Reflection for Lecture 7 Part I

In this lecture, we talked about oil drilling and the hazards of oil drilling. While developing more and more complex machineries, we start exploring different sources of energy. One of them being oil which needs to be drilled then pumped from the ground. Professor Halada mentions in the lecture that a lot of the tools we use to drill for oil have blind spots or weak points in design. We also looked at the interconnectedness of systems, trainings, operation, and the psychological factors. While talking about drilling, professor Halada brought up these off-shore platforms. Quite often these platforms are necessary in order to get to the oil deposits underwater. This increase the risk due to considerations for extreme weathers, rescue operations, and the flexibility and stability of the materials. We then talked about various risks associated with the sources of energy. For instance, oil transportation could lead to oil spills, and nuclear power could lead to a fall out etc. As the sources of energy vary, so do the considerations in regard to risks and hazards.