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Success and Failure in Everyday Things - Turning Failure into Success

Submitted by: Claire-Juliette Beale on Feb 04, 2008 at 9:53 pm Tagged with: North Carolina, product design, Product Development, product failure, product innovation, product success, South Carolina Source: Product Development and Management Association

DURHAM – The Carolinas Chapter of the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) will hold a professional development and networking workshop in RTP, Thursday, February 28th. The topic is “Success and Failure in Everyday Things - Turning Failure into Success”. The speaker is Henri Petroski, acclaimed author and Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of History at Duke University. This event will be held in conjunction with the Industrial Designers Society of America, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Product development and design are about making and doing new things. To be successful, one must properly anticipate how things can fail, and design accordingly. Past failures thus provide invaluable experience and inspiration for the design of future successes. These ideas will be explored by Pr. Petroski through case studies of how some very simple everyday things have evolved over time. PDMA Carolinas chapter President, Claire-Juliette Beale invites" all professionals and decision-makers at all levels as well as entrepreneurs who have interest in product success, including product managers, engineers, designers and marketing managers, to an evening that combines networking, innovation and education.”

The event will be held at the MCNC Auditorium, 3021 Cornwallis Rd, Research Triangle Park (Durham), NC 27709. Networking will begin at 6:00 p.m., and the seminar will run from 6:45 to 8:00 p.m. The cost is $20 for PDMA, IDSA, and ASME members, and $30 for non-members. Drinks and pizza are included in the registration cost. Pre-registration at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/91179721 is requested.

Speaker Background
Henri Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of History at Duke University. He has written broadly on the topics of design, success and failure, and the history of engineering and technology. His many books on these subjects include Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design, To Engineer Is Human, Design Paradigms, Engineers of Dreams, The Pencil, The Evolution of Useful Things, and Small Things Considered. His latest book is The Toothpick, a technical and cultural history of the toothpick. Petroski has written many general-interest articles and essays for magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, and he writes regular columns for both American Scientist and ASEE Prism. He lectures frequently to audiences in the U.S. and abroad, and has been interviewed often on radio and television. He has been profiled in the New York Times, Smithsonian, U.S. News and World Report, and many other newspapers and magazines. Before moving to Duke in 1980, Henry Petroski was on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin and on the staff of Argonne National Laboratory. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas and a chartered engineer in Ireland. Among his many honors are membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

About PDMA
The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. For more information about PDMA, visit www.pdma.org. For more information about the Carolinas Chapter, email Claire-Juliette Beale at claire@touch360.com or visit www.pdma.org/carolinas.