Minimizing Risks in Innovation

The global exploration community continues to moan the loss of TITAN submersible's 5 crew mates. The capsule was subjected to a catastrophic ‘implosion’ during its voyage towards the Titanic shipwreck and all?passengers perished under a second’s time. After the recent partial recovery of TITAN's wreckage, something new is being discovered everyday about the ill-fated sub. This devastating event?highlights the fatal risks associated with disruptive innovations launched?prematurely and reinforces the need to not ignore basic elements of Product Development - especially design with built-in-safety, seamless integration and mandatory mission-critical Testing, Verification & Validations before any real-life usage.?

As an aftermath of this fatal incident, it'll not be prudent to stifle promising innovations or put severe regulations?around disruptive business ideas- whether it’s launching small rockets to promote space tourism or building mini submersibles to capture deep-sea tourism market. However, we must still ensure that such future innovations are safe enough to not endanger humans in or around them.

Titan’s failure highlights again the necessity to go through the whole nine yards of safe design, built-in-quality,?proper assembly, functional safety, mandatory testing and periodic inspections of a prototype, mule or a pilot before its use in the public domain. The capsule was deployed in the Atlantic Ocean before completing mission critical testing and without getting formally?certified before going on such first-of-a-kind dangerous mission. The fact that it was tested only for 9,800ft depth?but was commissioned to go 12,500-13,500ft deep, should have raised a giant red flag, triggering the Port?Authorities to stop their misadventure well before it was loaded on the Polar Prince. Titan was clearly a no-go mission considering other facts. For example a non-conventional 'elongated' capsule design; use of two very dissimilar materials exposed to extreme temperature and pressure conditions; re use of hull after several earlier trips?without inspection for damages from fatigue or creep and bonding of Platinum end-caps with Carbon-fiber?composite cylindrical chamber using an ‘adhesive’ !

Be it an adventurous trip to the Kármán line in space or to the depths of Mariana trench, the margin for error for?such extreme-condition explorations is exceedingly small and hence the absolute need to fully test the final?assembly before any deployment with humans inside. All these design, engineering and assembly flaws could have?been easily detected and fixed had Ocean Gate not cut corners to hurriedly showcase their new business model?for momentary social-medial popularity and short-term financial gains.

Millions of professionals around the world spend countless hours in Test Labs, Static & Dynamic Chambers, Proving?Grounds and on Public Roads performing numerous tests to fully ensure that production version of test property (automobile, plane, rocket, train, ship or submarine) operates safely when used in real-life conditions. All those?mobility aficionados, including yours truly, who have given their blood, sweat and tears in sweltering heat of Arizona (USA), Dubai (UAE), Alice Springs (Australia); in bone-chilling cold weather of Alaska (USA), Manitoba (Canada), Finnmark (Norway), Heilongjiang?(China); in nerve wrecking high-speed Autobahn (Germany); in precarious endurance terrains of Utah (US) or in?life-threatening high altitudes of Leh-Ladakh in the Himalayas (India), do find testing a bit boring, monotonous?and tiring but still do it passionately as it’s absolutely needed to ensure safety of test objects, the occupants and people around it.?

Deep Sea or Ocean tourism industry can learn a thing or two from Aerospace or Automotive industries. Automotive?manufactures mandate documentation of all possible design & process failure modes and then systemic execution?of related tests, verifications, and validations to ensure safety of their products before they see the light of day. In this modern-era witnessing proliferation of Artificial Intelligence, old-school practices to ‘Measure Twice Cut?Once’ and ‘Trust But Verify’ still remain key mantras for a safer Product Innovation.

Disclaimer: All views, thoughts, and opinions expressed above belonbelong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s?employer, organization, department, committee, or other group or individual.

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