Forensic Electrical Engineering - Past, Present, Future [History]

Edward was an American aerospace engineer who worked on safety-critical systems. His story has become legendary among other engineers. In 1949, he was working on a special Air Force project involving a rocket sled. He was troubleshooting sensors on the project that were not properly functioning: each had been connected incorrectly. Edward was very upset and made his thoughts known about the technician who was allegedly responsible for the problem. Although there are various accounts of exactly what was said, he was heard grumbling something along the lines of, "If there are two ways to do something, and one of those ways will result in disaster, he'll do it that way" [1].