Little Office of Research Integrity

Third paper on 'Engineering Education' containing substantial plagiarized material.

Author: Vice-Chair of Senate* , Queen's University, Canada

"THE OTHER NEW YORK CRASHES: THEIR USE IN A CDIO PROGRAM", Patrick H. Oosthuizen, Vice-Chair, Senate of Queen's University, and Chair of the Board of the Faculty of Applied Science ., Proceedings of the 3rd International CDIO Conference, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, June 11-14, 2007.

The author argues that "some discussion of engineering ethics should be incorporated throughout an engineering program". But large sections of his paper are lifted from various online sources including an article by Brian Kates in Boston Globe without acknowledgement. The author has repackaged the lifted materials as his own work (see below). This is the third paper from the vice-chair of Senate with substantial plagiarized material (see other posts, below). The case is becoming more like the story of Chris Spence, Toronto school board director who plagiarized multiple articles.

Data Fabrication: The author has constructed Figure 2 of his article (below, right) by taking information from another source (National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)) without giving any reference to the original source and without mentioning the original NTSB graph (below, left). Data appear to be altered. The author claims that time was "measured" in seconds. In reality, there is no data to construct the last part of the flight profile. According to NTSB report, "FDR and CVR stopped recording at 0150:36.64 and 0150:38.47, respectively."

Figure 3 in the article (below, right) is coming from an online newshour special report - pbs.org.

Examples of text lifted from other sources are given below:

Patrick Oosthuizen:

“On the evening of July 17th 1996, shortly after the sunset but while the sky was still light, a

Boeing 747-100 jetliner, TWA's flight 800, took-off from JFK airport on its way to Paris, France.

On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crew members, a total of 230 people.”

Source C (What Really Happened.com):

“On the evening of July 17th, 1996, shortly after the sun had set, but while the sky was still light, a Boeing 747-131 jetliner, TWA's flight 800, was taking off from JFK airport on its way to Paris, France. On board were 230 people. "

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“In 2000, after a four-year, $38 million investigation - the most expensive in aviation history – the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that poorly designed wiring triggered an explosion in Flight 800's near-empty center fuel tank.”

Source A: Brian Kates, Boston Globe

“In 2000, after a four-year, $38 million investigation -- the most expensive in aviation history -- the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that poorly designed wiring triggered an explosion in Flight 800's near-empty center fuel tank.”

Everything is the same except that " --" has been replaced by "-".

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“Soon after the crash the agency called for devices to be installed on jetliners that would replace oxygen in fuel tanks with nonexplosive nitrogen. However, the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to require the systems.”

Source A :Brian Kates, Boston Globe

“Soon after the crash, the agency called for devices to be installed on jetliners that would replace oxygen in fuel tanks with nonexplosive nitrogen. The so-called inerting systems have been on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of air safety improvements ever since. But the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to require the systems -- even though its own research shows they are 100 percent effective in preventing explosions like the one the NTSB determined had downed Flight 800.”

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“The TSB made nine recommendations relating to changes in aircraft materials, electrical

systems, and flight data capture. (Both flight recorders failed, along with main power, six

minutes before impact.) General recommendations were also made regarding improvements in

checklists and in fire-detection and fire-fighting equipment.”

Source B (encyclopedia4u.com):

“The TSB made nine recommendations relating to changes in aircraft materials, electrical systems and flight data capture (both flight recorders had halted operations six minutes before impact). General recommendations were also made regarding improvements in checklists, fire detection and fire-fighting equipment.”

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“At approximately 11 minutes into the flight, the 747 was flying at an altitude of 13,700 feet above

sea level. Normally the flight would have been higher at 11 minutes into the flight but Flight 800

had delayed climbing to make room for another jetliner descending into Rhode Island.”

Source C (What Really Happened.com):

“Approximately 11 minutes into the flight, the 747 was flying at an altitude of 13,700 MSL, or 13,700 feet above sea level. Normally higher at 11 minutes, flight 800 had delayed climbing to make room for another jetliner descending into Rhode Island.”

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“At about 8:45pm Flight 800 was over the Atlantic Ocean when it received clearance to initiate its climb to cruise altitude. At this point the plane exploded without any warning. Thousands of pounds of kerosene, dumped from the center and wing tanks, vaporized and ignited, creating a fireball seen all along the coastline of Long Island. "

Source C (What Really Happened.com):

“Just as flight 800 received clearance to initiate a climb to cruise altitude, the plane exploded without any warning. Thousands of pounds of kerosene, dumped from the center and wing tanks, vaporized and ignited, creating a fireball seen all along the coastline of Long Island.”

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Patrick Oosthuizen:

“Under the orange glow of the fireball, sections of the 747 tumbled into the ocean. So completely had the plane broken up that weather radar confused the expanding bubble of debris for a cloud."

“Under the orange glow of the fireball, sections of the 747 tumbled into the ocean. So completely had the plane broken up that weather radar confused the expanding bubble of debris for a cloud.”

............and many more paragraphs from other sources .

The federal framework for the responsible conduct of research lists plagiarism as a breach of the rules governing federally funded research. The framework defines ' plagiarism' as " Presenting and using another's published or unpublished work, including theories, concepts, data, source material, methodologies or findings, including graphs and images, as one's own, without appropriate referencing and, if required, without permission."

Travel expenses incurred to present plagiarized papers in different locations are not among the eligible expenses listed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

*According to the University Secretariat, Senate is "responsible for determining all matters of academic character affecting the University as a whole, including student discipline. It shares responsibility with the Board of Trustees for appointing the Principal."

Posted: February 22, 2013