Famous Author and Expert in Failure Analysis and Design Theory Talks about Success and Failure in Engineering

7/3/2012 By Kathryn L. Heine

Henry Petroski, alumnus, famous author, professor and expert on design success and failure (left), visits his doctoral advisor, Professor Donald Carlson, on the Illinois campus.Henry Petroski, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, shared his vast knowledge about design success and failure with faculty, students and other guests during an invited lecture Monday, March 10 at the Engineering Sciences Building.

Written by By Kathryn L. Heine

Henry Petroski, alumnus, famous author, professor and expert on design success and failure (left), visits his doctoral advisor, Professor Donald Carlson, on the Illinois campus.
Henry Petroski, alumnus, famous author, professor and expert on design success and failure (left), visits his doctoral advisor, Professor Donald Carlson, on the Illinois campus.
Henry Petroski, alumnus, famous author, professor and expert on design success and failure (left), visits his doctoral advisor, Professor Donald Carlson, on the Illinois campus.
Henry Petroski, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, shared his vast knowledge about design success and failure with faculty, students and other guests during an invited lecture Monday, March 10 at the Engineering Sciences Building. Petroski, who received his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Illinois, is the author of the book, To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design, and is the writer and presenter of the 1987 BBC television documentary "&quot" as well as more than a dozen other books and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.

His current activity focuses on the areas of failure analysis and design theory. Ongoing projects include the use of case histories to understand the role of human error and failure in engineering design as well as the development of models for invention and evolution in the engineering design process.


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This story was published July 3, 2012.