What Should I Learn as a Reliability Engineer?

What Should I Learn as a Reliability Engineer?

Ran across this question the other day from someone just starting in the role of reliability engineer. I wasn’t smart enough to ask this question when I started in the field, yet looking back I’m sure to have found the list of what one should learn and apply daunting.

You should learn how electronics fail. And this may involve:

• design errors in specific component technologies.
• assembly errors in specific component processes.
• material and process variability.
• environmental stress conditions.
• use stress conditions.
• software interactions with hardware.
• and, the same range of topic at the subsystem and system level, too.

Of course, this same line of reasoning applies to any type of product with or without electronics.

Other elements you should learn to be effective as a reliability engineer include:

• basic engineering skills in electronic, electrical, mechanical, software, and system engineering.
• people skills such as listening, presenting, writing, influencing.