Ethics is the philosophical study of morality, or what is right and wrong and why. But why focus on ethics as an engineer?
The reality is that often ethical dilemmas occur, large and small in nature in our work as engineers. Engineers are responsible for designing things that have large influences on society. Unethical actions are sometimes unintentional, and the negative impact can be significant. We must acknowledge our work is not neutral and we should be aware of our biases and assumptions.
Codes of conduct and regulations are in place to ensure we follow a common set of ethical standards.