Ethical Guidelines

University of Illinois trained engineers are the best and most highly sought in the world. Our graduates are superbly trained, highly competent, and creative. This, however, is not enough. Our engineers must also be trusted to conduct themselves according to the highest ethical standards. All teams must address ethical considerations in their projects. This requirement has two parts.

First, there is a stringent Code of Ethics published by professional societies, such as IEEE and ACM. The power of these Codes of Ethics is to provide guidance to engineers in decision making and to lend the weight of the collective community of engineers to individuals taking a stand on ethical issues. Thus the Code of Ethics both limits the professional engineer and empowers the professional engineer to stand firm on fundamental ethical bedrock. All teams must read the IEEE code and ACM code and comment on any sections of the code that bear directly on the project.

Second, we expect our students to have personal standards of conduct consistent with the IEEE and ACM Codes of Ethics, but also beyond it. That is, there are areas of ethics not addressed by these Codes that the engineer may consider in taking on projects or jobs or making other professional decisions. These are personal standards and choices. In the context of the class, there are no right or wrong answers here. Our students simply need to demonstrate that they are thinking deeply about their own decisions and the consequences of those decisions. We encourage our students to consider the wider impact of their projects and address any concerns raised by potential uses of the project. Students should ask themselves, "Would I be comfortable having my name widely attached to this project? Do I want to live in a society where this product is available or widely used? Would I be proud of a career dominated by the decision making demonstrated here?" Remember that UIUC engineers have a long history of inventions that really has changed the world.

If the students feel that these Codes of Ethics does not directly bear on their project and that there are no other reasonable concerns, they should not invent issues where there are none. Students will still be expected to be familiar with the IEEE Code of Ethics and ACM Code of Ethics.

Tea Blend Distributor

Zhenzuo Si, Zhiyuan Wang, Ruiqi Ye, Anyu Ying

Featured Project

# TEAM MEMBERS:

- Zhenzuo si (zsi2)

- Ruiqi Ye (ruiqiye3)

- Zhiyuan Wang (zw39)

- Anyu Ying (anyuy2)

# PROBLEM

Tea is a popular beverage but cannot be easily obtained like coffee because no machine on the market can make it as convenient to drink tea as a coffee machine. Additionally, people’s requirements for the type and strength of tea are just as complex as those for coffee. We want to design a device that allows users to input the type of tea they want to drink and their taste preferences and then receive a cup of tea that meets their requirements.”

# SOLUTION OVERVIEW

This machine has a total of five systems: an interactive subsystem that receives user input, a control subsystem that controls all other subsystems, a solid storage subsystem for storing tea leaves, a tea brewing subsystem that adds an appropriate amount of water at the right temperature, and a flavour subsystem for adding additional ingredients such as milk and sugar.

# SOLUTION COMPONENTS

##INTERACTIVE SUBSYSTEM

The interactive subsystem includes a series of digital displays and buttons for users to adjust parameters related to taste, such as tea strength, temperature, and concentration of additional ingredients. It is also capable of delivering this data to the control subsystem.

## CONTROL SUBSYSTEM

The control subsystem is capable of transmitting signals to other subsystems and can control the number of tea leaves and additional ingredients used, as well as the temperature and amount of water used, and the overall brewing time.

## TEA BREWING SUBSYSTEM

The tea brewing subsystem includes a mixing tank that can store the added tea leaves, water, and additional ingredients and can dispense the brewed tea and tea leaves together at the set time.

## FLAVOR SUBSYSTEM

The flavouring subsystem includes tanks for storing syrup and milk, as well as pipelines and valves for adding a predetermined amount of syrup and milk based on instructions from the control subsystem.

# CRITERION FOR SUCCESS

After users set their taste preferences on the front-end interface, they can wait for a certain amount of time and then enjoy a cup of tea that meets their preferences. After each tea-making process, the machine’s interior is relatively clean and there are no residual tea leaves that could affect the taste or food safety.

# DISTRIBUTION OF WORK

Zhiyuan Wang is responsible for designing the mechanical structure, including the outer shell, storage compartment, and liquid pipelines. Anyu Ying is responsible for designing and soldering the circuit board. Zhenzuo Si and Ruiqi Ye are responsible for developing and debugging the control and interaction systems.