Fire Safety Engineering International Conference to be held March 23 & 24, 2011 in Sydney Australia

On behalf of the members of the Society of Fire Safety, you are invited to attend the Fire Safety Engineering International Conference 2011 – "Raising the Bar," which will be held in Sydney, Australia on March 23 and 24, 2011.

The world’s leading fire safety engineers and fire scientists will attend this two day Fire Safety Engineering International Conference 2011, focusing on current issues of importance and controversy in Fire Safety Engineering practice.

Brian Meacham, Associate Professor with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Department of Fire Protection Engineering will deliver the keynote address, Fire Safety Engineering – Current State & Possible Futures.

To find out more go to http://www.sfs.au.com/library/File/FSE11_Prelim-Prog_A4.pdf.

It's Time to Upgrade Your SFPE Membership

The next SFPE Qualifications Board meeting is scheduled for December 16, 2010. If you wish to upgrade your membership to the Professional Member Grade, submit your completed application to eandracsek@sfpe.org by December 3, 2010.

Click here for more information.

Changes to the Illinois Professional Engineering Practice Act Impact Fire Sprinkler Technicians and Contractors

Recent changes to the Illinois Professional Engineering Practice Act (225 ILCS 325/) impact the type of work that fire sprinkler technicians and contractors may legally perform, and clarify the role of the design professional in fire protection system projects. It is important that professional engineers, fire sprinkler contractors and building code officials each understand the new requirements.

The Illinois Society of Professional Engineers has published a fact sheet to help understand important changes to this Act. The fact sheet can be found at: http://illinoisengineer.com/FactSheet.htm.

Past SFPE President William "Bill" Koffel Honored by International Code Council

Pictured Left to Right: ICC Board Member John LaTorra, William Koffel and ICC Immediate Past President Ron Lynn

The International Code Council recognized and honored Past SFPE President William E. Koffel, P.E., FSFPE President of Koffel Associates on October 27, 2010 by bestowing upon him the Code Council Affiliate Award.

According to the ICC, “This award is given in honor of John Fies, Wilbur H. Lind and Alton Riddick, who demonstrated unselfish service to the original model code organizations. Koffel has been active in the Council’s code development process and is known for his role in developing drafts of the International Building Code and International Fire Code. Koffel, a fire protection engineer who started his own firm 25 years ago, is a Past President and Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and is recognized globally in the field of fire protection.”

In accepting the award, Koffel said, “I’m truly humbled to be listed with the previous recipients of this award, many of which, for 30 years now, I’ve been watching and learning from. I see participation in the code development process as an education activity. I’ve learned a lot from it, and I think that enables us to better serve our clients; and secondly, hopefully, we’re providing information to you, the voting members, so that you can make better informed decisions when you cast your votes on the various code changes before you.”

SFPE Asia – Oceana Chapters Hold Regional Meeting

Attendees at the Asia – Oceana Chapter Coordination Meeting

The SFPE Asia – Oceana chapters held a two-day coordination meeting October 28-29 in Taiwan. The meeting began with a conference on fire risk assessment in heritage buildings. The conference featured presentations by representatives from the Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Korea chapters. Approximately 100 people attended.

Following the conference, representatives from many of SFPE’s Asia – Oceana chapters meet to discuss how they could coordinate their activities. They noted that these chapters have similar
cultural backgrounds, and would benefit from sharing the experiences and practices of fire protection engineering through periodic exchange meetings. The chapter representatives agreed to hold future coordination meetings, develop information networks, and develop an informal coordination committee. The coordination committee will consist of the presidents of the chapters in the Asia – Oceana region, and it will be chaired by Ai Sekizawa of Japan.

SFPE Technical Director Morgan Hurley Welcoming Attendees to the Conference on Risk Assessment in Heritage Buildings

SFPE Technical Director Morgan Hurley said: “The chapters in the Asia – Oceana region have been holding informal coordination meetings since 2004. These meetings have been beneficial to chapter and membership growth in the area. We are pleased that the chapters have agreed to continue to hold these meetings on a regular basis. Prof Sekizawa is to be commended for his leadership of this initiative.”

Hurley further noted that “We are now trying to implement the model that was successfully developed by the chapters in the Asia – Oceana region in Europe.”