Notice: This technical discussion forum has been established by the SRE to assist all reliability engineers, not just SRE members. To post your technical problem, solution, question, or answer here, send an e-mail to SRE webmaster. Your e-mail should follow the format of those already posted. Postings are accepted from anyone, as long as they relate to the reliability field. It works best if your posting contains contact information for possible follow-up. But, if necessary, postings can be anonymous - just so state in your email! Also, let us know when you do get workable solution or answer. We want to post it so everybody will benefit.

Problem/Question (December 21, 2000):
I am seeking a copy of 'Reliability-Centered Maintenance', by Nowlan and Heap (Dolby Access Press, San Francisco, CA 1978). A download as a .pdf file would be suitable, or an unwanted copy of a bookshelf or 2nd hand bookstore. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Peter Ball
Machine Reliability Services (A'Asia)
Queensland 4350, Australia.
E-mail: pgball@primus.com.au

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (November 10, 2000):
I am working in reliability programs and I am searching for the AS-4613 spec. (or standard, I don't know) "GENERAL SPECIFICATION FOR APPLICATION AND DERATING REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS" in order to calculate the components derating and stresses to enter them in the reliability prediction, but I don't find anyplace on the internet to get it. Could somebody help me obtain it? Thank you. I need this information asap in order to start the calculations.

Thank you very much and best regards.

Andrés García
E-mail: agarcia@grupotecnobit.com

Reply, June 15, 2005

Go to:

http://www.document-center.com/home.cfm/sid=40570489/ and search for AS-4613.

$32.25

John Q. Todd
john@itemsoft.com
Senior Support Engineer
Technical Support Manager
ITEM Software (USA)
http://www.itemsoft.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (November 3, 2000):
What organization currently owns and administers the document MIL-HDBK-781, and what is the best means of obtaining an official hard copy of it? Regards.

Kurt Wieneke
Eli Lilly - Pharmaceutical Delivery Systems
Phone: 317-276-4267
E-mail: WIENEKE_KURT_G@Lilly.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(November 4, 2000): Kurt, I can't help you with who the custodian is or how to get a hard copy, but you can get a Portable Document Format (PDF) file copy from the SRE by "right clicking" on the following link: www.sre.org/pubs/Mil-Hdbk-781A.pdf. Note that the size of this PDF file is almost 28 megs!

Contact Name: Clarence Meese
Email: cmeese@nyx.net

Problem/Question (November 2, 2000):
I am in the process of developing a reliability function / organization for my company. Does anyone have job descriptions that they can share with me? My plan is to build an organization with multiple levels based on training, knowledge and experience. Thank you.

Rick Jones
Weirton Steel Corp.
Weirton, WV 26062
Phone: 304-797-2580
E-mail: rick.jones@weirton.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (October 26, 2000):
I need to estimate MTBR/MTBF for the piece of equipment our company is about to release. Can anybody refer me to a source of information. My knowledge of the subject is very limited. All I know is that there is a correlation between MTBFs of all components in the system and the system MTBF (some formula?). How does one take into account thermal considerations, whether all components are used "conservatively", etc?? Any books, electronic industry standarts? Thank very much in advance for any hint.

Michael Kogan
ACX
E-mail: mkogan@acx.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (October 3, 2000):
I am a student and need information about "Sampling Procedures and Tables for Life and Reliability Testing Based on the Weibull Distribution", published for US Department of Defense in 1961.

Emilio Alberto
E-mail: emilio_santos@c4.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(October 13, 2000): Emilio, I have three technical reports with that title written by the US Department of Defense. The one written in 1961 was sub-titled: "Mean Life Criterion" - 58 pages. I also have one from 1962 sub-titled: "Hazard Rate Criterion" - 86 pages and one from 1963 sub-titled: "Reliable Life Criterion" - 68 pages. What kind of information do you need? If you need a copy of any of these, e-mail me your shipping address and I'll send it (them) to you.

Contact Name: Clarence Meese
Email: cmeese@nyx.net

Problem/Question (September 28, 2000):
I am seeking equation to calculate accelerated electronic life test. I need to reduce the accelerated factor from 10 weeks to 8 weeks test by increasing temp, or humidity. The 10 week test simulate 15 years life test. Please include an example if possible.

Thank You

Ali Ashraf
E-mail: L097541@exchange.appl.ge.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (September 22, 2000):
Could anyone tell me what are the basic reliability trainings needed to be an effective reliability engineer? Please list all the needed trainings and when and where can I obtain same.

Leonardo Bangco
Reliability Engineer
American Power Conversion
E-mail: Leonardo.Bangco@apcc.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (September 19, 2000):
I am seeking information with regard to automotive electronic reliability prediciton standards and practices. My field is aerospace (still largely dominated by MIL-HDBK-217); I cannot find a good set of coherant standards, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place?

Mark Bonthron
E-mail: mark@mbonthron.freeserve.co.uk

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(November 12, 2000): Triad Systems Corporation, Livermore, CA computes nonparametric estimates of age-specific field reliability and failure rate functions for most automotive parts, including electronics. These estimate are based on vehicle installed base and aftermarket sales, so they do NOT cover warranty ages. These estimates are used to make actuarial demand forecasts for auto parts and to recommend stock levels.

Contact me for more information, or contact Dave Sheldon, VP, 3055 Triad Drive, Livermore, CA 94550-9559, 925-449-0606. His old email was des@triad.com. Company info is at www.cci-triad.com.

Contact Name: Larry George
PhD CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer)
1573 Roselli Drive
Livermore, CA 94550-5852 USA
Phone: 01 925 447 4969 v and f (Please call first to fax. Thanks)
Email: pstlarry@home.com

Problem/Question (August 31, 2000):
I am seeking information with respect to the reliability of enclosed Goggle Valves (2000mm in diameter) in the steel manufacturing and power industry. In order to justify the removal of water seals for quick and simple isolation of flue gases I need to understand the performance and operational reliability of Goggle Valves. Does any reliability data exists for these types of valves?

Regards,

Robert McEwen
E-mail: Robert.Mcewen@fluor.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (August 21, 2000):
I am leaving the British Royal Navy soon after 33 years in aviation and would like to enter the RCM profession. Can anyone recommend a good course, in Europe or the USA, to get me started.

Brian Johnstone
13 Lime Tree Ave
Yeovil
Somerset
BA20 2PW
United Kingdom
E-mail: brjrn@lineone.net

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(April 19, 2002): Try the Univ College London, Defence Engrg Dept. They have some very good modules.

Contact Name: Ade Fadare
Email: ade.fadare@motorola.com

Problem/Question (August 1, 2000):
I am about to start working on a Gage Reliability and Reproducibility test of an automated test machine that tests grinding wheels. Every time the machine is run, the sample tested is destroyed, thus each sample can only be used once. Does anyone have any experience with Gage R&R of Destructive Testing/ Life Testing? Any suggestions and/or references for further research would be very useful and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Varipatis
Drexel University Co-op
Towson, Maryland
E-mail: msv22@drexel.edu

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (July 27, 2000):
Hello, I'm searching reliability information about lens, miror, pockells cells, fiber optic, optical isolator, etc. I've tried surfing on NET but I've found nothing. Is there anybody who can help me?

Thanks

Jean-Marie CLOAREC
LIGERON S.A.
Z.I. de Penhoat, BP 12
29860 PLABENNEC
FRANCE
Télécopie: 02-98-37-96-20
E-mail: Jean-Marie.Cloarec@ligeron.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (June 28, 2000):
Hello,
I am looking for any information and data on parametric tests (Temperature, Thermal Shock, Humidity, etc.) for cellular phones manufactured by Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Panasonic, etc. Is there any industry wide standards and minimum requirements? Has there been any benchmarking done on these tests for cellular phones? I would appreciate any help in this matter.

Thank You

Contact: Sid Syed
E-mail: sid_syed-wlss12@email.mot.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (June 22, 2000):
I have been asked to find a good generic reliability analysis package. The specific application is to predict reliability of data centers and other power distribution systems. I know very little about reliability predictions and reliability software. I would really appreciate some suggestions or recommendations for software.

Contact: Anneka Beatty
Sparling
Phone: 206-667-0555
Fax: 206-667-0554
E-mail: abeatty@sparling.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(July 10, 2000): Hi. We use ASENT at Raytheon/TI product. You can find them on the web. Other parts of our organizations in the UK use Item Software.

Good Luck.

Contact Name: John S. Haluska
Email: haluska@freewwweb.com

(July 26, 2000): I have been using Relex CAE software to do Bellcore Predictions and modeling. They can be found at www.relexsoftware.com. Be advised that this product is not without its problems. I used their latest release and ended up on the phone 2 or 3 times a day to their tech support because features didn't work the way the manual said they would. My current project lasted 3 months, largely because of software problems, but also poorly defined requirements that had nothing to do with the software. I have some concerns about the accuracy of reliability calculations, failure rate libraries, User library, RBD modeling, to name a few. My advice is get the demo, test drive it thoroughly, see if you can get what you need from that before putting any money down.

Isograph UK, also makes a similar integrated software product, i.e., software that comes in a variety of bundles that ultimately form a complete RAM package, but can be purchased separately. I am in the process of comparing their latest beta version to the Relex v7.1. Their web page is www.isograph.com. Their USA office is in Southern California. Both companies offer Bellcore (Telcordia) Predictions, FMEA, Fault Tree and other RAM packages. I haven't got direct experience on this product yet, but I have met the software developers and can speak highly of them. I expect this product set to perform better than Relex because 1) they've been doing it longer, and 2) I like their professional attitude. Granted these are totally subjective remarks and your experience may differ.

Both companies produce good products in a limited market. Since I am a Reliability Consultant I hold them both to a higher standard than most people might, but I fully expect to use the products everyday and have them perform flawlessly. Product number one isn't there yet.

Rob Poltz
Reliability Consultant
Phone: 508-778-8808 x224
Email: rpoltz@taqua.com

Problem/Question (June 21, 2000):
Hello,
Our company develops servo amplifiers, and we want to find ways of improving the reliability of our products. Does anyone know where I can find information on accelerated life testing and HALT/HAS?

Thanks,

Contact: Hanan Hurwitz
Kollmorgen-Servotronix
Phone: +972-3-927-3829
Fax: +972-3-922-8075
E-mail: hhurwitz@stx.kollmorgen.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (May 30, 2000):
I have had problems locating detailed references relating to parts count and stress analysis.

Contact: Stephen Ormon
Graduate Assistant
Mississippi State University
E-mail: swo1@ra.msstate.edu

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (May 29, 2000):
I am an electrical engineer at Southern California Edison's power plant in Southern California. I need to analyze the maintenance frequencies required on plant process instruments. Could someone help me with ballpark numbers on the failure rates or MTBF for the following types of process instruments?

Thanks.

Contact: Hem Chaudhuri
E-mail: chithi@mindspring.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(September 13, 2000): Government and Industry run GIDEP is likely to provide necessary information regarding the MTBF, MTTR of the products of interest.

Contact Name: D.V.Petkar
Email: dvpetkar@optonline.net

Problem/Question (May 19, 2000):
I am a new Reliability Engineer of a newly set up Reliability section of our company. I would like to know if anyone of you has an idea how to compute for the sampling size of units for reliability testing.? We are planning to have the following test : Life test, Ageing test, Drop test, Vibration test, Temp cycle test, Humidity test etc.

Contact: Leonardo Bangco
Reliability Engineer
E-mail: lbangco@apcc.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(May 26, 2000): We use LTPD Tables (Lot Tolerance Percent Defective, aka Limiting Quality Level, LQL). The advantage of these tables over AQL or Zero Acceptance Tables is it allows you to have a failure and still pass the test. As a reliability engineer, having a failure is sometimes good in that it allows you to get a better grasp of the product limitations and facilitates continuous improvement. If you're familiar with Operating Characteristic Curves, this is the lower point on the graph, also termed Consumer's Risk and based on the Binomial Distribution.

Glenn

Contact Name: Glenn Pelkey
Email: glenn.pelkey@maxtek.com

(July 6, 2000): M. M. Desu and D. Raghavarao, "Sample Size Methodology," Academic Press, New York, 1990 P. Mace, "Sample Size Determination," Kreiger, Huntington, NY, 1974 The second book is excellent. For life testing, MIL-HDBK-781 (MIL-STD???) deals with exponential life testing, but products seldom have exponential lives.

Contact Name: Larry George
PhD CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer)
1573 Roselli Drive
Livermore, CA 94550-5852 USA
Phone: 01 925 447 4969 v and f (Please call first to fax. Thanks)
Email: pstlarry@home.com

Problem/Question (May 17, 2000):
I am a member of the Southeastern Michigan chapter. Has anyone a method of making WEIBULL plots in EXCEL with the proper scaling and gridlines displayed as they occur in texbooks.

Contact: Richard Vance
E-mail: rjv4@daimlerchrysler.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(May 26, 2000): I haven't been able to find a way to create those types of graphs. There may be a commercial plug-in available somewhere, but I haven't found it with some searching on the web. Excel does have the Weibull 2 parameter and 3 parameter functions. However, you just have to live with a linear or logarithmic scale.

Glenn

Contact Name: Glenn Pelkey
Email: glenn.pelkey@maxtek.com

(November 29, 2000): Excel Weibull plots: It can be done - but it's a pain.

Of course you can transform your cumulative failure data as Y = ln(ln(1/(1-F(t))), which gives it the right scale, and if you make the x axis ln(t) you then get a straight Weibull line at least... Now to get the right labels you'll need a little Excel treachery.

1. Erase the gridlines and all markers on the y-axis.
2. Make the x-axis cross the y-axis at the lowest transformed value of F(t) you're going to use: i.e. if you're going down to .1 have the axes cross at Y = -6.907255. Otherwise the axes will cross at y = eta.
3. Set up a table with the values of F(t) you want to plot versus the values of ln(t) that your plot will be scaled for. Evaluate ln(ln(1/(1-F(t))) in each cell of the table.
4. Take the line for each value of F(t) and put it in your chart as a new data series.

Does this make any sense? You have erased the y-axis and are making straight line functions that will appear on the graph and simulate the y-axis gridlines and labels.

5. Remove the markers of each new data series. Adjust colors and line weights so the line looks like a gridline. I like to make my line for eta F(t) = .632 dashed.
6. Add a data label that gives the value of F(t) for that line and place it so it shows up in the right place on the y-axis. You may have to stagger these (like it's done in WinSmith and other packages) so the labels don't overlap.

So, it works but it's obviously cumbersome. You can't rescale in the y-direction without adding or deleting data series. Good luck!

Contact Name: Richard Bourgeois
Email: richard.bourgeois@ps.ge.com

Problem/Question (May 7, 2000):
It is recommended by IES (Institute of Environmental Sciences) that when temperature cycling electronic units consisting of more than one electronic devices in it, the units should be powered and monitored. (Reliability Toolkit: Commercial Practices, ESS pg. 279)

Questions: What is the purpose and significance of powering up the units? How can one measure the impact?

Contact: Shirish Puranik
Sr. Reliability Engineer
Phone: 708-867-9600 x2616
Fax: 708-867-0996
E-mail: spuranik@methode.com

Address:
7444 W. Wilson
Chicago, IL 60706

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(June 7, 2000): The following was taken from IES publication "Environmental Stress Screening Guidelines for Assemblies":

"Some factors involved in deciding whether or not to have the equipment operating are as follows:

• A powered screen might be more effective in precipitating flaws than an unpowered screen. As discussed in C.5 of Appendix C, powering produces temperature gradients in the hardware not present in unpowered equipment. The thermal stresses/strains resulting from these thermal gradients may precipitate flaws that escape in unpowered screens.
• A powered, monitored screen may detect failures that escape in an unpowered screen. Failures that do not manifest themselves in testing at ambient conditions may show up in testing at high or low temperature or during vibration. An example is a broken connection, in which the pieces are touching just enough to provide continuity in the absence of thermal/vibration stresses.
• A powered, monitored screen is more expensive than an unpowered screen."

Sincerely,

Contact Name: Jack Farrell
Senior Engineer
IIT Research Institute
Reliability Analysis Center
201 Mill St.
Rome NY 13440
Phone: 315-339-7003
Fax: 315-337-9932
Email: jfarrell@iitri.org

Problem/Question (May 4, 2000):
Do you know how to estimate failure probabilities in the field due to quality problems in the production and assembly process? I have been searching for literature on this topic but haven't found anything so far.

Any ideas or hints are very welcome, thank you!

Contact: Eberhard Rompf
Safety Engineering Student
E-mail: E.Rompf@gmx.de

Address:
Wuppertal, Germany

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(May 14, 2000): A decreasing failure rate function in early life indicates "failure probabilities in the field due to quality problems in the production and assembly process." So estimate the failure rate function, preferably nonparametrically, because assuming a particular failure rate function (constant, Weibull) may hide a decreasing failure rate function in early life.

There are several ways to estimate nonparametric failure rate functions. The alternatives depend on the kind of data you have. If you have ages-at-failures and survivors' ages, use the Kaplan-Meier estimator. If you have ships (sales, installations, etc.) and returns (complaints, repairs, failures, spares sales, etc.) , enter the data in members.home.net/pstlarry/Table.htm, and I'll send you back the failure rate function estimate along with a test for decreasing failure rate, free. Ships and returns data are required by generally accepted accounting principles, so you have them. You just have to dig up the data.

Contact Name: Larry George
PhD CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer)
1573 Roselli Drive
Livermore, CA 94550-5852 USA
Phone: 01 925 447 4969 v and f (Please call first to fax. Thanks)
Email: pstlarry@home.com

Problem/Question (April 30, 2000):
In SRE Lambda Notes Vol 32 Issue 1, December 1999 there is an interesting paper "Simplifying the Solution of Redundancy Allocation Problems".

On Page 45 of this paper the symbol £ is used, but not shown in the Notation List on Page 44.

I would be interested to know the meaning for this symbol and perhaps one of the Authors could explain. I presume that it is a Cost identifier, but in what context? Thanks.

Contact: Peter Ball
Technical Director
E-mail: pgball@primus.com.au

Company Name and Address:
Machine Reliability Services Pty. Ltd.
12 Burraway Street, M/S 1436 Toowoomba
Queensland 4350, Australia.
Machine Wear & Reliability Consultants
Phone: 61 (7) 4630 7135
Fax: 61 (7) 4630 7675

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (April 10, 2000):
What is the relationship between the IEEE P1413 Manual and the MIL-HDBK-217 Spec. I would also like to know how I can get a copy of each of them/current one. Thank you for your help.

Contact: Jennifer Zeagler
Phone: 814-863-3859
E-mail: jld140@email.psu.edu

Company Name and Address:
The Applied Research Lab
Pennsylvania State University
3075 Research Drive
State College, PA 16801

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(April 16, 2000): You can download Mil Specs in Adobe pdf format from:

Contact Name: Glenn Pelkey
Email: glenn.pelkey@maxtek.com

Problem/Question (April 4, 2000):
I am a component Engineer at SR Telecom. I will perform the reliability of the board level for the whole module using the Bellcore TR-NWT-000332. I can get the lamda value (device steady state failure rate) and get stuck with the MTBF calculation from here. Would you please help me with the formula with the given lamda value as stated above.

Thanks in advance.

Contact: Quynh Nguyen
Component Engineer
Phone: 613-599-2244 ext 2155
E-mail: quynh_nguyen@srtelecom.com

Company Name and Address:
SR Telecom

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(June 18, 2006)
One answer below states that "FIT is failures per 10E9 hours (sometimes per 10E9 device-hours, but hour for simplicity). MTBF is hours per failure. So, for example 200 FIT is equivalent to 50,000,000 hrs MTBF. (200 divided by 10E9, then inversed)."

10E9 should really be 1E9
10E9 is 10,000,000,000
1E9 is 1,000,000,000
1E9 is a Billion, and FIT is Failures/Billion Hours
As is listed in the solution currently online, users would be led to believe that FIT rates are Failures/10's of Billions of Hours

I realize some would argue that it's just a syntax error, but to me it really is a big deal. I know that the author really meant to say 10^9, but others probably will not.

10^9 != 10E9
Sorry if this seems wordy, but I'm just trying to convey what I see as the problem.
Thanks for your time,
Josh Pruitt
Electrical/Component Engineer
L-3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics

(April 5, 2000): Quynh,

I think what you're trying to do is convert failure rate measures, FIT to MTBF. They are just the inverse of each other with a multiplier. FIT is failures per 10E9 hours (sometimes per 10E9 device-hours, but hour for simplicity). MTBF is hours per failure. So, for example 200 FIT is equivalent to 50,000,000 hrs MTBF. (200 divided by 10E9, then inversed).

Contact Name: Glenn Pelkey
Email: glenn.pelkey@maxtek.com

(April 5, 2000): The relation between "Lamda "and "MTBF" is as follows: Lamda = 1/MTBF

Contact Name: Petkar Dattatraya Vishnu
Email: dvpetkar@bom4.vsnl.net.in

Problem/Question (March 31, 2000):
Dear Sirs.

I am a petroleum engineer not particularly experienced within Reliability Engineering. However, I am working on a problem where I want to illustrate the reliability difference to two different oil well completion options.

From literature I have figured out how to calculate parallell (F=sum of Fi) and serial reliabilities (R=sum of Ri) of a system. However, a slightly more complex situation is too difficult for me (this situation is also illustrated on pp 35 in Cox & Tait; Safety, Reliability and Risk Management).

Thanks and best regards

Contact: Lasse Hermansson
Well Completions Engineer
Phone: +44 (0)1224 832224
Fax: +44 (0)1224 834446
E-mail: HermanL@bp.com

Company Name and Address:
BBMH - Satellites Team - Devenick

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(April 18, 2000): For complex functional or reliability block diagrams, elements used in hot or cold standby, star/ delta and lattice conversion math etc. I can thoroughly recommend MIL-HDBK-338. It is two parts, each of about 1500 pages, so I doubt if it's available off the net. The document is very well organized and covers both reliability and maintainability: it constitutes the "ten commandments" from which have been derived most of the MIL-STD-7xx reliability and MIL-STD-4xx maintainability specifications. Despite its thickness, it is not in the least intimidating and is a very readable reference. I used it frequently on a $9 x 10*9 naval frigate replacement program, but it is equally applicable to a non-military RAMS environment.

I don't know how you can get a copy; probably your best bet is to start by contacting the Rome Air Development Center (RADC).

Good luck.

Contact Name: John Conrad
Montreal, Canada
Email: jconrad@info-internet.net

(July 13, 2000): Try the Rome Air Development Center (RADC). This agency is not in Rome, Italy but in New York State (Grifiss Air Force Base) USA. Unfortunately, I do not have their web address; however, any search engine will get you in the area.

Good luck.

Contact Name: Vin Casale
Reliability Engineer
Email: vcasale@aeroflex.com

Company Name and Address:
Aeroflex Laboratories, Inc.

Problem/Question

Problem/Question (March 31, 2000):
Dear sirs, I'm an italian engineer and for my job I use MIL-HDB217F. I should like to know where can I download Oracle software for computerized calculation tkanks in advance and best regards.

Contact: Gianluca Luoni

E-mail: cst@cstitalia.it

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (March 31, 2000):
Hello,

I need failure rates and modes data on solid state Tm:LuAG lasers and related systems devices, i.e., mirrors, prisms, Q-switches, laser pumps. My need is immediate.

Does anyone have data or know where I might find it?

Contact: Robert Poltz
Reliability Consultant

Phone: 831-420-1388
E-mail: getreliability@designanalytx.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(July 27, 2000): I've seen your question, and I've the same problem. I'm searching reliability data about optical components: lens, miror, etc. If you get an answer, could you help me by sending them?

Kinds Regards

Jean-Marie CLOAREC
LIGERON S.A.
Z.I. de Penhoat, BP 12
29860 PLABENNEC
FRANCE
Télécopie: 02-98-37-96-20
E-mail: Jean-Marie.Cloarec@ligeron.com

Problem/Question (March 8, 2000):
Does anyone recall the Tiger reliability software being developed by Dr. Patrick Hartman for the military? I have the 9.5 version which was created in 1994. I would like to know if there is a latest version and the address for information. Thanks.

Contact: Laurence Thayer
E-mail: Lthayer@nswc.navy.mil

Company Name and Address:
NSWCDD G71 Building 185T
17320 Dahlgren Rd.
Dahlgren, VA 22448-5150

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (March 5, 2000):
I am interested in pursuing Ph.D in the field of Reliability Engineering. I got interested in the field of Reliability Engineering while I was pursuing my masters degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management at Birmingham University (1993/94 Session). My thesis was on the topic "Bi-Modal Weibull Distribution". I would like to get a list of graduate institutions in USA where this program is available and where some financial assistance is available. I can work as a Teaching Assistant and can teach Statistics and Mathematics to undergraduate students. I enjoy teaching Probability. I can also work as a Research Assistant. I am basically a mechanical engineer and I work at Department of Roads Nepal. It is a small landlocked country situated at South Asia between India and China with a very low per capita income ( The reason why I need a financial assistance). My work experience covers Workshop Management repairing Construction Equipment, Procurement Administration of procuring Construction Equipment under World Bank Credit, Spare parts management. I will be very obliged if anybody can help me to materialize my Dream.

Contact: Narendra Patrabansh
Phone: +977-1-267485
E-mail: patraban@mos.com.np

Address:
Ka-1-925, Ombahal Tole
Kathmandu-3
Nepal

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(March 23, 2000): Narendra Patrabansh,

Please review our program in Reliability Engineering at: www.enre.umd.edu.

If I can then help you with specific items not on the website, please feel free to contact me.

Contact Name: Marvin Roush
Professor, Reliability Engineering
Email: roush@eng.umd.edu

(March 23, 2000): Dear Narendra,

I know that the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland, in the US, have programs for advanced studies in Reliability Engineering. You'll find more information on the SRE web page, as of November 19, 1999. You could have more information at: rac.iitri.org.

We have a research group at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, who focuses on reliability of power system. Their url is: www.engr.usask.ca/~billinto.

Moreover, Prof. Dhillon, at the University of Ottawa, is also active in the reliability field. The url is: www.uottawa.ca. He is in the department of Mechanical Engineering.

I know that there is a lot of research groups active in this field in Europe, such as SINTEF in Norway and ISDF (Institut de Surete de Fonctionnement) in France. Search for those names on Internet and you'll probably find them.

Remember that very often, reliability engineering courses are taught in industrial engineering programs. You could check this also.

Good luck,

Contact Name: Michel Demers, P.Eng., M.Sc.A
Ph. D. candidate at Ecole de Technologie Superieure, Montreal, Canada
Email: demers.michel.2@hydro.qc.ca

Problem/Question (March 5, 2000):
I have been assigned the responsibility to collect information on Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) for electronic equipments. Comments / suggestions with case studies would be welcome.

Contact: Ajay Likhite
E-mail: mande@nagpur.dot.net.in

Company Name and Address:
Orion Consulting Services

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (January 11, 2000):
Has anyone used the FMEA Facilitator software for Design and Process FMEA's? Comments on its ease of use and related applications.

Regards,

Contact: Joseph A. Russo
Senior Reliability Engineer
Phone: 717-985-2364
E-mail: jarusso@tycoelectronics.com

Company Name and Address:
Fiber Optics Division
AMP Incorporated
AMP, A Tyco International Ltd. Company

Solution/Answer: Can you help?