A web-based graduate course on design-for-reliability of electronic systems

Abstract

Today's product developers operate in a world of shortened design cycles in which quick time-to-market is essential. In such an environment, the luxury of improving reliability through multiple prototyping is a thing of the past. No longer is it possible to make a prototype, subject it to a series of standardized tests, analyze the failures, fix the design, and test again. Instead, new methods of reliability improvement have been developed that consider reliability up-front in the design cycle. Now the design can be analyzed and fixed before the first prototype is made. This new method of designing for reliability, however, requires a fundamental understanding of the chemical, electrical, mechanical, and thermo-mechanical mechanisms that cause failure of electronics.