Reliability engineering is an engineering field, that deals with the study of reliability: the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time. It is often reported as a probability.

The function of reliability engineering is to develop the reliability requirements for the product, establish an adequate reliability program, and perform appropriate analyses and tasks to ensure the product will meet its requirements. These tasks are managed by a reliability engineer, who usually holds an accredited engineering degree and has additional reliability-specific education and training. Reliability engineering is closely associated with maintainability engineering and logistics engineering, e.g. Integrated Logistics Support (ILS). Many problems from other fields, such as security engineering, can also be approached using reliability engineering techniques.

Reliability Engineers:

Reliability engineers rely heavily on statistics, probability theory, and reliability theory. Many engineering techniques are used in reliability engineering, such as reliability prediction, Waybill analysis, thermal management, reliability testing and accelerated life testing. Because of the large number of reliability techniques, their expense, and the varying degrees of reliability required for different situations, most projects develop a reliability program plan to specify the reliability tasks that will be performed for that specific system.