VVUQ, Reliability, and the Law
Bart Kemper · IEEE reliability magazine · 2025
Reliability is what separates an “engineered” item from one that is simply “made” or “designed.” It generally requires some form of life prediction under specified conditions to establish a baseline, and then, the performance is compared to the baseline. Verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) has long been part of engineering development, particularly for novel projects that precede the development of engineering design codes and standards or have significant risks, such as medical devices. The use of engineering simulations also requires VVUQ, with the amount of VVUQ being also relative to the risk and whether it is applied within existing engineering standards or not. Establishing reliability is not only due diligence for the design process but it is also needed by forensic engineers and other expert witnesses to ensure that their processes, particularly in using simulations, have the due diligence to prevent “garbage in/garbage out.” Looking forward, using VVUQ techniques with engineering simulations provides the framework for future use of VVUQ for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in a legal context to demonstrate that the specific application is a reliable process, applied in an appropriate and reliable manner, and closes the gap between the numerical processes and the specifics of the case in question.