• Question: what i your biggest failure?

    Asked by 378canj42 to Tom, Chris, Gina, Jack, Laura, Yetty on 16 Jun 2017. This question was also asked by jamima, josiexregan.
    • Photo: Tom Rooney

      Tom Rooney answered on 16 Jun 2017:

      I’ve had few over the years, life throws you a curve ball now and then but you just have to deal with it.
      In engineering (and life in general) failure is a necessary step towards success, it’s as important to know what doesn’t work as what does, so you can find the right solution in the end. I won’t go into detail but I once did a dumb thing with my radar system on a warship and caused physical damage to it… I had to tell my boss but he applauded my honesty and as a team we resolved the situation. We all make mistakes, we have set backs, it’s how you deal with them that counts. We learn and we move on.

    • Photo: Yetunde Kolawole

      Yetunde Kolawole answered on 16 Jun 2017:

      Hi Canj,

      Failure is part of life and can be a good thing. Many inventions come from many failed experiments. I haven’t had any catastrophic failures, but many of my tests have failed, and I try to find out why they failed!

    • Photo: Laura Walker

      Laura Walker answered on 19 Jun 2017:

      In life it was my A Level’s I did so bad when doign these – I had became bored of being at school I think and could have done so much better.

Comments

  • Photo: samsteevs

    samsteevs commented on :

    scoring an own goal in a football match although it wasn’t my fault

  • Photo: Tony

    Tony commented on :

    I can’t say that I have had a big failure, I’ve had lots of them. I’m a creative type of person and many of the inventions I’ve conceived are rubbish ! But, every now and then, there is something really worthwhile and that is always worth waiting for.