The Importance of Disaster Investigations for Systems Engineers

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The Importance of Disaster Investigations for Systems Engineers

- What is a Systems Engineer?

In the modern industry engineering systems are becoming more complex

by the day. Therefore a need for elite engineers i.e. the Systems

Engineer, capable of applying a wide range of engineering disciplines

to a variety of tasks from product design and development from

requirements analysis to simulation to manufacturing and marketing

etc… is essential.

Such engineers work within a team at the heart of the organisation

where the design and development of a project is carried out. At this

stage it is of great importance that every aspect of the design is

studied accurately in order to ensure the final product works

effectively, efficiently and safely. However, although maximum effort

is made during the design, it is impossible to produce a result 100%

efficient. This unfortunately leads to the occurrence of accidents and

in some extreme cases to a disaster. By carrying out investigations

into the disasters and their causation, lessons can be learnt and

employed in future designs. This allows the team of engineers to

improve the performance and efficiency of the system whilst

maintaining the maximum safety levels.

- Disasters and why they happened?

- Air disasters caused due to faulty design:

There have been historically countless cases of confusion in handling

the flaps and the gear controls on the DC3 aircraft as they are in

close proximity to each other and of similar shape. This is a problem

that should have been addressed by the system engineers before the

final go ahead for production was approved considering the importance

of such instruments and their role during the flight of the aircraft.

- Challenger disaster caused due to faulty design:

This incident saw the destruction of the United States space shuttle

Challenger 73 seconds after take-off from the Kennedy Space Centre on

January 28, 1986 killing the entire shuttle crew.

The disaster was caused by the failure of an "O-ring" seal in the

solid-fuel rocket on the shuttle's right side. The seal's faulty

design and the unusually cold weather, which affected the seal's

proper functioning, allowed hot gases to leak through the joint.

Flames from inside the booster rocket escaped through the failed seal

and enlarged the small hole. The flames then burned through the

shuttle's external fuel tank and cut away one of the supports that

attached the booster to the side of the external tank. The booster

broke loose and collided with the tank, piercing the tank's side.

Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuels from the tank and booster

mixed and ignited, causing the shuttle to tear apart.

It is quite clear from this example that had the design of the ring

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