Case Competition, which will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, in 220 Hammond Building.
The competition requires each two-student team to analyze the engineering, ethical and business dilemmas of a case study provided to them on Nov. 1. Each team must define the dilemmas posed in the case study and present solutions in two different formats: a 90-second elevator pitch followed by an eight- to ten-minute verbal presentation. A digital presentation (e.g., PowerPoint) should accompany the verbal presentation.
A panel of judges will evaluate the elevator pitch and longer presentation separately, and a combination of both scores will determine the winning team. The top three teams all receive prizes, with the first-place team winning a trip to the national competition on Feb. 13-14, 2019, at the Lockheed Martin headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. Judges will announce the winners immediately after the competition.
To register, one member of each two-person team must email the names, email addresses and majors of both team members to Caitlin Grady, Penn State assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, at cgrady@psu.edu no later than 6 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 31. Additional information about the competition can also be obtained by emailing Grady.
Informational sessions will be held at 6 p.m. on both Oct. 17 and Oct. 23 in 219 Hammond Building for students interested in learning more about techniques used to evaluate engineering- and business-related cases through ethical frameworks. Students are not required to attend either practice sessions in order to participate in the competition.
The second annual Penn State Ethics and Engineering Case Competition is sponsored by the Rock Ethics Institute, which was established in 2001 through a $5 million gift in 2001 from Doug and Julie Rock to the College of the Liberal Arts. Its mission is to promote ethical awareness and inquiry across the University.