What if failure isn't the end of the story, but the beginning of something extraordinary? In this inspiring talk, aerospace researcher Marwa Yacouti explores how unexpected challenges can spark breakthroughs. Drawing on personal experiences and iconic engineering moments like Apollo 13, she blends emotional storytelling with insights from high-stakes design and materials science to reveal how anomalies, the moments we often fear, can fuel creativity, resilience, and human potential. Marwa Yacouti is is a Ph.D. candidate in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, who helps make materials safer, smarter, and more reliable, especially when failure isn’t an option. Marwa uses advanced computational modeling and artificial intelligence to better understand and design high performance materials. Her research has led to breakthroughs in predicting stress and failure in complex composites, critical for industries like aerospace, where safety and precision are non-negotiable. Marwa’s journey spans three continents and multiple disciplines shaping her unique perspective on solving problems under pressure. Her work has been recognized nationally, earning her the Trailblazing Young Researcher Award from Caltech, the Rising Star in Computational and Data Sciences honor from the Oden Institute, and the IEEE Women in Computing Services Award. A passionate advocate for women in STEM, Marwa believes that innovation often begins with the unexpected. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx