Another time, an engineer was developing a prototype for a six-cylinder engine.

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The women played around with different designs and consulted with Ms. Teich's father, an aerospace engineer, about creating a prototype and writing a patent.

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For example: An Internet-jacked kettle that alerts us when the national power grid is overloaded (a prototype has been developed by U.K. engineer Chris Adams) doesn't prevent us from boiling yet another cup of tea, but it does add an extra ethical dimension to that choice.

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