Katie Grantham

Variations in Risk Management Models: A Comparative Study of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disasters

Abstract: Managers seeking to assess risk within complex systems face enormous challenges. They must identify a seemingly endless number of risks and develop contingency plans accordingly. This study explores the strengths and limitations of two categories of risk assessment tools: product assessment techniques including Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Risk in Early Design (RED) and process assessment techniques, such as Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) and the Swiss Cheese Model (SCM). A NASA case study is used to evaluate these risk assessment models. The case study considers the January, 1986, explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, 73 seconds after liftoff. This incident resulted in the loss of seven crew members and consequently grave criticisms of NASAs risk management practices. The article concludes with comparison and recommendations for engineering managers on selecting risk assessment tools for complex systems.

A Study on Situated Cognition: Product Dissection's Effect on Redesign Activities.

Situated cognition theory describes the context of a learning activity’s effect on learner’s cognition. In this paper, we use situated cognition theory to examine the effect of product dissection on product redesign activities. Two specific research questions are addressed: 1) Does situated cogni tion, in the form of product dissection, improve product functionality during redesign exercise?, and 2) Does situated cognition, again in the form of product dissection, affect the creativity during product redesign? In this study, three sections of first-year students in two different locations – The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) – performed product redesign using coffee makers. The redesigned products have been analyzed with respect to both depth (detail level) and creativity. Based on our results, we find that situated cognition, in the form of product dissection, improves product functionality during redesign and positively affects creativity. The implications of these results are also discussed.

Towards Failure Free Design: An Analysis of Risk Mitigation Communication

In order to ensure that risk mitigation strategies are properly communicated to and understood by those who would use them in future designs, a common language of risk mitigation should exist. This paper focuses on a set of elements for describing risk mitigation strategies based on a linguistic analysis of the information such strategies must communicate to the design team. Sample strategies are then decomposed into these attributes and evaluated using the Gricean cooperation principle, relevance theory, and functional analysis theories from the pragmatics sub-field of linguistics. Using the deficiencies found from this analysis, a format for risk mitigation strategies using the six risk mitigation attributes is formulated.Copyright

Chemical Failure Mode Addition to the Failure Mode Taxonomy

The research objective of this article is to fortify the failure mode taxonomy by including chemical failures. This inclusion would enable comprehensive risk analysis in technology-based products. As technology improves at an exponential rate, partially owing to chemical advances in the semiconductor industry, failure identification tools must keep up with the pace. While the current version of the failure mode taxonomy does consider multiple domains of failure, it does not include a comprehensive collection of chemical failures. Therefore this taxonomy is insufficient for a large number of new products. The research presented here includes identifying chemical failures from publications in the semiconductor industry. These failures were then analyzed to determine the rudimentary failure modes in each case. Finally the newly identified failure modes were added to the failure mode taxonomy. A case study is presented to demonstrate using the updated failure mode taxonomy to identify both potential failures and product risks.

A Step Toward Risk Mitigation During Conceptual Product Design: Component Selection for Risk Reduction

The objective of this paper is to introduce a method that will mitigate product risks during the conceptual design phase by identifying design variables that affect product failures. By using this comprehensive, step-by-step process that combines existing techniques in a new way, designers can begin with a simple Functional Model and emerge from the conceptual design phase with specific components selected with many risks already mitigated. The Risk in Early Design (RED) method plays a significant role in identifying failure modes by functions, and these modes are then analyzed through modeling equations or lifespan analyses, in such a manner that emphasizes variables under the designers’ control. With the valuable insight this method provides, informed decisions can be made early in the process, thereby eliminating costly changes later on.Copyright

Failure Prevention Through the Cataloging of Successful Risk Mitigation Strategies

The objective of this paper is to introduce the method to add mitigation strategy data to the generated risk event effect neutralization (GREEN) method knowledgebase to improve its ability to effectively mitigate risks. Risk mitigation is the creation and selection of mitigation strategies to reduce, measure, or control risks in a system. Currently, a vast majority of risk mitigation strategies are created based on the engineering expertise of the engineers on a project. The GREEN method provides a means for engineers to supplement their experience by generating risk mitigation strategies based on past successful risk mitigation strategies using the failure modes of the potential risks that the product faces. In order to better aid the engineer in selecting the best possible risk mitigation strategy for a particular risk, more information on mitigation strategies needs to be cataloged in the GREEN knowledgebase. This paper outlines and demonstrates the method for adding new data on mitigation strategies to the knowledgebase, and presents a case study of how this information is added and used to mitigate product risks.

Does Access to Expert Knowledge Allow Students to Better Assess Risk

The Risk in Early Design (RED) tool is a knowledge base containing numerous engineering failure modes associated with the functionality of failed components along with measures of their occurrence and severity. This knowledge base is queried by function (represented using the functional basis lexicon) and historical risk information is presented to the user. To investigate the effectiveness of such a knowledge base in a classroom setting, a formal experiment was constructed and implemented within a large freshman engineering design course involving the identification of a failure mode of a power drill. The control group used a traditional failure analysis technique utilizing a failure mode effects and criticality assessment (FMECA) template. The experimental group utilized a similar technique but was given access to the RED tool. The results of the experiment were blocked by lab section. The experiment showed that RED provided a statistically significant improvement in teams’ ability to identify an exact failure (a 15.6% improvement with a p-value of 0.047). Other observations and measures studied that did not have statistically significant outcomes are reported as well.© 2012 ASME

Functional analysis of systems using a Functional Basis

This paper details a step toward introducing an electromechanical Functional Basis into the functional modeling stage of the systems engineering process. The Functional Basis proposed by Hirtz et al. gained visibility in the product design community, but it has had limited exposure in the systems engineering community. The purpose of this paper is to propose the addition of a functional modeling technique that uses this Functional Basis to the systems engineering process. The models proposed in this paper achieve a higher degree of detail earlier in the process than models created using classical system engineering methodologies, although those without prior exposure to this methodology found it difficult to use the functional model. The value of the proposed approach is demonstrated through an example case, verified based on stakeholder input through interviews.

Comparing Physical and Cyber-Enhanced Dissection: An Analysis From Multiple Perspectives

Product dissection has evolved into a versatile pedagogical platform useful across the engineering curriculum. With the advent of digital, cyber, haptic, virtual, and immersive technologies, the opportunities to implement product dissection as an instructional tool increase dramatically. However, the effectiveness of cyber-enhanced dissection must be studied and the advantages and limitations of each type of platform must be understood in the context of achieving educational outcomes. In this paper, we first outline the history of dissection and carefully delineate the difference between physical, virtual, and cyber-enhanced dissection. We then study the impact of variations of cyber-enhanced (a blend of physical and virtual) dissection across two populations of sophomore engineering students at two universities using a number of exercises and data collection methods. We report on student perceptions regarding the affordances and disadvantages of physical vs. cyber-enhanced dissection. Students perceived the cyber-enhanced dissection exercises to be relevant to the students’ own professional preparation, to facilitate easier dissemination, to better align with emerging industrial practices, and to provide unique experiences not available in other courses the students had taken. Some potential drawbacks of cyber-enhanced dissection were also reported by students, including technology distracting them from the core educational objectives and overreliance on historical data of unknown origin. Although there are important tradeoffs between physical and cyber-enhanced dissection that need to be considered, using a blend of physical and virtual instructional tools may provide an effective platform to teach a wide range of engineering concepts across a curriculum.Copyright