Essays can now be submitted for the 2008 Mekel Prize, which is awarded annually to the best student essays about ethics and technology. TU Delft Rector Magnificus Jacob Fokkema: “I believe this is a very important award.
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TU Delft will not run away from the difficult questions and issues raised by technology.”
The Mekel Prize is named after a Dutch engineer who was very concerned about social responsibility: Prof.Dr. Jan Mekel was a professor at TU Delft in historical geology and paleontology. During World War II, Mekel was a member of the Dutch resistance to Nazi Germany’s occupation of Holland. On May 2, 1942, the Nazis executed Mekel.
This essay competition is organized by TU Delft’s Platform for Ethics and Technology. This platform seeks to involve ethical questions in the education of engineers and develop methods for systemically approaching such questions. The Mekel Prize is designed to encourage students and PhDs to think about the moral questions they could face in the engineering profession.
Last year’s Mekel Prize winner was Dutch aerospace engineering student Taco Broerse, whose essay examined the situation of Google in China. In 2006, Google launched a search engine that specifically conformed with the censorship the Chinese authorities impose on its people. This meant that this search engine blocked certain websites, such as the websites of Amnesty International and the religious movement Falun Gong. Broerse asked whether Google, an US company, had acted ethically in enabling the Chinese authorities to practice such censorship. For this, Broerse examined the issue from two philosophical perspectives: utilitarianism and Kantian philosophy.
2008 submissions
Fokkema is interested in philosophy and reads the essay submissions with great attention. “It’s interesting to gather information based on the perceptions of students and PhDs. I also believe it’s important to stimulate thinking about these issues. TU Delft wants to play a major role in society; we do not want to run away from ethical issues. Last year’s winning essay illustrated perfectly the dilemma that confronts an engineer who works in a country ruled by a government that is not wholy democratic.”
@01 infoblokje:Essays for the 2008 Mekel Prize must be submitted before July 1, 2008. Mekel essays must be written in English. The winner will receive 1,000 euro, as well as an official certificate. Students can enter the competition individually or in groups of up to five persons. For more info: www.platformet.tudelft.nl or e-mail Henneke Filiz-Piekhaar, platformet@tbm.tudelft.nl. (AS)
Essays can now be submitted for the 2008 Mekel Prize, which is awarded annually to the best student essays about ethics and technology. TU Delft Rector Magnificus Jacob Fokkema: “I believe this is a very important award. TU Delft will not run away from the difficult questions and issues raised by technology.”
The Mekel Prize is named after a Dutch engineer who was very concerned about social responsibility: Prof.Dr. Jan Mekel was a professor at TU Delft in historical geology and paleontology. During World War II, Mekel was a member of the Dutch resistance to Nazi Germany’s occupation of Holland. On May 2, 1942, the Nazis executed Mekel.
This essay competition is organized by TU Delft’s Platform for Ethics and Technology. This platform seeks to involve ethical questions in the education of engineers and develop methods for systemically approaching such questions. The Mekel Prize is designed to encourage students and PhDs to think about the moral questions they could face in the engineering profession.
Last year’s Mekel Prize winner was Dutch aerospace engineering student Taco Broerse, whose essay examined the situation of Google in China. In 2006, Google launched a search engine that specifically conformed with the censorship the Chinese authorities impose on its people. This meant that this search engine blocked certain websites, such as the websites of Amnesty International and the religious movement Falun Gong. Broerse asked whether Google, an US company, had acted ethically in enabling the Chinese authorities to practice such censorship. For this, Broerse examined the issue from two philosophical perspectives: utilitarianism and Kantian philosophy.
2008 submissions
Fokkema is interested in philosophy and reads the essay submissions with great attention. “It’s interesting to gather information based on the perceptions of students and PhDs. I also believe it’s important to stimulate thinking about these issues. TU Delft wants to play a major role in society; we do not want to run away from ethical issues. Last year’s winning essay illustrated perfectly the dilemma that confronts an engineer who works in a country ruled by a government that is not wholy democratic.”
@01 infoblokje:Essays for the 2008 Mekel Prize must be submitted before July 1, 2008. Mekel essays must be written in English. The winner will receive 1,000 euro, as well as an official certificate. Students can enter the competition individually or in groups of up to five persons. For more info: www.platformet.tudelft.nl or e-mail Henneke Filiz-Piekhaar, platformet@tbm.tudelft.nl. (AS)
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