Understanding the causes of product failures including the political, societal, economic, environmental, and ethical impact of these failures, and the strategies to avoid, postpone, or mitigate them. Students will be encouraged to combine concepts from engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities to address these complex issues. Basics of failure analysis, forensics, and reliability engineering and the scientific fundamentals underlying the most common types of failure. Issues of legal liability. Methods for monitoring the existing condition of a structure.