Question: So would your research help preserve disasters like the Gulf of Mexico?

Caroline Roberts Haritonov answered on 12 Mar 2012:

In a nutshell – yes- that is intent of what I do. I analyse designs and try to work out how they make fail to work correctly for whatever reason (human error, over-loading, defect in manufacture, etc), then try to predict what will happen if it breaks. Understanding what will happen then allows us to focus attention on the worst failures and look at how to improve the design or how the equipment is used to try to make the failure less likely or less serious if it happens. I am directly involved with senior managers in America to help them improve how their equipment is designed and operated to try to reduce the risk of another Gulf of Mexico disaster from happening.