Center for Risk and Reliability (CRR) has been a major research and education resource since the mid-1980s and assumed a new mission in 2003 by combining two very successful centers. This Center is an umbrella organization within the A.J. Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, which provides expertise and cutting-edge research on methods and tools to perform risk and reliability assessment of structures, complex systems and processes for space, military and civil aviation, nuclear energy, and petroleum industries. More recently, CRR has provided leadership in new frontiers that include Healthcare Systems Risk Management and Medical Device Reliability, Prognostics and Health Management of Complex Systems and Structures, and Resilience Engineering. Several governmental and private organizations continue funding CRR's research. The mix of research sponsors remaina at a roughly 50/50 split between industry and government agencies, with reliability engineering research being funded mostly by the industrial sponsors, while risk and safety research studies sponsored by the Federal and State government agencies.
We at the CRR take extreme pride at offering the Reliability Engineering Graduate Program which continues to attract highly talented graduate students and a steady stream of visiting scholars from US and international universities, research centers, government agencies and companies. The educational program of the CRR has provided a large number of tremendously successful alumni that have been making major contributions to the field of risk and reliability in the past 25 years.
-Mohammad Modarres, Director of the Center for Risk and Reliability
Fall 1982- Risk Assessment group (Roush, Modarres) established under the Nuclear Engineering Program (Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering)
Fall 1983- First reliability course offered: Basic Reliability Analysis (ENNU-489C)
Fall 1984- Reliability Engineering M.S. Curriculum proposed
Fall 1984- Major external campaign started to solicit governmental and industrial support for an independent Reliability Engineering Program.
Fall 1985- Center for Reliability Engineering (CRE) established by then Dean Dieter to develop research and oversee formal development of the Educational Program. First Director: M. Roush
Spring 1986- Second course offered: Risk Assessment for Engineers (ENNU-648C)
Fall 1987- Reliability Engineering M.S. curriculum starts tentatively under the Nuclear Engineering Program. Two courses: Basic Reliability Engineering (ENNU-489B) and Advanced Reliability Engineering (ENNU-648B) added.
Spring 1988- Selected courses are delivered to distance students through Instructional Television (ITV), later expands to out of state and international students
Fall 1988- The Risk Assessment group further strengthened as A. Mosleh joins the program, new courses added
Fall 1989- Reliability Engineering Program (M.S. and Ph.D.) is formally approved by the University of Maryland and the State's Board of Education within the Department of Material and Nuclear Engineering. First Director: M. Roush
Spring 1997- Center for Technology Risk Studies (CTRS) established. First Director: M. Modarres
Fall 2003- Reliability Engineering Program joins the Department of Mechanical Engineering, establishes world-wide leadership in reliability education
Fall 2003- Risk and Reliability Center (CRR) replaces CTRS and CRE. First Director: A. Mosleh
Spring 2014- The program celebrates its 25th Anniversary
Center for Risk and Reliability
0151 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Building 088
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742, USA
Director's Office
Dr. Mohammad Modarres
Nicole Y. Kim Eminent Professor of Engineering
0151F Glenn L. Martin Hall, Building 088
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-5226
CRR maintains strong partnerships with a number of government agencies, including:
- The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- NASA
- USDA
- EC Halden Research Center, Norway
- EEC Joint Research Center, Italy
- ETH Center Center for System Safety, Switzerland
- Norwegian Institute of Technology
- Paul Scherrer Research Institute, Switzerland
In addition, the Center has several industrial partners:
- ManTech International
- Reliability Information Analysis Center (RIAC)
- ARES Corporation
Research Sponsors
Partial list of entities that have sponsored CRR research or student education in the Reliability Engineering Program includes:
| Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) |
Accu-Rite |
Allied-Signal Communications |
| ARINC Research Corp. |
Atlantic Research Corp. |
Australian Army |
| Australian Royal Air Force |
Badger Meter Inc. |
Ball Aerospace |
| Baltimore Gas & Electric Corp. |
Bendix Corp. |
Black and Decker Corp. |
| Boeing Helicopter Company |
Boeing Space Systems Company |
Booz, Allen and Hamilton |
| Bose Corp. |
C-MAC Electronic Systems |
Carrier Corp. |
| Control Data Corp. |
Corning, Inc. |
DARPA |
| Delco/Delphi Corp. |
Dell Computer Company |
ELDEC Corp. |
| Electric Power Research Institute |
Ericsson |
ERIN Engineering and Research |
| Ford Motor Company |
Fort Belvoir R&D Center |
General Dynamics Corp. |
| General Electric Aerospace |
General Electric Appliance |
General Electric Transportation |
| General Motors Corp. |
Grove Engineering |
Gulf States Utilities |
| Harmon Industries |
Hernandez Engineering |
Hughes STX |
| Institute for Defense Analyses |
International Truck and Engine Corp. |
Kenworth Trucks |
| Landis Gardner |
Litton-Amecom |
Loral Aerosystems |
| Martin Marietta |
Micron Technology |
Millitech Corp. |
| Motorola GEG |
NASA Glen Research Center |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| NASA Headquarters |
Nortel Networks |
Northrop Grumman |
| NUS Haliburton Company |
PetroBraz |
PDVSA Refinery |
| Racal Communications |
Raytheon/TI Systems |
Reliability Center Inc. |
| Rockwell |
Rockwell-Collins |
Rolls Royce/Allison Engines |
| Roper Corp. |
Sandia National Laboratories |
Science Applications International |
| Scientech Corp. |
Siemens Electro Company |
Smith Industries |
| South African Air Force |
Square-D Corp. |
Sun Microsystems |
| Technical and Management Services |
Tellium Inc. |
Texas Instruments Corp. |
| UK Royal Air Force |
Unisys Corp. |
United Cont. Mach. |
| United Defense Corp. |
United Technologies |
U.S. Air Force |
| U.S. Army Material Command |
U.S. Army Material Systems Analysis Activity |
U.S. Army Research Laboratories |
| U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency |
U.S. Department of Agriculture |
U.S. Department of Commerce |
| U.S. Department of Defense |
U.S. Department of Energy |
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration |
| U.S. Food and Drug Administration |
U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology |
U.S. National Security Agency |
| U.S. Naval Air Systems Command |
U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command |
U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center |
| U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
Vail Research and Technology |
| Veda Corp. |
Visteon Corp. |
Vitro Corp. Virginia Power |
| Vixel Corp. |
Westinghouse Defense Electronics |
Xerox Corp. |
