Electrical Engineering Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

The Next Generation of Power Electronics: A Bright Path Ahead

The trend toward increased development of artificial intelligence, data centers, electric transportation, advanced manufacturing, military operations, and aerospace systems requires immense amounts of electricity to maintain and scale performance. Power modules play a significant role in modern electrical systems. The current architecture of power modules has significant limitations when integrated into higher power systems. The Ultra Low Inductance Smart (ULIS) power module, developed by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is set to overcome these limitations.

Spring 2023 Weekly News Profile

Advancements in Superconductors: New Hopes or False Promises?

Kaylee Tseng March 15, 2023 Electrical Engineering Energy Materials Science

A new publication in Nature reported the development of a near-ambient superconductor, a material without electrical resistance. Traditionally, materials only display superconductivity at low temperatures (-123 °C) or high pressure (>990,000 atm). The introduction of a superconductive material that operates at ambient temperatures and lower pressure could introduce faster and more energy-efficient technologies. However, a lack of rare resources and scrutiny of initial data may prevent this technology from reaching its full potential.

Podcast Spring 2025 Spring 2025 VCE Podcast

Virtue Ethics: Cultivating Moral Character in a Modern World

VCE March 8, 2025

Hosted by Aryan Shah with guest Branden leong This podcast explores the role of virtue ethics in engineering, emphasizing how virtues like compassion, integrity, and…

Podcast Spring 2025 Spring 2025 VCE Podcast

AR/VR and how they shape the future of technology

VCE March 8, 2025

Hosted by Aryan Shah, Deep Shah, with guests “Greta Hoffmeister, Kariena Panpaliya, Dasean Volk, Hang Nguyen, Grace Eamer In this episode, the guests delve into…

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

Natasha Singh March 29, 2023

Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges focuses heavily on the pitfalls of technological determinism. This paper supports Cech’s argument through a discussion of current examples of the consequences of technological determinism, such as the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, medication accessibility, and facial recognition technology. Though the consequences of a zealous engineering mentality are commonplace in our society, there are also current examples of tech companies neglecting to develop technology due to its possible negative consequences.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

Charles Liu March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges presented by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) fail to involve ethics as a part of the solution to these issues. Traditionally, engineers have kept their work separate from its societal implications. Engineers and their non-technical counterparts have an obligation to view all technical solutions under the moral lens of ethicists and futurists. Going forward, engineers must be aware of their limits and work with experts outside of their fields to develop solutions that will be cognizant of society as a whole.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

Shub Gaur March 29, 2023

The National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges are critiqued by Dr. Erin Cech for what she describes as a double standard in engineering. Though Cech rightly discusses a lack of accountability and acknowledgement within the profession, her argument lacks nuance. The Grand Challenges were ultimately a promotional tool meant to inspire the next generation of engineers, yet Cech holds them to a standard of being professional rules and guidelines. This paper will discuss the distinctions that Cech’s argument lacks, including placing an unreasonable amount of responsibility on engineers and overstating their influence.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Huzaifa Aslam March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges were developed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in an effort to expose future generations to the wide range of innovation and technology that they could one day take part in. As detailed by the Challenges’ creators, the list includes challenges that are most significant to our current world. Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the Grand Challenges is that a lack of diversity in the panel of engineering experts led to a lack of oversight into issues that are actually pertinent to developing nations. Cech’s argument that the Grand Challenges are a missed opportunity for social justice holds validity, but her mischaracterization of the lack of diversity requires further consideration.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

Spain Makes a Stand Against Social Media Platforms’ Disappointing Ethical Failures

Alice Steele February 10, 2026

Spain has joined a growing number of countries banning social media for users under 16. These bans reflect a global concern over these platforms’ documented, pervasive threats to children’s mental health and safety, which companies have responded to with largely cosmetic changes that fail to meaningfully protect minors. This trend ultimately signals a disappointing and widespread failure to uphold ethical standards in the industry.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

Strengthened Surveillance of US Residents

Kariena Panpaliya February 3, 2026

Federal law enforcement agencies like ICE are increasingly using technologies to identify, document, and surveil U.S. residents. The dependency of these new technologies is still questionable. Still, they are being used as a valid justification for questioning, prosecuting, and threatening civilians, especially protestors.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

The Next Generation of Power Electronics: A Bright Path Ahead

Mary Karapetyan January 27, 2026

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

Selling the Problem, Selling the Cure: Bounce-Back Culture and its Toll on New Mothers

Alice Steele December 8, 2025

Advancements in the technologies and support available to postpartum women are essential, and many new technologies designed for mothers are promising to hasten their physical and emotional recovery. While this may seem a noble goal on the surface, many products marketed to postpartum women are hindering rather than helping their recovery by feeding into an increasingly twisted societal ideal of what postpartum recovery should look like. It is the ethical imperative of engineers to consider how their technologies are contributing to the dangerous “bounce-back” culture directed at postpartum women and the maternal mental health crisis.

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

Stripped Chips: Bringing Cleaner Snacks to American Shelves

Kariena Panpaliya November 25, 2025

Two of the most popular brands of chips have released “naked” versions of their products, which have no artificial colors. Supported by studies that show the potential harm of artificial additives, efforts to “strip down” products have grown widespread across several manufacturers of prepackaged food in America.