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April 2005, Issue #39
Feature Story
Fire Protection Engineering
According to the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), "Fire protection engineering is the application of science, engineering principles and experience to protect people and their environments from the destructive effects of fire." Fire Protection engineers (FPE's) work for the government, insurance agencies, hospitals and health care facilities, fire departments and 40 percent of FPE's work in consulting.
The SFPE lists FPE's working in the following industries and organizations:
- The Boeing Company making airlines travel safer as well as supporting the development of fire protection programs for military aircraft and spacecraft.
- The fire service employs FPE's for plan review as well as product testing for fire fighter safety, fire department program development and more.
- Government agencies such as NASA, the CIA, the Navy, the Smithsonian Institute and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- Healthcare facilities.
Anna's Story:
A fire protection engineering firm uses a team of engineers and other professionals to design and obtain approval of the fire safety systems for a major new, multi-use sports and convention complex. Anna, a fire protection engineer, works with the architectural firm and construction engineers to see that the facility is designed and built with state-of-the-art fire safety engineering. This involves computer modeling of the possible fire situations and innovative solutions that address the fire hazards, including the use of "smart" fire detectors and integrated smoke control systems, advanced fire suppression and special audible emergency communications for the occupants in the event of fire or explosion.
Careers in Fire Protection Engineering
Fire protection engineers protect people, homes, the work place, industrial facilities and public spaces from the devastating effects of fire and explosion. They do this by combining topics and advanced computer applications necessary for the evaluation of fire safety and design of fire safe systems.
Fire protection engineers are called upon to provide a broad range of services and you may be relied upon to undertake the following tasks to keep people safe from fires...
- Perform fire safety evaluations of buildings and industrial complexes to determine the risk of fire losses and how best to prevent them.
- Design systems that automatically detect and suppress fires and explosions as well as design fir alarm, smoke control, emergency lighting, communications and exit systems.
- Conduct fire research on materials and consumer products and use computer modeling to predict fire growth and smoke behavior.
- Investigate fires or explosions, preparing technical reports or providing expert courtroom or government testimony.
- Work "hand-in-hand" with architects, other engineers, government authorities, insurance underwriters, fire service personnel, lawyers and fire engineering experts.
Fire protection engineers work at the nerve centers of large corporations and oversee the design of complex manufacturing facilities, office buildings and multinational business networks. They also work for insurance companies, surveying major facilities and performing research, testing and analysis.
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