Home > Colloquia > Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Surveys have shown that very few engineers, whether practitioners or researchers, read accident reports. This is an unfortunate state of affairs, because people who regularly read accident reports can reap important benefits, both for themselves and the organizations for which they work. This talk will explain some of these benefits, using examples from famous and not-so-famous aviation and space accidents. Four specific benefits will be discussed: (1) an improved ability to separate myths from reality, both myths about specific accidents and myths concerning accidents in general; (2) an increased understanding of the consequences of unlikely events, which can help inform future designs; (3) a greater recognition of the limits of mathematical models; and (4) guidance on potentially relevant research directions that may contribute to safety improvements in future systems. Audience participation will be encouraged throughout the talk, and a challenge to all present will be issued at the end.

 

Biography:

C. Michael Holloway is a senior research engineer in the Safety Critical Avionics Systems Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, United States. He was graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Computer Science in 1983, and completed all-but-dissertation towards a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois. He has received numerous awards, including NASA Langley's most prestigious research fellowship, which gave him a two year sabbatical, some of which he spent at UVa working with Professor John Knight. Mr. Holloway's primary professional interests are accident analysis and software system safety. His primary real interests include theology, education, constitutional law, baseball, volleyball, and roller coasters. He is married and has two children. Visit http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~cmh7p/

Light refreshments served before seminar.