Fire and evacuation modelling skills now mainstream to fire safety engineering

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich conceived the term ‘Computational Fire Engineering’ (CFE) to describe the use of mathematical modelling in fire safety engineering (FSE), a discipline that is now mainstream in fire engineering practice and regulation. Engineers need to understand how and when to correctly apply models, while regulatory authorities responsible for approving building designs need to understand the validity of model predictions that underpin the proposed designs.

To address these needs, FSEG are again pleased to be offering their industry-leading short courses: ‘Principles and Practice of Evacuation Modelling (PPEM)’ and ‘Principles and Practice of Fire Modelling (PPFM)’. Both courses consider model formulation, application, limitations and the interpretation of model predictions. They are presented by FSEG staff who are world leaders in CFE and have been at the forefront of industry practice for almost three decades, as demonstrated by their development of industry-leading CFE tools, buildingEXODUS, and SMARTFIRE.

FSEG director Prof Ed Galea said: “While CFE is an integral part of FSE, it is not a discipline that is covered adequately in degree courses. These short courses give practicing fire engineers an opportunity to acquire essential core skills in what is a rapidly evolving area.”

These CFE courses are the longest running in the world, attracting over 650 fire safety professionals from 42 countries since 1997. Delegates are drawn from fire engineering consultancies, architectural practices, fire services, building control, local, regional and national government, police, aviation, maritime, nuclear, oil, and construction industries, event management and academia. Previous attendees have said:

“An excellent course. It has exceeded my expectations on learning outcomes by a very large margin.”

“I have been on a large number of courses over the years and feel this has been one of the most enjoyable and most certainly the most professionally run.”

“Lecture material was presented on a level which was easily understood.”

“These (laboratory sessions) were an essential element of the course.”

“Fantastic assistance from University staff on all problem areas.”