Forensic Engineering for Extended Product Life
Events unfold at a rapid pace in the 21st
century. Companies close, merge, and are
acquired, while employees leave, retire, or seek
other industries. Technology changes,
components reach end-of-life, and software is
often no longer supported. Certification
requirements may change, leaving products out
of compliance.
These rapid changes often result in mature,
functional products (both hardware and
software) becoming orphaned. Schematics
may not exist or be out-of-date. Source code
may not match the latest exectuable. A new
operating system, or hardware platform, may
force design changes when the original
developer and/or team is long-gone from the
scene.