Course 1 teaches the basic principles that will help the student do professional failure analysis and then applies those principles to different engine components which are soft and easy to analyze. Monday is dedicated to teaching Management, Metallurgy, Fractures, Wear and Visual Examination principles. Practice with those basic principles begins Tuesday and continues through Thursday with a combination of classroom presentations and hands-on labs where students see and analyze failed parts. These parts include engine bearings, crankshafts, engine valves, pistons, rings, liners, threaded fastners and connecting rods. Friday morning, students practice actual failure analysis on a case study and present results. A 50 question closed book final examination and top score prize presentation concludes the course on Friday by noon.

Students are encouraged to practice for six months to a year, then bring questions they may have to class in Course 2.

Course 2 continues study and use of the same basic principles taught in Course 1. Students then apply the principles to components which have higher hardness and are more difficult to analyze. On Monday, students review basic principles and learn about lubricants. Practice with basic principles begins Tuesday and continues through Thursday with a combination of classroom presentations and hands-on labs about gears, anti-friction bearings, shafts and turbochargers. Friday morning students analyze a case study and present results. A 50 question closed book final examination and top score prize presentation conclude the course by noon Friday.