Blogs

R.A.M.S. Europe 2026, Trondheim, Norway – successful edition

By Tim Gaens posted 6 days ago
That’s a wrap on R.A.M.S. Europe 2026! It has been an absolute pleasure participating in this year’s conference. Over the days, we’ve been immersed in fascinating ideas, brilliant presentations, and forward-thinking discussions that we can’t wait to apply to our own work. This year’s event truly drove home the core pillars of the community: Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety. As we design the next generation of systems, keeping these concepts at the forefront is more critical than ever. Here are a few major highlights from the event: The AI Revolution: We heard incredible talks on how Artificial Intelligence is being leveraged ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard – What It Is and Should You Adopt It? (part 2 of 2)

By Tim Gaens posted 6 days ago
ASQ RRD series webinar: SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard – What It Is and Should You Adopt It? (part 2 of 2) Friday, August 14, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) Presenter: Richard Harpster https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/r6e83b3d83055505a69ad99d911385e3d The SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard was released on January 1, 2026. The standard states “This standard is intended to be used as a replacement for the MIL-STD-1629a. Despite being cancelled in 1998, MIL-STD-1629a is still a key reference in the aerospace and Department of War (DOW) sectors. It has steadfastly guided engineering practices for over 4 decades. It has not been ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard – What It Is and Should You Adopt It? (part 1 of 2)

By Tim Gaens posted 6 days ago
ASQ RRD series webinar: SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard – What It Is and Should You Adopt It? (part 1 of 2) Thursday, August 13, 2026 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (UTC-05:00) Central Time (US & Canada) Presenter: Richard Harpster https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/r8049d42ee5331760a1275edebc29eb32 The SAE 1025™ FMEA Standard was released on January 1, 2026. The standard states “This standard is intended to be used as a replacement for the MIL-STD-1629a. Despite being cancelled in 1998, MIL-STD-1629a is still a key reference in the aerospace and Department of War (DOW) sectors. It has steadfastly guided engineering practices for over 4 decades. It has not been ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: AI and Safety technical committee report outs

By Tim Gaens posted 06-10-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: AI and Safety technical committee report outs AI TC lead: Ananth Narayanan Safety TC lead: Manju Maheve Thursday, July 9, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/r3b0c273ac7a28f4c4f939686cceee841 Abstract: AI Investigative Committee This webinar shares the current findings and strategic direction of the AI Investigative Committee established to assess the development, deployment, and impact of artificial intelligence adoption as contrasted with the historical practices of a reliability professional. The committee is examining historical and potential future ...

RMMR 2026 – July 20-23: A week of short courses

By Tim Gaens posted 04-06-2026
RMMR 2026 – July 20-23: A week of short courses Tools and methods for reliability, safety and quality practitioners. More info soon see: RMMR

TECH SPOT: SAMPLE CRE QUESTIONS (Part 31)

By Tim Gaens posted 03-15-2026
1.Assume you have three equal units that operate together as parallel units. The failure rate of each unit is λ=0.01. The reliability of a single unit for a 10-hour operation is R=e-0.1=0.90484 or ~90%.. How much can we improve the reliability by operating these three units in parallel? A .0.98885 B. 0.999138 C. .990575 D. 0.99991 The unreliability of a single unit for t=10 hrs is Q=1-R=1-0.90484=0.09516 . The unreliability of the parallel group is Q parallel =Q 3 =(0.09516) 3 =0.000862 The reliability of the parallel group of the three units f or a 10 Hr operation is: R parallel = =1- Q ...

TECH SPOT: SAMPLE CRE QUESTIONS (Part 30)

By Tim Gaens posted 03-15-2026
to have a constant failure rate. What is the failure rate? A .0.005 per month B. 0.004 per month C. 0.01 per month D. 0.0009 per month A one-year guarantee. An electronic device is tested for two months and found to have a reliability of 0.990; the device is also known tee is given based on the assumption that no more than 10% of the items will be returned. Assuming an exponential distribu­tion, what is the maximum failure rate that can be tolerated? A. 0.091/year B. 0.0943/year C. 0.1054/year D. 0.0231/year 3. A servomechanism has an MTBF of 2000 hr. ...

RAMS 2027 – Call for Papers, Tutorials and Presentations

By Tim Gaens posted 03-15-2026
RAMS ® 2027 C A LL F O R PAPERS, PRESE NT A TION S & TUTORIALS “Reliability, Maintainability and Safety in a Changing World: From Legacy Systems to AI-Enabled Futures ” A BS T R ACT S U BM I SS ION D E ADLIN E — April 30, 2026 The 73rd Annual Reliability & Maintainability Symposium (RAMS®) will be held at Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA during the week of January 25-28, 2027 . The theme for RAMS® 2027 is “ Reliability, Maintainability and Safety in a Changing World: From Legacy Systems to AI-Enabled Futures ”. RAMS® seeks to provide a mix of ...

Ellis R. Ott Scholarships Supporting Graduate Students in Applied Statistics and Quality Management

By Tim Gaens posted 03-15-2026
Ellis R. Ott Scholarships Supporting Graduate Students in Applied Statistics and Quality Management In honor of Dr. Ellis R. Ott, late professor at Rutgers University and a founder of ASQ, the Ellis R. Ott Scholarship program awards two scholarships annually of $7500 to graduate students enrolled in or accepted to a master’s or doctoral program in the US or Canada in applied statistics or quality management or related fields. This competitive scholarship aims to support students who are passionate about improving quality and advancing the field of statistics. This program provides financial assistance to help graduate students achieve ...

R.A.M.S Europe 2026 – papers are currently in review.

By Tim Gaens posted 03-15-2026
R.A.M.S Europe 2026 – papers are currently in review. https://rams-europe.org/ Keynote speakers: Frank Børre Pedersen and Shen Yin Pre-conference course – 23 June 2026 – Accelerated Testing and Reliability on Electronics Panel Sessions Ensuring TRUE AI for Reliability-Critical Systems Meet the Editors-in-Chief & Associate Editors The Digital Twin Dilemma – When to Simulate and When to Shake Special Sessions: Reliability and Maintainability of Renewable Energy Systems in the Foundation Model Era Digitalization of design and follow-up of safety-instrumented systems using Industry 4.0 technologies Reliability ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: Reliability Leadership in the Era of AI: Lessons from Failure

By Tim Gaens posted 02-09-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: Reliability Leadership in the Era of AI: Lessons from Failure Presenter: Ananthakrishnan (Ananth) Narayanan Thursday, June 11, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/rcfbb7b0af8961b2398e810483c94f336 Abstract: As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in complex engineered systems, the nature of reliability risk is changing. While AI introduces new capabilities, it also accelerates familiar failure patterns by increasing system opacity, decision speed, and organizational confidence. In this webinar, we examine what major historical reliability failures reveal ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: AI Driven SRE (Site Reliability Engineering)

By Tim Gaens posted 02-09-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: AI Driven SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) Presenter: Akash Thakur Thursday, April 9, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/rb48dc5a7add0f1fdc880d30a022a14d9

RMMR 2026 – Announcement

By Tim Gaens posted 02-09-2026
RMMR will look a little different this year New for this year – 4 days of courses to select from, two tracks per day RMMR will only offer short courses this year with a variety of topics in Reliability and Risk. Attendees will be able to pick and choose which courses they want to attend each day, selecting only those that interest them. Details on courses will be available soon. be sure to follow-up on https://asqrrd.org/rmmr_conference/

The 72nd Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium and contributing to meaningful discussions on “R&M in the Era of AI”

By Tim Gaens posted 02-09-2026
Keynote Speaker Rachelle Putnam, CIO/VP of General Dynamics Land Systems, presenting “Garbage In = Generative Garbage Out” RAMS ® 2026, held January 19-22 in Miramar Beach, FL, was an exceptional opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and build partnerships among professionals from government, industry, and academia. It included several opportunities to learn, engage, and help shape the future direction which includes AI. The program offered: — Six technical tracks — Over 20 tutorials — 31 paper sessions featuring 124 peer-reviewed papers published on IEEE Xplore — Six panel discussions — ASQ Certified Reliability ...

Recording: ASQ RRD series webinar: From Hazard Identification to Resolution and Certification: Ensuring Safety in LRT Systems

By Tim Gaens posted 01-03-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: From Hazard Identification to Resolution and Certification: Ensuring Safety in LRT Systems Presenter: James Li and Sana Akhtar On Thursday, December 11, 2025 James Li and Sana Akhtar Presented: ASQ RRD series webinar: From Hazard Identification to Resolution and Certification: Ensuring Safety in LRT Systems Abstract: Safety is crucial while developing either a simple product or complicated systems such as Light Rail Transit Systems. To ensure that safety is embedded in a product system, a hazard management process should be established throughout its life cycle. This begins with hazard identification, safety risk assessment, ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: Translating Risk – Communicating Reliability and Safety Findings to Non-Technical Stakeholders

By Tim Gaens posted 01-03-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: Translating Risk – Communicating Reliability and Safety Findings to Non-Technical Stakeholders Presenter: Manju Maheve Thursday, May 14, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/rf7ff2e3543e193942a9dd0effe5f511d Abstract: Aerospace systems generate vast amounts of reliability and safety analysis – FMEAs, FTAs, PHM results, Safety cases, hazards and risk metrices. Yet even the most rigorous analysis can fail to influence decisions if it is not communicated clearly to non-technical stakeholders such as program managers, certification authorities and customers. ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: The Enemies of System Thinking

By Tim Gaens posted 01-03-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: The Enemies of System Thinking Presenter: David Auda Thursday, Feb 12, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/rff790a9705f140b136c65e63a5294185 Abstract: System thinking offers a holistic framework for understanding complex, interconnected systems, emphasizing relationships and feedback loops rather than isolated components. However, its effective application faces significant challenges. The primary enemies of system thinking include cognitive biases that favor linear, reductionist approaches, organizational silos that fragment knowledge, and cultural inertia that ...

ASQ RRD series webinar: Human Reliability

By Tim Gaens posted 01-03-2026
ASQ RRD series webinar: Human Reliability Presenter: James Brenneman Thursday, Jan 08, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/r4355b1335eb6bd0390629e3d2e1d92d7 James Brenneman 45+ years experience in Applied statistics in industry, 40+ years as a Reliability Engineer. Safety Risk analysis and forecasting my specialty. Co-author of USAF Weibull Analysis Handbook, authored numerous other papers in Reliability & statistics. Primary goal is to act as a change agent by passing along my experience and lessons learned to younger generation. Specialties: Applied statistics, Reliability engineering, ...

R.A.M.S. Europe 2026 Visa Pre-Invitation letter

By Tim Gaens posted 12-08-2025
R.A.M.S. Europe 2026 Visa Pre-Invitation letter available on https://rams-europe.org/visa-pre-invitation-letter/

ASQ RRD series webinar: From Hazard Identification to Resolution and Certification: Ensuring Safety in LRT Systems

By Tim Gaens posted 12-08-2025
ASQ RRD series webinar: From Hazard Identification to Resolution and Certification: Ensuring Safety in LRT Systems Presenter: James Li and Sana Akhtar Thursday, December 11, 2025 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/rb0bc5622b87669349d4ec4892d401051 Abstract: Safety is crucial while developing either a simple product or complicated systems such as Light Rail Transit Systems. To ensure that safety is embedded in a product system, a hazard management process should be established throughout its life cycle. This begins with hazard identification, safety risk assessment, elimination, or ...