Industry Ignited Podcast

When NASA Systems Thinking Meets Accident Reconstruction: Robert Swint, CEO of ATA Associates | Ep. 55

Leeanne Aguilar, Ph.D. Season 1 Episode 55

In this Industry Ignited episode, Dr. Leeanne Aguilar interviews Robert Swint, CEO of ATA Associates, whose 50-year career spans NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle programs to some of the world’s most complex accident and failure investigations. Drawing on his 24 years at NASA—including work on Apollo, Apollo 13 recovery, Shuttle avionics integration, and space-station safety—Bob explains how systems thinking, human factors, and rigorous data analysis are the foundation of both spaceflight safety and modern forensic engineering. Catastrophic failures rarely come from a single mistake; they emerge when systems, technology, and human decisions interact—and the only path to truth and prevention is disciplined, objective analysis grounded in science, data, and transparency. From Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon to trucking, marine, aviation, and petrochemical cases, Bob reveals how evolving technologies like instrumentation, 3D scanning, and emerging AI are transforming accident reconstruction from educated guesswork into fact-based accountability that ultimately saves lives.