Products Liability-Bringing the Interaction of Society and Technology into Engineering Education

The Products Liability crisis has an impact on engineering education through the teaching of design courses and, increasingly, through faculty consulting work. This crisis may be only temporary, while legislative reform occurs, but it raises broader questions of the interaction between society and technology and of engineering and the law. This paper reviews the broadening perspective in engineering education from the standpoint of traditional engineering education, design engineering education, and guidelines for professional practice. Also, the present status of the involvement of Products Liability in engineering education is surveyed.