The role of the Research Council
In 1977, the Norwegian technological research council [Norsk Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd] (NTNF) established a Committee for Risk Research [Utvalg for risikoforskning], referred to as URF. This committee made a significant contribution to the development of safety and reliability in Norway.URF initiated several research projects and also had a role in coordinating various research projects sponsored by NTNF. URF was closed down in 1989. The secretary of URF was Jann Langseth from SINTEF and Jan Hovden was engaged by URF to write documents and reports.
In 1978, NTNF initiated the big research program Safety Offshore [Sikkerhet på sokkelen] with a total budget of 112.5 million NOKs. This program had an enormous influence on the development of competence on safety and reliability in Norway. It is reason to claim that the RAMS group would not have existed without the Safety Offshore program. The research program was closed down in 1982.
System reliability theory
In 1975/76, Professor Arnljot Høyland, Department of Mathematical Statistics, had a sabbatical year at University of California, Berkeley, USA. Here he met Professor Richard E. Barlow who had just published the seminal book "Statistical Theory of Reliability and Life Testing" (Barlow, R. E. and F. Proschan (1975), Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York). When professor Høyland returned to NTNU (NTH at that time), he was very enthusiastic and wanted to start a course in reliability analysis at NTNU, using the book by Barlow and Proschan. He therefore asked Dr. Bent Natvig to prepare a weekly seminar on this topic during the spring semester of 1977. Bent Natvig stayed only a short time and left NTNU during the summer of 1977 - so when the first ordinary course in reliability analysis was to be lectured, professor Høyland had to be the lecturer - with assistance from Marvin Rausand who took over Bent Natvig's position as an assistant professor from 1. September 1977. The following years the reliability course was lectured by Marvin Rausand.
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At the Department of Mathematical Statistics it was soon realized that the book by Barlow and Proschan was too brief and too theoretical to be suitable as a textbook for the reliability course at NTNU. Marvin Rausand therefore started to write a compendium in reliability. The first version of this compendium was printed in 1979. Professor Høyland and professor Holen joined the project and they decides to write a textbook in Norwegian. This book was called "Pålitelighetsanalyse" and was published by Tapir in 1983 (Holen, A. T., A. Høyland, and M. Rausand, 1983, Tapir, Trondheim). The book was reprinted several times and was used as a textbook in courses in reliability analysis both at NTNU and other Nordic universities until 1994 - when the first edition of the book "System Reliability Theory" was published (This book was based on the Norwegian book, but professor Holen decided not to participate in writing the English book).
The RAMS Group
The RAMS group can be traced back to the adjunct professorship of Helge Christensen, Department of Machine Design, in the mid 1970s. He had a professorship in tero-technology, but also showed a keen interest in safety and reliability issues. He therefore initiated a course module called "Industrial safety and reliability", which was offered to 4th year Master students. From 1978, this course module was lectured by Marvin Rausand - while he still was an assistant professor at the Department of Mathematical Statistics, NTNU. Marvin Rausand started working for SINTEF Machine Design in January 1980, but continued to lecture the course module.
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