Meet the 2009 SFPE Fellows and Honorary Members

Pictured Above (left to right) Lee DeVito, Bob Bill, Takeyoshi Tanaka, Joseph W. Janiga, Allyn Vaughn, J. Sargent Slicer and Morgan Hurley

Pictured Above (Left to Right) 1984 SFPE Fellow J. Samuel “Sam” Slicer and 2009 SFPE Fellow J. Sargent Slicer.

As 2009 comes to an end, we will take one more time to congratulate the SFPE 2009 Fellows and Honorary Members. SFPE Fellows represent a distinguished group of members who have been recognized for their significant accomplishment and stature in the profession of fire protection engineering. Fellows have been members of the Society for at least 10 years and have been nominated by their peers.

The SFPE Fellows for 2009:

Andrew H. Buchanan -- University of Canterbury
Lee C. DeVito -- Firepro Inc.
Morgan J. Hurley – Society of Fire Protection Engineers
Joseph W. Janiga – FM Global
J. Sargent Slicer -- Slicer & Associates
Takeyoshi Tanaka -- Disaster Prevention Research Institute
Allyn J. Vaughn -- JBA Consulting Engineers

Fellow is the highest grade of SFPE membership. Fellows lead our profession in their technical accomplishments and in their service to the profession.

The SFPE Honoarary Member for 2009:

Bob Bill -- FM Global

SFPE Honorary Members are a distinguished group of individuals who either have rendered exceptional service to the Society or have made substantial and outstanding contributions to fire protection engineering. The grade of Honorary Member may be conferred regardless of age or prior membership status in the Society. This grade of membership carries with it all of the privileges of the grade of Fellow in the Society.

On an interesting side note, J. Sargent Slicer is the son of J. Samuel “Sam” Slicer. Sam became an SFPE Fellow in 1984.

Draft Guidelines for Substantiating a Fire Model for a Given Application Available for Public Review and Comment

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has completed draft guidelines for substantiating a fire modal for a given application. These draft guidelines are now available for public review and comments.

Whenever an engineer uses a computer fire model, it is necessary for him or her to ensure that the model is appropriate for the situation modeled. In some cases, the modeler is fortunate in that they can refer to a published evaluation report that is sufficient. However, in most cases, it is up to the modeler to demonstrate that the model is appropriate.

This guide will provide a framework that can be used to determine if a fire model is suitable for use for a specific fire protection application. Currently, there is no formal process by which fire models are approved. It is therefore incumbent upon the user of the fire model to determine the suitability of a fire model and, if required, upon the authority having jurisdiction to evaluate the acceptability of that determination. This guide serves both the user of the fire model and the consumer of the results of the fire modeling.

"These guidelines address definition problem for which modeling will be used, selection of a candidate model, verification and validation of the model for the application of interest, and consideration of uncertainty on the model results,” said SFPE Technical Director Morgan Hurley, P.E. “Extensive appendices provide descriptions of fire phenomena that are commonly modeled and techniques that are typically employed by fire models to predict those phenomena."

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers began developing these guidelines in June, 2007. The draft guidelines and a comment form can be downloaded from www.sfpe.org. Comments are due on March 31, 2010.

Guylene Proulx

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of SFPE Professional Member and member of the SFPE Board of Directors Guylene Proulx on December 1, 2009.

There will be no visitation at the funeral home. Funeral service will be held at Notre-Dame-de-la-Guadeloupe Church, 14 de la Guadeloupe Street, Gatineau (Hull area), on Saturday, December 12 at 11:00 a.m.

The family will receive condolences at the church starting at 10 a.m. For those wishing, memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated. Many thanks to the staff at the Centre de sante et de services sociaux de Gatineau for their care. For information COOPERATIVE FUNERAIRE DE L'OUTAOUAIS: 819-568-2425, cfam@cfo.coop or fax: 819-568-2426.

More information can be found at
http://www.legacy.com/can-ottawa/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=137079883

Applications are Now Open for the International Master of Science in Fire Safety Engineering Program

The Universities of Edinburgh (UK), Ghent (Belgium) and Lund (Sweden) submitted a winning proposal for an Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Fire Safety Engineering. The initiative is carried by Prof. Bart Merci (Ghent University), Prof. Jose Torero (University of Edinburgh) and Prof. Robert Jönsson (Lund University).

The curriculum is a two-year program. The classes in the first semester cover basic topics in Fire Safety Engineering (FSE) and can be attended in Ghent or Edinburgh. All students spend the second semester in Lund, where emphasis lies on enclosure fire dynamics, risk analysis and human behavior. In the third semester, classes are again taught in Ghent (for general FSE) or Edinburgh (with focus on structural engineering in the context of FSE). The fourth semester is devoted to the Master’s thesis, hosted by one or more of the three institutes.

The program starts for the first time in September, 2010. Applications are now open for both European and non-European students. To find out more go to:


http://www.imfse.ugent.be/index.asp

http://www.sfpe.org/upload/iternational_masters.pdf