Engineering has always been about problem-solving. We design systems to work reliably, products to perform consistently, and infrastructure to endure. But here is the uncomfortable truth: engineering fails all the time.
We see it when flood defences collapse, when renewable energy projects spark local resistance, or when promising innovations never reach the communities who need them most. We see it in the statistics that reveal stark gender gaps in engineering participation, and in the lived reality of women, children, and underrepresented communities who bear the brunt of climate breakdown without having a seat at the design table.
At Failure Modes of Engineering (FeME), we believe it is time to stop brushing these failures aside. Instead, we need to put them at the centre of how we think about engineering.
Our approach borrows from a familiar tool: Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Traditionally, FMEA identifies where a design or system might fail and how to prevent it. We are applying the same logic not to machines or bridges, but to engineering itself. What are the failure modes of the discipline? Why has engineering sometimes made things worse for society and nature? And how can naming those failures help us design better futures?
Failure As Opportunity
Talking about failure is not about blame: it’s about accountability and progress. In business and innovation, failure is often reframed as iteration: a step towards improvement. Engineering must adopt the same mindset.
The climate crisis is a failure of systems including technical, political, social, and cultural. But it also presents an opportunity: to reinvent engineering so that it delivers not only robust solutions but also just ones. That means recognising where we have gone wrong and being brave enough to act differently.
At FeME, we have named six critical failure modes of current engineering practice:
- Diverse Engineering – Failing to attract and support women and underrepresented groups, leaving vital talent and perspectives untapped.
- Inspired Engineering – Failing to build trust and legitimacy with communities, resulting in resistance or irrelevance.
- Connected Engineering – Failing to democratise access to data and digital tools, widening global inequalities.
- Inclusive Engineering – Failing to remove systemic barriers for marginalised groups, limiting innovation potential.
- Transdisciplinary Engineering – Failing to integrate across fields, leaving complex problems under-addressed.
- Agile Engineering – Failing to adapt quickly to disruption, resource scarcity, and climate shocks.
Each of these is both a diagnosis and a design brief. By naming failure, we open the door to new practices that are more inclusive, resilient, and responsive.
Why Failure Matters Now
The stakes could not be higher. One billion children already live in countries at extremely high risk from climate change. Indigenous peoples, migrants, and persons with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable. Studies show that climate disasters exacerbate gender-based violence and deepen social inequalities.
Engineering cannot afford to ignore these realities. If our solutions are designed without these voices in the room, they will fail socially, ethically, and practically. We must recognise that exclusion itself is a form of engineering failure.
Embedding Equity From The Start
Too often, equity, diversity, and inclusion are treated as afterthoughts. They are bolted on at the end of a project, framed as engagement or consultation. At FeME, we see this as a recipe for failure.
Instead, we argue for an inside-out approach. EDI must be built in from the start of every engineering project. The design questions should not only be “Will it work?” but also:
- For whom is this relevant?
- Who does it affect?
- Whose knowledge is missing?
- Does this solution reinforce or dismantle inequity?
When we embed these questions at the beginning, we do more than avoid failure, we unlock innovation. Diverse teams are more creative, and solutions designed with communities are more sustainable.
Failure Reframed As Design Leadership
For industry leaders, policymakers, and funders, focusing on failure is not about risk aversion. It is about design leadership.
- It means backing projects that are co-created with communities, not imposed on them.
- It means measuring success not only by outputs but by equity, trust, and long-term impact.
- It means rewarding engineers who listen, adapt, and collaborate across disciplines.
Failure reframed is not a weakness. It is a strategic advantage.
What FeME Is Doing
Over the next three years, FeME will invest £2.2 million in building a new kind of engineering network. Our programmes include:
- Flexible seed funding for bold, transdisciplinary projects that tackle identified gaps.
- Peer mentoring to connect early-career and experienced professionals.
- Fellowships and travel bursaries to remove barriers for those from
underrepresented communities and the Global South. - A Caring Pot to support FeME members and participants with childcare and caring responsibilities, ensuring equity in access.
- Awards to celebrate good practice in inclusive engineering and open science.
At every stage, we will foreground failure – what hasn’t worked, where the barriers lie, and how to overcome them.
Why This Matters For The Future of Engineering
If engineering is to remain relevant in the 21st century, it must evolve. The climate emergency is testing not only our technical ingenuity but also our social imagination. Focusing on failure provides the roadmap.
It compels us to ask harder questions, include broader perspectives, and embrace new ways of working. It moves us from defensive postures and protecting reputations and hiding mistakes to proactive leadership that sees failure as feedback.
By reframing failure, FeME is not undermining engineering. We are strengthening it, widening its scope, and aligning it with the most urgent needs of our time.
At FeME, we are unapologetic about focusing on failure. We believe that confronting where we have gone wrong is the only way to get it right.
Failure shows us what was missing. It highlights who was excluded. It forces us to reflect, adapt, and design differently.
If we want engineering to be inclusive, sustainable, and globally relevant, we cannot just celebrate its successes, we must also learn from its failures.
This is the invitation FeME extends to engineers, funders, policymakers, and communities alike: let us own failure, together, and turn it into the foundation of a just and resilient future.