Law in the Engineering Curriculum at Oklahoma State University

A novel curriculum has been designed involving the legal aspects of engineering as they apply to technology practice.The purpose of the curriculum is two-fold: 1) to make technical professionals aware of how engineering practice relates to an organization's legal duties and 2) to encourage those professionals to engage in policy debates that shape business regulation and the common law.From an educational perspective, the curriculum is a logical extension of traditional science and engineering education in that it demonstrates the practical and economic importance of applying sound technical skills.More important, it provides business with technologists who recognize the economic value of responsible design practices.Society, in turn, benefits from better, safer products and processes, and from legal systems and processes that better reflect the unique challenges of technology practice.