Posted on February 19, 2026 by Sean M. Wood
Junior Biomedical Engineering Major Christian Unogu said engineers must do more than create solutions. “We always must be conscious of reliability, sustainability, and the quality and safety of the products that we create,” he said. It’s an example of ethical engineering.
That view is one of the reasons he and three other students from the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design will be the first students representing UT San Antonio at the Ethics in Engineering Case Competition at Lockheed Martin in Bethesda, Md.
Chemical Engineering Prof. in Practice Steve Skarke, who also teaches a graduate ethics course learned about the competition and pitched it to a receptive Dean Eric Brey.
“It’s probably the first time I’ve seen the dean that excited to spend money,” Skarke joked. “It’s not only a good opportunity for our students, but it’s also the chance to build on the relationship we have with Lockheed Martin.”
On the team with Unogu are senior Mechanical Engineering Major Lexi Seals, Junior Mechanical Engineering Major Michael Shova and Senior Aiden Tijerina majoring in Computer and Electrical Engineering.
The group received the case involving two competing teams — Alpha and Bravo. The teams in the scenario are part of the same company, vying for a government contract. Team Alpha plans on developing a human-centered solution while Team Bravo is emphasizing artificial intelligence. The goal of the competition is to work with the opposing team toward a unified solution.
Most in the group thought team Alpha would be the easier case, ethically, but said making a case for Bravo, which relies on AI, would be more convincing. “It actually reads like Lockheed Martin fan fiction,” Seals said.
Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Dr. Daniel I. Pineda is working with Skarke to prepare the students for the competition. He said he is excited for the students to interact with the other schools in an environment like the one they will find at Lockheed Martin. “This is representative of real problems and decisions that they may have to make when they are in the workforce,” said Pineda.
The competition will take place in February 2026.
— Sean M. Wood
