Adapted from Source: http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/teammanual/ethics.html

1) Team codes of ethics [to be prepared by each] provide guiding values for how they will work with each other in mainDL.

A good reference on how to prepare the codes can be found here.

2) Ethical purchasing and use of the team budget.

It is difficult to anticipate all possible circumstances for budget expenditures. However, the budget must be spent in an appropriate fashion. A first-order test might be to imagine yourself explaining expenditures to the course sponsors. When in doubt, check with the admin assistant.

Cash donations of any type are not permitted. Donations of components and equipment from manufacturers are usually fine but check with your lab instructor first.

The budget is tight and cannot be ignored. Purchasing goods and then returning them after they have been used as planned to meet or conserve the budget is highly unethical and not permitted. Please, don’t even think about it. This will make the course instructor very, very unhappy.

Examples of appropriate and inappropriate uses of the project budget are provided below. By no means are the lists exhaustive.

Appropriate expenditures:

• special tools needed to work on the project (at the end of the term these tools will be turned over to the course for use by students in following years)
• materials, software, and consumables necessary for making presentations, conducting tests, or building sketch models, mockups, or alpha prototypes (salvageable materials are turned over to the course for use by students in following years)
• hiring machinists or other resources for fabrication (consult with lab instructors first)
• hiring expert consultants (although this is typically very expensive and can lead to budget problems)

Inappropriate expenditures:

• team T-shirts or other memorabilia
• food or snacks
• movie tickets
• the purchase of any items for personal use
• any purchase restrictions noted in SUSTech