Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 6 Video Blog

Monday 28th January 2013

Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 5 Video Blog

Friday 25th January 2013

Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 4 Video Blog

Thursday 24th January 2013

Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 3 Video Blog

Wednesday 23rd January 2013

Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 2 Video Blog

Tuesday 22nd January 2013

Edinburgh Travelling Fire Tests: Day 1 Video Blog

Monday 21st January 2013

A Unique Opportunity to Lead a World-Class Research Centre

Applications for the BRE Chair in Fire Safety Engineering at Edinburgh

https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_search_version_4.start_search_with_params?p_company=5&p_internal_external=E&p_display_in_irish=N&P_position=1&p_force_type=E

Vacancy Details

BRE Research Chair in Fire Safety Engineering Vacancy Ref: : 009143 Closing Date : 20-Feb-2013 Contact Person : Professor Luke Bisby Contact Number : 0131 650 5710 Contact Email : luke.bisby@ed.ac.uk The establishment of the BRE Centre of Excellence in Fire Safety Engineering has been extremely successful, both in terms of research and educational outcomes. It brings together the UK’s two most prestigious fire research and educational institutions, both of which have acclaimed international status in this field. The formation of this Centre has represented an innovation for the UK which has since been emulated with the creation of four additional BRE Centres of Excellence in research areas associated with the built environment in other UK universities. BRE Global Ltd and BRE Ltd are owned by the BRE Trust. To continue its policy of investment in excellent people, the School of Engineering seeks to appoint the BRE Research Chair in Fire Safety Engineering. You will have an internationally evident research track record in fire safety engineering with an emphasis on combustion and/or fire dynamics relevant to fire safety in the built environment. You will contribute to teaching in the School of Engineering, particularly in areas relevant to Fire Safety Engineering. BACKGROUND The BRE Trust (http://www.bre.co.uk/bretrust/) which supports the BRE Chair in Fire Safety Engineering, is a research and education charity for the public benefit, registered by the Charity Commission (registered charity number 1092193). It was created to ensure that BRE remains independent of specific commercial interests, and retains its reputation for objectivity and impartiality in research and consultancy. All of the companies owned by the BRE Trust contribute their profits to supporting the Trust’s mission to promote and support excellence and innovation in the built environment for the benefit of all. The BRE Trust achieves this by funding and managing a strategic research programme in the built environment sector. Fire protection research, consultancy, testing and certification activities are undertaken by BRE Global Ltd which incorporates the Fire Research Station (FRS) and the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) and has been a world leader in fire safety research since its establishment in 1947 and recognised as the UK’s national fire research and fire safety centre. It continues to be involved with major fire incident investigations which have included Flixborough, Ronan Point, Summerland, Piper Alpha, Kings Cross, the Channel Tunnel fires and more recently the Rose Park Care Home and Atherstone on Stour. Research The University of Edinburgh has a long tradition in Fire Safety Engineering research and education and is recognised internationally for its work over the last forty years. This has been characterised by innovative research and the education of several of the current leaders in the field. The programme was considerably increased in both size and breadth during the past decade by the development of new state-of-the-art experimental facilities (Fire Labs I & II); the refurbishment of space for Fire & Structures research; and the addition of four new academic staff members in support of the Structures and Fire degree courses. The Fire Safety Engineering Group at the School of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh (http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/fire/) is involved in a wide range of research subjects and is also deeply involved in setting the direction for the practice of Fire Safety Engineering globally. Their objective is to develop a co-ordinated approach to performance-based Fire Safety Engineering Design. This work may be subdivided in several focus areas, including: • Fire dynamics (ignition and fire growth) • Fire behaviour of materials • Fire modelling and integrated numerical simulation • Fire Safety Engineering methodology • Structural Fire Engineering Teaching At present the School of Engineering offers a number of courses directly related to Fire Safety Engineering. These include: • The BEng/MEng in Structural Engineering with Fire Safety; • The MSc in Structural and Fire Engineering (SAFE); and • The Erasmus Mundus joint International MSc in Fire Safety Engineering (joint with Lund and Ghent). The BRE Centre currently organises two Continuing Professional Development (CPD) short courses through The University’s Office for Lifelong Learning (http://www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/); one on ‘Fire Science and Fire Investigation’, and another on ‘Fire Dynamics and Fire Safety Engineering Design’. The successful candidate would be expected to participate and take the initiative in new CPD ventures. JOB DESCRIPTION You will be expected to contribute to research in the Institute for Infrastructure and the Environment and teaching and administration in the School of Engineering. You will be expected to: • identify and propagate visions for new research • generate substantial external research funding and deliver significant output • lead and expand a group of academics, research staff and PhD students • publish in quality peer-reviewed research journals • contribute to teaching to masters level, in the School of Engineering, particularly in areas relevant to Fire Safety Engineering. • undertake appropriate administrative duties • contribute to the intellectual wealth and collegiate environment of the School. Responsibilities: Research and Leadership You will initiate, perform and deliver fundamental and applied research that complements and integrates with other appropriate research areas in the School. You will be expected to: 1. Initiate, plan, lead, perform and deliver research into fire safety engineering. The University of Edinburgh aims to retain and expand its international position in this research domain. 2. Demonstrate and deliver internationally-evident quality research, leadership and publishing activity. 3. Generate UK, European and international funding to support this research and establish it in the world arena. 4. Lead and expand a vibrant and interactive group of academics, research staff and PhD students within the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment. 5. Develop graduating fire safety engineering professionals and early career researchers, by means of BEng, MEng, MSc teaching and doctoral training. 6. Create, lead and participate in collaborative research projects. 7. Include in the above collaborative research projects relevant industrial partners. 8. Participate in Knowledge Exchange using standard University policies and procedures. Responsibilities: Teaching The School’s degrees in Civil Engineering are accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (The Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers). In addition to the degrees associated with fire safety engineering, the School also offers the following: • Civil Engineering (H804/H800) • Structural and Fire Safety Engineering (H225/H224) • Structural Engineering with Architecture (H225/H224) You will be expected to provide vision and leadership in the ongoing development and delivery of courses on degrees with particular emphasis on Fire Safety Engineering. You would be expected to participate and take the initiative in new CPD ventures such as those currently organised by the BRE Centre through The University’s Office for Lifelong Learning (http://www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/): ‘Fire Science and Fire Investigation’; ‘Fire Dynamics and Fire Safety Engineering Design’. Further details are available on the undergraduate degree programmes are available from the School website and the University websites. The School runs a growing range of successful MSc programmes on which the candidate will be expected to contribute teaching and project supervision. Responsibilities: Administration You will become the Director of the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering and will also be expected to undertake and deliver senior administrative duties within the Institute and School or in the wider University environment, where appropriate. PERSON SPECIFICATION You will be expected to meet the following essential requirements: • The vision to generate and deliver an internationally recognised research agenda in Fire Safety Engineering. • An internationally-evident reputation for performing quality research in areas relevant to fire safety Engineering and its implementation, including a record of obtaining funding for research (particular attention will be paid to applicants with expertise in fire dynamics, and/or combustion). • A significant number of high quality peer-reviewed journal publications. • Demonstrable success in winning research funding, team building and delivery of research outcomes, including collaborative research with industry. • Demonstrated excellent academic and research leadership. • Excellence and commitment as a motivated and proficient educator in Higher Education. • The ability to teach required subjects with highest proficiency across the range of teaching provision. • Excellent communication, presentation and organisational skills and high proficiency in written and oral English language. Desirable Requirements • Significant experience of working with industry on both research and consultancy projects and managing/maintaining growing industrial partnerships. THE INSTITUTE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE and ENVIRONMENT Fire Safety Engineering research is conducted within the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment: http://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/research/IIE/ The Institute is shaping the development of better technologies to improve the built and natural environments. In addition to the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, the Institute conducts similarly excellent activities in the following areas: • Fire Safety Engineering (including fire initiation and propagation, fire growth, compartment fire dynamics, fire chemistry and material flammability and the structural response of materials and buildings to fire conditions); • Structural Engineering (including theoretical, computational and experimental research covering shell structures; granular solids mechanics and handling, structural mechanics in medicine, and FRPs in structural engineering); • Non-Destructive Testing (including NDT of concrete and masonry bridges, NDT of railway trackbed, forward numerical modelling of NDT); • Construction Management (including construction process simulation and management); and • Environmental Engineering (including membrane technologies, water and wastewater treatment, and water treatment for developing countries). The Institute is located in the Alexander Graham Bell building (opened in 2004) and the William Rankine building (opened in 2006) and currently has eighteen FTE academic staff, including six Professors, two Readers, six Senior Lecturers and four Lecturers. Laboratory Facilities There are nine main teaching and research laboratories in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Those directly relevant to the current post include: • Fire Lab I – The Rushbrook Fire Safety Laboratory (including cone calorimeter, 0.5MW furniture hood, and Flame Propagation Apparatus); • Fire Lab II – The Fire and Materials Laboratory (including high temperature mechanical and thermal characterisation equipment); • The Structures Large Test Hall (recently underwent a £500K refurbishment and now allows for medium-scale structural fire tests using radiant panel arrays); and • The Light Structures and Materials "Clean" Laboratory. Access to other equipment for e.g. mass spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, etc, are available within the School of Engineering. Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering and Mathematics The School of Engineering is a founder member of the Edinburgh Research Partnership in engineering and mathematics (ERPem), a consortium involving the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh Napier University, set up in 2006 with SFC/OST investment. The ERPem is organised into six Joint Research Institutes (JRIs) dedicated to world-class research, innovation and education in engineering and mathematical science. The long-term vision of ERPem is to be the prime vehicle for world-leading research in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences carried out at the participating institutions, and one which is recognised worldwide as a centre of excellence in these disciplines. The Joint Research Institutes are in the areas of: • Civil and Environmental Engineering • Signal and Image Processing • Mathematical Sciences • Subsurface Science and Engineering • Energy • Integrated Systems (Precision Optical, Electronic and Miniature Systems) Each of the six JRIs combines the relevant academic staff, postdoctoral research fellows and their graduate students from the partner Universities into a single joint research institute, significantly enhancing research capacity and scale. APPOINTMENT DETAILS This role is grade UE10 Professorial (range £54,826 to 91,978). Salary is paid monthly by direct transfer to Bank or Building Society account, normally on the 28th of the month. The positions are open to candidates of all nationalities. Those who would enhance the diversity of the School in terms of nationality and/or gender are particularly encouraged to apply. If relocation within the UK is required, the University will reimburse the successful candidate for vouched expenditure, within an overall upper limit of £3,000. If relocation from overseas is required, a contribution will be made towards vouched expenditure. The University recognises that it may be advantageous that the successful candidate should be able to accept, within reasonable limits, consultancies or other paid employment outwith their University appointment. Permission to undertake such activities will not be withheld unnecessarily but it is a condition of the appointment that such employment may be undertaken only with the express approval of the Head of School. The taking up of references (which will occur without notice unless otherwise requested) is selective and does not imply a decision that the application will be placed on the final short-list for interviews. Applicants will be informed as to whether they have been shortlisted or not, but we may not be in a position to give detailed feedback to those not shortlisted. UKBA CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP Eligibility to work In accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the University of Edinburgh, as an employer, has a legal responsibility to prevent illegal working and therefore must check that all employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom (UK). To do so, the University of Edinburgh requires to see original documents evidencing right to work in the UK before commencement of employment and this is normally carried out at interview. Details will be provided in any letter of invitation to interview. For further information on eligibility to work visit http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/human-resources/recruitment/eligibility-immigration This post meets UK Border Agency criteria for sponsorship by the University of Edinburgh. Even if you are not currently eligible to work in the UK, it may be possible for the University of Edinburgh to sponsor you to obtain a Tier 2 (General) visa to enable you to take up the appointment should you be successful at interview. For applicants interested in sponsorship information is located at http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/human-resources/recruitment/eligibility-immigration/employees-guidance/working-in-uk However, if you have previously been sponsored by an employer within the UK but your leave has expired or lapsed and you are no longer in the UK, according to UK Border Agency rules you can cannot apply for sponsorship under any category of Tier 2 for a period of 12 months after the date your leave has expired or lapsed. APPLICATION PROCEDURE Applicants may be made online at http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/. The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a c.v. In your application please include a covering letter which highlights, with evidence, how you meet all of the essential criteria and any of the desirable criteria you meet. Candidates will be short-listed and interviewed based on how they meet these criteria. INFORMAL ENQUIRIES Informal enquiries are welcome: please contact Professor Asif Usmani (+44 (0)131 6505789 or asif.usmani@ed.ac.uk) or Prof. Luke Bisby (+44 (0)131 6505710 or luke.bisby@ed.ac.uk). The University reserves the right to vary the candidate information or make no appointment at all. Neither in part, nor in whole does this information form part of any contract between the University and any individual.

The School of Engineering The integrated School of Engineering was formed in 2002 from the various individual departments to address diverse and complex challenges across the entire field of engineering, at the micro- and macroscopic/global scales. At the microscopic scale, its research supports the design and deployment of novel nanotechnology and devices for biological monitoring and medical diagnosis; at the macro/global scale, it optimises the security and sustainability of the built environment and develops engineering solutions to issues raised by climate change. The Vision of the School is the achievement of excellence across each of its five research areas, from the science and mathematics that underpin engineering research, to its industrial and commercial applications and four teaching disciplines, all accredited by the professional Engineering Institutes. Not only was the School ranked third (Research Fortnight Power Analysis) in General Engineering in the UK Research Assessment Exercise (2008), but it also has a strong track record in producing more than 50 technology spin-outs and developing industry links that enable our graduates to build relationships that last a whole career. In 2011/2012 the School was successful in achieving £28m research awards/income. The School is one of the largest in the University, comprising over 150 staff and over 350 postgraduate, 140 MSc and 1,400 undergraduate students. The School occupies approximately 10,000 m2 in over ten buildings on the University’s King's Buildings site in South Edinburgh. http://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/drupal/ Each member of academic staff teaches in one of four engineering disciplines and is a member of a Research Institute: Research Institutes • Digital Communications • Energy Systems • Infrastructure and Environment • Integrated Micro and Nano Systems • Materials and Processes Teaching disciplines • Chemical Engineering • Civil & Environmental Engineering • Electrical Engineering & Electronics • Mechanical Engineering The School currently offers 43 degree programme titles including combined degrees with Computer Science, Management and Architecture. The School offers the four year BEng and five year MEng degree programmes, all accredited by the professional institutions, and 10 taught MSc degrees. Facilities and Centres UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre is a virtual hub that brings together UK carbon capture and storage (CCS) researchers and acts as a two-way interface between the academic community and key stakeholders (e.g. government, industry and potential international collaborators). The Industrial Doctorate Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy will train 50 engineering doctorate students over nine years in all aspects of Offshore Renewable Energy. The UK All-Waters Combined Current and Wave Test Facility for wave and tidal devices will be operational by 2013 and will enhance the University’s leadership in low-carbon energy research. The BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering hosts bespoke equipment to support research and consultancy with precisely controlled high temperatures and the latest image analysis techniques. The recently refurbished Structures Test Hall is our high-headroom lab for testing large and unusual assemblies. There are state-of-the-art lab facilities for developing and testing NDE and material handling technologies, a smart infrastructure lab and a good range of environmental engineering testing resources for the water and waste management sectors. The School of Engineering is a partner in SynthSys, the Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology which is an interdisciplinary research environment with members across many Research Institutes, Colleges and Schools, including The University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and BioSS. It aims to pioneer genetic and chemical tools to manipulate the cell, technologies to quantify responses at the single-cell level, and mathematical models to predict and control cellular behaviour.   College of Science and Engineering (http://www.ed.ac.uk/science-engineering) The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) is one of the largest and highest-ranked science and engineering groupings in the UK. Headed by Professor Lesley Yellowlees, CSE comprises seven Schools (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, GeoSciences, Informatics, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy). Informatics is located in the University’s Central Area near George Square, with the other six 2 miles further south at the King’s Buildings. The College has over 2,700 academic and support staff, and educates some 6,000 undergraduates, 800 taught postgraduates and 1,500 research students. It is in the front rank of UK university science and engineering groupings for research quality and income (£130M in 2001/12), and is a key player in many European and international research collaborations. Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 In the 2008 RAE over 600 research active staff were returned. 96% of the College submission was of international quality in its originality, significance and rigour with 66% of the submission being rated internationally excellent.   The University of Edinburgh For more than four centuries, our people and their achievements have rewritten history time and again. They’ve explored space, revolutionised surgery, published era-defining books, paved the way for life-saving medical breakthroughs and introduced to the world many inventions, discoveries and ideas from penicillin to Dolly the sheep. We have believed that anything is possible. We still do. The latest Research Assessment Exercise highlighted our place at the forefront of international research. This adds to our international reputation for the quality of our teaching and our student experience excellence. As a member of staff you will be part of one of the world's leading universities, with 22 Schools spread over 3 Colleges that offer more than 500 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate courses to over 30,000 students each year. Professional services are critical to this success as well as our world-class teaching, research and student facilities. In fact, we are one of the top employers in Edinburgh, with over 11,700 people spread across a wide range of academic and supporting roles. As a world-changing, world-leading university we are an exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent, develop and reward success and integrate academic, professional and personal career goals, as well as give your career the benefit of a great and distinguished reputation.

Interested in pursuing a PhD in Fire Safety Engineering?

A number of full PhD studentships for UK, EU, or International students are being made available through the School of Engineering at Edinburgh. If you are an academically outstanding student who is interested in applying for one of these in the area of Structural or Fire Safety Engineering, please contact Dr Luke Bisby . Additional information is available here:  
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-funding/postgraduate/uk-eu/university-scholarships/development
 
And here:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-funding/postgraduate/international/global/research

Please share.

The Social Aspects of Fire

IT-SAFE Announcement

We are pleased to announce that Dr Graham Spinardi has been appointed as Senior Research Fellow on the Integrating Technical and Social Aspects of Fire Safety Engineering and Expertise (IT-SAFE) project. This is a prestigious interdisciplinary project designed to improve fire safety and the quality of the built environment through better integration of social and engineering research, supported by the University of Edinburgh, The Ove Arup Foundation, and the Royal Academy of Engineering (see https://www.stis.ed.ac.uk/research_projects/it-safe).

Dr Spinardi has a long record at the University of Edinburgh researching the social shaping of technologies, with particular emphasis on historical studies of military innovation and other state-funded research. Major research grants include: a comparative study of innovation by firms in the UK, Germany, Japan and the USA, based on inventions patented and licensed by the British Technology Group and its predecessor, the National Research Development Corporation; a study of key developments in UK radar technology and their relationship to both strategic requirements, and to their exploitation for dual-use applications; a history of US Ballistic Missile Defence technology, focusing on the way that technical knowledge is constructed, particularly as regards claims about performance, and how test performance is extrapolated to operational conditions; and, a study of how the conservative nature of airliner development has limited the uptake of potentially greener alternative technologies.

Dr Spinardi will now turn his attention to untangling social issues relevant to fire safety in the built environment. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Dr Spinardi, or indeed any member of the IT-SAFE team, through the project’s website.

Regulation as Inspiration?

To what extent do prescriptive fire safety regulations influence the aesthetic and functional characteristics of the spaces in which we live and work?

What happens when fire safety regulation becomes the INSPIRATION for a design, rather than a DETRACTOR from the desired aesthetic?

Check out this fascinating look at the outcomes of a recent collaborative effort by our colleague Liam Ross in the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA), entitled "Invitation & Escape: The Architecture of Fire Safety Regulation," in which prescriptive fire safety requirements are turned on their heads and used as inspiration in an architectural design studio.

If you are an engineer... this will almost certainly push you outside your comfort zone.

I recommend it.

The Invitation & Escape project can be viewed here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2I0XCL77YSMQk11NDBBS3JlaXM/edit?pli=1

Liam Ross' other research can be viewed here:
https://sites.ace.ed.ac.uk/liamross/research/

Fancy being the Head of School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh?

A Fire Safety Engineer as Head of an Engineering School?

The University is now seeking to appoint a new Head of School. Candidates for this position will be expected to demonstrate leadership and management of the highest calibre, an international research reputation and a commitment to maximising the quality and effectiveness of teaching. All research areas will be considered, including Fire Safety Engineering. Candidates will be able to demonstrate excellent ambassadorial and interpersonal qualities and a record of developing and strengthening relationships with industry and peer institutions, as well as leading a large team of academic and professional support staff. Additional information below.

http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/vacancies/index.cfm?fuseaction=vacancies.detail&vacancy_ref=3016205

 

Appointment of the Head of the School of Engineering

The University of Edinburgh School of Engineering supports world-class excellence in research and teaching. The School was ranked third (in General Engineering) in the UK (Research Fortnight RAE 2008 Analysis Power Rankings) in the last UK Research Assessment Exercise (2008) and has a strong track record in producing technology spin outs and developing industry links that enable our graduates to build relationships that last a whole career. The College of Science & Engineering, of which the School forms a part, is one of the largest science and engineering groupings in the UK.

Recent investment includes a £6.5 million Industrial Doctorate Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy, led by the University of Edinburgh that will train 50 engineering doctorate students over nine years in all aspects of Offshore Renewable Energy. The University's leadership in low-carbon energy has been further enhanced through £9 million investment on the UK All-Waters Combined Current and Wave test facility for wave and tidal devices. The £12.5m UK CCS Research Centre (UKCCSRC, www.ukccsrc.ac.uk )  is a virtual hub that brings together leading UK carbon capture and storage (CCS) researchers and acts as a two-way interface between the academic community and key stakeholders (e.g. government, industry and potential international collaborators). The School is also a founder member of the Engineering Research Partnership in engineering and mathematics (ERPem), a consortium involving the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh Napier University, set up in 2006 with SFC/OST investment. The ERPem is organised into six Joint Research Institutes (JRIs) dedicated to world-class research, innovation and education in engineering and mathematical science.

The University of Edinburgh aims to ensure equality of opportunity and holds an Athena SWAN bronze award.

For further information including details and information on how to apply, go on-line at www.jobs.ed.ac.uk 

New Lectureship in Fire Dynamics!

We're very pleased to let you know that to continue its policy of investment in ouststanding research and teaching in the area of Fire Safety, the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering is seeking to appoint a high calibre individual in the area of FIRE DYNAMICS or COMBUSTION at either Lecturer (Grade UE08) or Senior Lecturer (Grade UE09). This appointment is a full time continuing post (subject to satisfactory review after a 3 year probationary period).

This Lectureship is one of up to 10 positions currently being advertized across the School of Engineering at Edinburgh, and this dedicated position in the area of Fire Dynamics or Combustion is directed specifically to support the activities of the world-class BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.

Full details of the position are given at the following link:

http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/vacancies/index.cfm?fuseaction=vacancies.furtherdetails&vacancy_ref=3016267

The BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering (BRE CFSE) at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) is among the most successful and productive research centres within the School of Engineering at Edinburgh. The BRE CFSE currently encompasses 7 academic staff and more than 30 PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. We develop a wide array of projects in the area of Fire Safety that range from structural performance to fire dynamics to material flammability. The Centre has created many vehicles for the dissemination of research as well as numerous links with industry. The Centre includes a state of the art small scale fire research facility, in-house capability for non-standard structural fire
testing, access to BRE’s large scale fire testing facilities, the only UK based Structural Fire Engineering degrees, and a joint international masters degree with world-leading partners at the Universities of Lund and Ghent.

Informal enquiries regarding the advertized post can be made to Dr
Luke Bisby, via email: luke.bisby@ed.ac.uk.

Professor / Assistant Prof job in Fire Safety Engineering in Finland

Aalto University, Finland, announces the professorship in Fire Safety Engineering in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering. The announcement can be found in:

http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/jobs/professors/paloturvallisuustekniikan_professori/ 

The application deadline is November 16, 2012.

The post is open from Assistant to Full Professor level, covering the area from young Research Scientists to more experienced Research fellows and Professors.

Through an Architect's Eyes

Fire engineers often work closely with architects to try and incorporate fire safety systems & processes into the design process from an early stage. Ultimately it is the designers, not the fire engineers, who will change and improve the building’s design. It seems strange therefore that there would not be a single fire safety engineer working in an architecture practice, anywhere in the world. The role just did not exist.

Well, not until this year.

For the past 8 months one member of the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Edinburgh worked at Foster +Partners to help designers create fundamentally fire safe buildings. This unique experience was one of several progressive ideas conceived at the 2011 LRET Conference in Edinburgh and is the latest collaborative initiative between Foster + Partners and the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.

It was initially thought that the Fire Engineer employed in this role would solve fire safety problems for the design team (including architects and engineers). After all that’s what engineers do: solve problems. In fact the individual working at F+P would solve very few fire problems and would do very little ‘engineering’. The ‘In-House Fire Safety Engineer’ would become known as the ‘Fire Safety Advisor’ or more simply, the ‘Fire Guy’.

The reason for the change was simple. If specific fire safety problems were outsourced to a fire engineer – even an in-house one – the lack of integration would mean architects would have to compromise on other parts of the design for the fire strategy to work.

The Fire Guy needed to have three roles, not one, of which engineering was the third and last. The three roles would be:

1) To identify and define problems using fundamental assumptions only i.e. assumptions that remain valid irrespective of the context in which they are applied. Re-defining and explaining why each problem was indeed a problem improved designers’ understanding of the criteria they should aim to achieve, and significantly expanded the range of choices available to them.

F+P designers and engineers previously defined problems purely in terms of code compliance – which was logical in the absence of specialist fire safety knowledge. If a design did not comply with the codes, it was a fire safety problem. However, due to the irregular nature of the structures being designed, the assumptions on which the codes were based were not always valid; a prescriptive solution intended for a 3m-high ceiling would not deliver the same performance if applied to a ceiling 17m high and angled at 70°. Therefore a problem defined purely on the basis of code-compliance was not necessarily a fire safety problem.

2) The second role, once the architects had gained a clear understanding of the fire safety aims, was to give designers the opportunity to achieve the aims autonomously. Architects have to consider every variable associated with the design of a building, including aesthetics, functionality, cost, environmental sustainability, structural integrity, M&E serviceability and code compliance among a plethora of other variables, all of which must be integrated if the building’s design is to be optimised. Once the architects knew what they were trying to achieve, they were able to create some extraordinarily innovative solutions to solve fire safety problems, all of which were optimised for their unique building.

Architects lacked confidence in their own ability to create fire safe solutions and would yield to the recommendations of fire safety ‘experts’ often despite knowing that their own solutions made sense conceptually. The fire safety advisor was able to assess and criticise solutions put forward by both the architects and fire experts to establish which one would be the most effective. In many cases it was the solution put forward by the architects but in either case the discussion led to increased understanding of the issues involved and greater confidence in the chosen solution.

3) The third and final role of a fire safety advisor was to create a fire-safe solution and ‘prove’ its effectiveness. In reality this rarely happened. Reviewing drawings and producing fire safe designs was easy; doing it in a way that would create a fully optimised building design was not. A fire safety engineer has just one variable to work with, and has the luxury to choose from literally thousands of possible solutions. The architect meanwhile must iterate the building’s design and compromise between variables, eventually reaching a fully optimised solution. The in-house fire safety advisor was only asked to create solutions if/when the architects were unable to produce viable solutions of their own. This happened just once during the entire 8-month period at Foster + Partners.

The experience demonstrated the potential for a new role in fire safety; one where a fire safety advisor works directly for an architecture practice to help incorporate fire safety systems & processes into the building’s design. In hindsight it is rather unsurprising that it has taken this long to create such a role. It requires specialist education that, at the moment, cannot be obtained anywhere in the world.

Perhaps someday someone will create such an education system…

BRE Centre PhD grads continue to excel...

A nice little story on one of our nicest (and brightest) graduates...

Click for PDF

Be an International Master of Fire Safety Engineering - Apply now for 2013

The International Masters in Fire Safety Engineering (IMFSE) programme, a two year postgraduate degree offered jointly by the Universities of Edinburgh (UK), Lund (Sweden) and Ghent (Belgium), has been running for two years now and the first cohort of students recently graduated. 

The IMFSE accepts new students every year. 

Applications for the following academic year open in September and close in January. Apply now for places in the 2013-15 class.

For specific application deadlines, updated admission requirements and other practical information, visit our website at www.imfse.ugent.be

PhD Studentship possibility at University of Strathclyde

Applications are sought for a PhD studentship in improved analysis methods for brominated fire retardants in the natural environment.

Brominated fire retardants (BFRs) are a broad class of chemicals that are used in plastics, protective coatings, fabrics, furniture foam and other materials to delay ignition and slow fire growth to improve the fire safety of materials. Very little is known about BFRs at low exposure concentrations, but widespread detection around the world underscores the need to learn more about their toxicity effects, potential carcinogenicity and ease of mobility in the environment. The aims of this interdisciplinary PhD studentship are to develop analytical methods for improved detection of BFRs in the environment and utilise advanced chemometric methods for evaluating the data collected from these complex samples.

The detection of fire retarding compounds is challenged by many factors. A study evaluating prescribed analysis methods for highly purified standards showed that many BFRs have overlapping retention times in standard analytical methods, which means that they are not separated adequately when present in a mixture. This potential may increase as the complexity of samples increases. In at least two cases, environmental samples thought to contain PBDE-derived compounds were demonstrated to contain materials of natural origin only. Despite these demonstrated inadequacies, standard methods continue to be prescribed and BFR detections continue to be reported around the world. Advances in two-dimensional gas chromatography, isotope ratio mass spectrometry and position specific isotope analysis make development of new analytical methods possible.

The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary research team spanning the Departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering (Faculty of Engineering) and Pure & Applied Chemistry (Faculty of Science). We are most interested a researcher with 1^st class or upper 2^nd class Honours degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, applied mathematicians or other discipline. A strong computational background is preferred.

There is one studentship associated with this advertisement and this student will be based at the University of Strathclyde. The studentship is open to individuals within the EU/EEA only and provides a stipend of approximately £13,800 per year. For further information or to apply for this studentship, please contact Dr. Christine Switzer at christine.switzer@strath.ac.uk.

SiF Review and post-script apology

I understand that my recent Blog posting has caused some upset amongst the SiF community. If my comments have caused offence then I am sorry.

However, constructive criticism and open debate are at the centre of  all learned organizations (the SiF Movement is no exception), and we must be able to hear criticism with ears as wide as we hear praise. My comments were intended only to help the SiF movement to maintain a reputation for scientific and engineering excellence. I welcome open debate on the issues I raised, and if my comments are incorrect or uninformed then I will happily withdraw them.

Experiences at the Young Researchers Training School for fire engineers (COST TU0904)

It is with great pleasure that we (John Gales, University of Edinburgh and RuiRui Sun, University of Sheffield) report to you on our experiences at the Young Researchers Training School for integrated fire engineering (COST TU0904) which occurred in April 2012 in Malta. This training school had been intended to broaden the research background of the participants and provide them a chance to network outside their normal studies through the exchange of information and opinion. The training school was a valuable five day experience for the careers of the students in fire engineering selected from across Europe. This conference involved two parts: lecture and brainstorming sessions.

Some of the participants at the Young Researchers Conference training school for fire engineering research in Malta, April 2012. Photo is courtesy of Prof Ian Burgess.

The lecture session was led by various practitioners and academics in fire engineering focusing on topics of fire behaviour, integrity design, life and structural safety. Presentations by Prof Jean Marc Franssen and Prof Paulo Vila Real summarized the development of research and design methods of structural fire engineering; structural robustness in fire was summarized by Prof Ian Burgess; Dr Florian Block presented the application of performance-based design in practice from the view of an engineer; Dr Guillermo Rein gave an introduction of fire dynamics to structural engineers emphasizing the importance of research on travelling fires; Dr Luke Bisby reviewed the past, current and future status of structural testing in fire; Dr Yong Wang presented the properties of protection material with special reference to intumescing coatings research; and Jim Marsden shared the fire service’s view on fire engineering. See group photo above. All lecture presentation slides can be viewed here;

http://fire.fsv.cvut.cz/ifer/2012-Training_school/Lectures/Lectures.htm

For us students in attendance these presentations gave a unique opportunity to hear from various academics and those in the industry about their research and consulting experiences. The topics covered a wide range of themes but in particular closely related to our PhDs; such as modelling progressive collapses in structural fires (Ruirui) and experimentation of structural systems in fire (John). Some of the ideas presented had controversy and were thought provoking but all had some use for our projects; one example is the ‘simple’ or ‘not simple’ modelling perspectives, which were elaborated on by Prof. Jean-marc Franseen with respect to further research and endeavours we plan. What we found particularly helpful was that lectures provided a window into professional thought; such as when new research results are presented, what it takes for them to accept or reject. The practitioners and academics provided expertise on what our duties as young researchers are. These presentations widened, inspired and comprehensively pushed our knowledge establishing a more thorough and solid research background for integrated fire engineering.

The brainstorming session followed with nearly 30 student presentations of research projects being conducted throughout Europe (mostly PhD projects but also some MSc(s) were included etc.) covering diverse topics from passive fire resistance, fire development, risk assessment etc. The presentations all allowed for some flexible but yet intense and interesting discussion, where ideas, knowledge and opinion were exchanged by the young researchers, practitioners and academics. The experience for us students was not only to directly give us ideas on where to go next or how to sort out the problem we are confronted with, but also, more valuably, make us think about our problems rationally and to develop a professional thought process on research and problem solving. The abstracts and slides for these presentations can be viewed here;

http://fire.fsv.cvut.cz/ifer/2012-Training_school/Students_Abstracts/index.htm

and

http://fire.fsv.cvut.cz/ifer/2012-Training_school/Student-presentations/index.htm

Rarely do conferences give an opportunity to speak of projects in the level of rigorous detail that we were allowed here, and to the level of depth of helpful discussion generated afterwards. This is one of the merits that this training school  (rather than a normal conference experience) stood out. At times though, it was a challenge to understand others work and suggest solutions or different ideas, but that is mostly due to different presentation styles and branches of study we may not fully be familiar with (typical of multidisciplinary events). Standing as presenters, it was a wonderful and valuable experience to exchange work to our peers and experts, gathering advice and feedback. We both come from known fire-research groups which regularly challenge and communicate with one another in much the same spirit of this training school however, presenting within your own group sometimes it is easy to miss key things that you can or could consider. This training school was all the much more valuable to participate in, as fresh eyes could look at our problems. Students from so many backgrounds (with incredibly diverse expertise) were present ready to share ideas and push each other further. Moreover, it is very exciting to find common-ground with other researchers on their work and seek research collaboration with them. Two imminent examples of this continuing collaboration are the visiting of two students, one from Thessaly and the other from Naples, each to Sheffield and Edinburgh respectively for several weeks to research on structural and fire.

The conference was not only about work though; the attendants participated in a number of visits in Malta after the conference (see photos below). The sites to see, food to taste and overall Maltase atmosphere make us wish more fire research events could be held like this training school. The people (Maltase, organisers, students) were amazing and incredibly helpful.

Some of the many spectacular views of Malta (photos by RuiRui Sun)

We were incredibly thankful to be selected as student representatives of the United Kingdom to attend the training school, we thank those who organised the conference, in particular Ruben Paul Borg of the department of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Malta (host of the training school), the attendees, and all for the feedback they had provided us. We hope that this training school, or something along the lines of it, will continuously be held to engage and motivate more young researchers in integrated fire engineering

                         John Gales (University of Edinburgh) j.gales@ed.ac.uk

          RuiRui Sun (University of Sheffield) cip07rs@sheffield.ac.uk

SiF 2012 Conference: A Review and Post-Script

SiF 2012 Conference: A Review and Post-Script

This Firegroup Blog post presents the thoughts of a PhD student in Structural Fire Engineering after attending the recent SiF2012 Conference in Zurich, Switzerland. 

The “Structures in Fire” (SiF) movement first held a  workshop in 2000. From the outset there was a clear objective for these workshops:

“The main mission of SiF conferences is to provide an opportunity for researchers and engineers to share their research, technology and expertise with their peers at an international forum.”

“The focus of the conference is on the behaviour of structures under fire exposure, including the ‘art, science and practice of structural fire engineering’…” Conference handout.

In 2008, a more formalised set up was established with a steering committee for the rebranded “SiF Movement”.  The restructuring was due to the ever growing number of attendees and submissions to present at the workshops; for example at the 6th International conference held at Michigan State University in 2010 more than 200 abstracts were received with 123 papers being selected for publication and presentation as posters or as formal oral presentations. The 7^th International Conference on “Structures in Fire” (SiF 2012), held at the beginning of June in the beautiful city of Zurich, in Switzerland, received an even greater number of submissions with only 83 papers being presented in poster or in oral form.  The seminar facilities and general areas at ETH Zurich were fantastic and the set-up for the formal oral presentations and poster presentations was excellent.  Also, the new poster session format breathed life into what is usually a slow and quiet hour or so where most people check e-mails rather than discuss the work in the papers, and the organizers should be commended on this format (two parallel session of five minute presentations back to back with then a general discussion period at the posters over coffee). The lack of functioning wifi access may actually have helped here also!

The high number of submissions compared to the relatively low number of accepted papers should have led to the cream of the crop being selected for either the formal 20 minute presentation or for presentation in one of two parallel poster sessions, but as evident by the open delegate forum which was held during Day 2 of the conference, the review process and thus selection of the papers was rather severely criticised.  

This was not the first time this had occurred. At the SiF 2010 conference (the first that I attended) the review process was discussed in a similar delegates’ open forum. This resulted in the introduction of using two page extended abstracts, rather than single paragraph abstracts, to judge the quality of the work to be presented at the SiF 2012 conference.  The abstracts were also reviewed anonymously by three experts and the accepted abstracts were then asked to produce full papers.  

So why are there still complaints regarding the review process and the quality of presented work?

First, the reviewers in some instances had >10 two-page abstracts to review in less than two weeks, which is not conducive to selecting with high quality control. Second, it easier to convey experimental programs over analytical ones and might be one of the reasons that a large percentage of the presentations given at this year’s conference were predominantly experimental in theme.  In two-page abstracts, experimental methods, results and outcomes can be summarised relatively easily, whereas analytical models and more abstract work need more space to fully explain.  

Other issues with the presented papers, with these views shared by many conference participants, were:

1.       Too many papers lacked novel or significant context:

Many of the presented papers struggled to inform the listener of why they should care about the work being presented; there was little context to the work provided in most cases. Even the most engaging presentations and presenters frustrate delegates by still not clearly saying at any point why the work was done and why we should care about it.

2.       The lost art of presenting:

Too many of the presentations were difficult to follow and were easy to disengage from with which detracted from the discussions, as instead of collective expertise being used to further research and how to apply it in the real world, questions were being asked simply for clarification rather than for extension.  For the presentations that were presented well constructive discussions generally followed.  There were three trends that could be seen when comparing the good and bad discussions.

                                             i.            Language barrier – Many of those who did not have a good grasp of English, the chosen language of the conference, struggled to communicate their work effectively. This problem is admittedly very hard to solve.

                                           ii.            Hard to see the forest through the trees – many of the presenters had graphs or images, on which they would be making a comment, but rarely did they explain what the graph or image was showing or representing.  For those who aren’t experts in the area (which should be a large portion of the audience if the research being presented is at the cutting edge of the science), there would be no way of understanding what they were looking at.

                                          iii.            Mathematical blindness – as was evident with the images, there were too many equations with not enough explanation, and in some case there were too many equations to even keep track of.  The effect of this was to turn the slide in to a blur of black and white with little apparent meaning.

3.       The works presented in the papers, on the most part, were not put through academic rigour:

With the papers being presented on the basis of only a 2-page abstract, the actual work presented in the 10-page papers was not critiqued at all, nor rigorously assessed, but only checked for editorial issues.  This led to the quality of the papers being presented being lower than it really should have been be for the SiF conference series. 

The conference was also missing a key ingredient; industrial contributions.  Most of the delegates and presenters were academics, me included. Without delegates from consultancy and industry, those who apply the information in the real world, we fool ourselves that we are doing a good job because we lose perspective and context to our work and presentations. Our work becomes self-satisfying rather than industry leading, and we end up producing redundant, sometimes pointless knowledge.

So where could we go to improve the SiF Movement which seems to many of us to be stalling?

First, we need to increase the quality of the papers presented, which could be done by full paper submissions being reviewed and papers selected on this rather than on 2-page abstracts. This would also need a change in the amount of time for each paper to be reviewed; no-one would be able to rigorously review 10+ papers in two-weeks, and the number of reviewers looking at submissions.  One idea that I overheard was to say that if you are wanting to submit a paper to the conference then you would be automatically expected to review at least three other papers with the stipulation that if the papers that you are reviewing are not returned in a timely fashion and do not pass a board of reviewers quality control for a rigorous review, then your own paper would be rejected.

Second, the presentations need to be improved, and so maybe these should be reviewed as well, not for content but for length and for style, and a set of guidelines produced to help those presenting to communicate effectively. Guidelines could include, amongst other things, stipulations that if you are presenting graphs and equations that you explain clearly what the audience is looking at, and why they are looking at it.  If the quality of the work is good enough and the presentation of it clear, then issues of language are significantly lessened.

Finally, we need to remain relevant to the construction industry.  One way of doing this is to invite our industrial partners to join us and invite them to speak on the subjects that they feel are of major concern to them.  They could be designers, consultants, materials suppliers, architects, practitioners, and we could discuss what matters to them and to the broader building design industry, rather than existing in an isolated academic bubble with few industrialists present.

All in all, although still young as a conference series, what should be the leading conference for matters pertaining to structures in fire still needs time to grow, develop, and mature so that we can be fully effective and relevant to today’s needs.

David Rush