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Students are assigned readings from the textbooks for each class lecture topic, as listed in the following table. Additional reference books are also listed after the table.
Textbooks
 Ang, A. H-S., and W. H. Tang. Probability Concepts in Engineering Planning and Design, vol. 1, Basic Principles. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1975. ISBN: 9780471032007.
 Rausand, M., and A. Hoyland. System Reliability Theory: Models, Statistical Methods, and Applications. 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. ISBN: 9780471471332.
Course readings.| LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS | 
|---|
| I. The Logic of Certainty | 
| 1-2 | I.1 Events and Boolean Operations
  I.2 Event Sequence Identification (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis; Hazard and Operability Analysis; Fault Tree Analysis; Event Tree Analysis)
  I.3 Coherent Structure Functions
  I.4 Minimal Cut (Path) Sets | Ang and Tang: Chapters 1 and 2.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Sections 3.9-3.11. | 
| II. Probability | 
| 3-4 | II.1 Definitions and Interpretations (Axiomatic; Subjectivistic; Frequentistic)
  II.2 Basic Rules
  II.3 Theorem of Total Probability
  II.4 Bayes' Theorem |  | 
| III. Random Variables and Distribution Functions | 
| 5-6 | III.1 Discrete and Continuous Random Variables
  III.2 Cumulative Distribution Functions
  III.3 Probability Mass and Density Functions
  III.4 Moments
  III.5 Failure Models and Reliability
  III.6 Failure Rates | Ang and Tang: Sections 3.1 and 3.2.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Chapters 2, 4 and 6.
 
   Henley, E. J., and H. Kumamoto. "Risk Study Comparison." Table 1.4 in Probabilistic Risk Assessment. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1991, pp. I.6. ISBN: 9780879422905. | 
| IV. Useful Probability Distributions | 
| 7-8 | IV.1 Bernoulli Trials and the Binomial Distribution
  IV.2 The Poisson Distribution
  IV.3 The Exponential Distribution
  IV.4 The Normal and Lognormal Distributions
  IV.5 The Concept of Correlation |  | 
| V. Multivariate Distributions | 
| 9-10 | V.1 Joint and Conditional Distribution Functions
  V.2 Moments
  V.3 The Multivariate Normal and Lognormal Distributions | Ang and Tang: Section 3.3.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Chapter 7. | 
 | Exam 1 |  | 
| VI. Functions of Random Variables | 
| 11-12 | VI.1 Single Random Variable
  VI.2 Multiple Random Variables
  VI.3 Moments of Functions of Random Variables
  VI.4 Approximate Evaluation of the Mean and Variance of a Function
  VI.5 Analytical Results for the Normal and Lognormal Distributions | Ang and Tang: Chapter 4. | 
| VII. Statistical Methods | 
| 13-14 | VII.1 Student's t-distribution
  VII.2 Chi-Squared Distribution
  VII.3 Hypothesis Testing | Ang and Tang: Chapters 5 and 6.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Chapters 11 and 14. | 
| VIII. Elements of Statistics | 
| 15 | VIII.1 Random Samples
  VIII.2 Method of Moments
  VIII.3 Method of Maximum Likelihood
  VIII.4 Probability Plotting |  | 
| IX. Applications to Reliability | 
| 16 | IX.1 Simple Logical Configurations (Series; Parallel; Standby Redundancy)
  IX.2 Complex Systems
  IX.3 Stress-Strength Interference Theory
  IX.4 Modeling of Loads and Strength
  IX.5 Reliability-Based Design
  IX.6 Elementary Markov Models | Ang and Tang: Chapter 9.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Chapters 8 and 9.
  Rausand, Marvin. "Reliability centered maintenance." Reliability Engineering and System Safety 60 (1998): 121-132.
  Vatn, J., P. Hokstad, and L. Bodsberg. "An overall model for maintenance optimization." Reliability Engineering and System Safety 51 (1996): 241-257. | 
| X. Bayesian Statistics | 
| 17 | X.1 Bayes' Theorem and Inference
  X.2 Conjugate Families of Distributions
  X.3 Comparison with Frequentist Statistics
  X.4 Elicitation and Utilization of Expert Opinions | Ang and Tang: Chapter 8.
  Rausand and Hoyland: Chapter 13.
  Huelsenbeck, J. P., et al. "Bayesian Inference of Phylogeny and Its Impact on Evolutionary Biology." Science 294, no. 5550 (December 14, 2001): 2310-2314. | 
 | Exam 2 |  | 
| XI. Monte Carlo Simulation | 
| 18 | XI.1 The Concept of Simulation
  XI.2 Generation of Random Numbers
  XI.3 Generation of Jointly Distributed Random Numbers
  XI.4 Latin Hypercube Sampling
  XI.5 Examples from Risk and Reliability Assessment |  | 
| XII. Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Complex Systems | 
| 19-23 | XII.1 Risk Curves and Accident Scenario Identification
  XII.2 Event-Tree and Fault-Tree Analysis
  XII.3 Unavailability Theory of Repairable and Periodically Tested Systems
  XII.4 Dependent (Common-Cause) Failures
  XII.5 Human Reliability Models
  XII.6 Component Importance
  XII.7 Examples from Risk Assessments for Nuclear Reactors, Chemical Process Systems, and Waste Repositories | Rausand and Hoyland: Chapters 5 and 10. | 
 | Final Exam |  | 
In addition to the course textbooks, the following books may be useful.
 Benjamin, Jack R., and C. Allin Cornell. Probability, Statistics, and Decision for Civil Engineers. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1963. ISBN: 9780070045583.
 Center for Chemical Process Safety. Guidelines for Chemical Process Quantitative Risk Analysis. New York, NY: The American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1989. ISBN: 9780816904020 .
 DelMar, Donald, and George W. Sheldon. Introduction to Quality Control. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1988. ISBN: 9780314684592.
 Henley, Ernest J., and Hiromitsu Kumamoto. Probabilistic Risk Assessment: Reliability Engineering, Design, and Analysis. New York, NY: IEEE Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780879422905.
 Juran, Joseph M., and Frank M. Gryna. Quality Planning and Analysis: From Product Development Through Use. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1980. ISBN: 9780070331785.
 Papoulis, Athanasios. Probability and Statistics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. ISBN: 9780137116980.
 Rao, Singiresu S. Reliability-Based Design. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1992. ISBN: 9780070511927.