This full research paper explores how academics and engineering professionals view the incorporation of DEI into engineering ethics codes. Engineering professional societies have integrated DEI explicitly or implicitly into their codes of ethics. Yet, DEI is contested and even banned in many institutions of higher education in the US. Thus, there is a need to understand the relationship between ethics and DEI in engineering, including how engineering practitioners and scholars view DEI should be canonized in the profession. In this study, we addressed two research questions: (1) “To what extent and in what ways did participants view it to be important to incorporate DEI into an engineering ethics code?” and (2) “How do participants view the incorporation of DEI into the IEEE code of ethics?” The research methodology included a qualitative analysis of interview responses from engineering academics and practicing engineers regarding the integration of DEI into engineering codes of ethics, as well as their perceptions of IEEE's current code of ethics. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 engineering faculty members and 25 engineering practitioners between June 2022 and April 2023. During interviews, we shared the IEEE code of ethics and asked participants to share their perspectives of the code. Participants felt that embedding DEI principles into engineering ethics codes was important to ensure equitable treatment, access, and representation across all levels of the profession. Many participants felt that ethics codes should have a more concerted focus on DEI and DEI principles, whereas some participants questioned whether DEI should be within an engineering ethics code at all. Findings from this study can inform future innovations at the nexus of ethics and DEI. We specifically hope this work will encourage professional societies to continue integrating DEI within engineering codes of ethics with the undergirding confidence that many stakeholders across both engineering and academic communities are supportive of such integration.

Student mental health issues have been on the rise in recent years. Many factors play a role in mental health issues, including culture and climate. Engineering culture is known to be very difficult and oftentimes toxic which can exacerbate mental health issues. This panel will discuss various mental health struggles and the ties between mental health and engineering culture. The goal of this panel is to get audience members thinking about how we can change engineering culture to be one that is more nurturing and places importance on mental well-being.

In this WIP research study, we depict our approach to investigating how US faculty members in engineering education conceptualize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The recruitment of underrepresented faculty members, retention of these faculty members, and institutional racism are continuing issues in higher education. Implementing DEI initiatives within institutions can help engineering departments effectively respond to the aforementioned issues. Prioritizing DEI in institutional cultures is not only morally necessary, but its incorporation may also affect minoritized individuals' feelings of belongingness and performance in research, teaching practices in classrooms, and service. We argue that is essential to understand faculty members' perceptions and experiences with DEI in order to modify institutional cultures in ways that can wholly realize DEI aspirations. The purpose of this study is to address the research questions, “How do faculty members in engineering conceptualize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?”, “How do faculty members in engineering experience Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in their work?”, and “How do faculty members' conceptions manifest in their experiences with DEI in their work?” We explored faculty members' experiences related to DEI in their work environment and participants unpacked experiences in research, teaching, or service. We collected interviews with 25 faculty members from engineering or philosophy programs who teach engineering students in U.S. universities. We used a purposeful recruitment method to include participants who self-identified across a range of demographic characteristics and who brought expertise in either DEI or engineering ethics. Findings from this study provide administrators, faculty members, professionals, and researchers in engineering education with strategies improve cultures by prioritizing DEI in U.S. higher education institutions and organizations.

As CMOS technology reaches its limitations during the next decade, novel nano electronic devices like Carbon Nano Tubes, Single Electron Transistors, Quantum Cellular Automata, and Spin Transistors are being explored as future alternatives to CMOS devices. This research focuses on Quantum Cellular Automata (QCA) as a viable technology for future FPGA devices. Small device size, ultra low power consumption, and extremely high device operation speeds are some of the outstanding features of QCA which makes it attractive. In this research paper, modeling, implementation, and successful simulation of a CLB slice for a nano quantum FPGA in QCA technology is discussed. The design is modeled using standard QCA cells with multiple layers for reliable interconnect crossovers. The designs are implemented and simulated using the QCA Designer software tool.