Congratulations to CEE undergraduate Samantha Cristol for taking first in the Daniel W. Mead Prize competition at the 2018 Mid-Pacific Regional Conference!
The Mead prize is an annual paper-writing competition sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
This year's topic was "How does the personal and professional use of social media relate to the ASCE Code of Ethics?"
"As an avid user of social media, this topic was incredibly personal, and also very difficult to write," says Cristol, "Instead of directly discussing the code of ethics, I chose to delve into the increasing intertwining of personal and professional life online, and how privacy settings result in a false sense of security."
Cristol discussed how the ASCE Code of Ethics crosses the boundaries between moderating personal and professional life, due to the blurred line that accompanies the heightened demand for constant professional availability.
She firmly believes that all engineers are deserving of a personal life. Because of this, Cristol recommended that ASCE amends the code to be more clear in terms of the boundaries of ethical standards that they believe engineers should uphold.
Cristol adds, "I want to thank my father, David Cristol, my undergraduate adviser, Julia Konopasek, and CEE Department Chair Robert Harley, for advising me along the way."
See The Digital Persona: Ethics of Social Media in Personal and Professional Capacities