The Importance of Quality Assurance

I am sure you are surprised 😉 to learn that ‘computer errors’ have sometimes had HUGE consequences.  Below are a list of some such cases.  For the one assigned to you (it is OK to request a specific one) see if you can determine the (likely) cause of the failure.  Then be prepared to discuss how good QA might (or might not have) prevented disaster.  If you have a different case in mind, not on the list, you may suggest it.

Topics About Computer Failure

Mars Climate Orbiter
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars-climate-orbiter
Ariene 5
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/251880.251992
Patriot Missile Interception
https://www-users.cse.umn.edu/~arnold/disasters/patriot.html
Boeing 737
https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-the-boeing-737-max-disaster-looks-to-a-software-developer
WW III Almost
 https://www.theregister.com/2013/09/27/30_years_on_the_day_a_computer_glitch_nearly_caused_world_war_iii/
Cancer Treatment to Die For
https://hackaday.com/2015/10/26/killed-by-a-machine-the-therac-25/
Pentium Fails Long Division
https://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/processors/pentium-fdiv-the-processor-bug-that-shook-the-world-1270773
Heathrow airport
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13393035/Chaos-Heathrow-gates-Border-Force-glitch.html
EDS drops child support
https://www.computerworld.com/article/1704298/eds-it-upgrade-caused-software-glitch-at-u-k-agency.html
FBI trilogy terminated
https://www.infoworld.com/article/2672020/anatomy-of-an-it-disaster--how-the-fbi-blew-it.html