This doctoral position relates to the area of evacuation in emergency scenarios, focusing in particular on people with disabilities. This is linked to so-call Egressibility, i.e. accessibility to means of evacuation for everyone. In particular, this doctoral position refers to the collection and analysis of data related to the evacuation of vulnerable groups with the intention to find solutions group during emergency evacuation. The project will include a range of methodological approaches (e.g. interviews, vignette experiments, AI-based modelling) for the study of human behaviour in emergency evacuation scenarios. The PhD project is linked to an ongoing grant from the European Research Council on Egressibility (ERC Consolidator Grant “Egressibility”). All info at this link: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:916839/
IAFSS Newsletter – Fire Safety Science News No 55
The May 2026 edition of the IAFSS Newsletter, the official newsletter of IAFSS is now available (Link for view and download).
PhD at University of Queensland: Integrating external wall systems into the fire safety strategy
Project description
study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/projects/integrating-external-wall-systems-fire-safety-strategy
The ability to design for fire safety is contingent on the development of a comprehensive Fire Safety Strategy. The addition of combustible elements in exterior wall systems present a potential risk for vertical fire spread as seen in the plethora of cladding related fires internationally.
As technology continues to develop, there will be a continuous need for exterior wall systems that can deliver both fire safety performance and a range of other design conditions (e.g., thermal performance). As such, the design of exterior wall systems must be holistically integrated into the fire safety strategy for building design.
The fire safety strategy is the ensemble of elements in a fire safety design along with the narrative to harmonise each system component to create a cohesive approach for fire safety.
This includes intentionality in design to explicitly account for how multiple elements of the building affect the overall goals for safety (e.g., how the EWS influences the egress strategy for the building).
Research environment
The project will be carried out in the fire safety engineering group in the School of Civil Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ Fire). The candidate will have access to all of the experimental and other resources of the group, and the support of a project funded by the Australian Research Council in collaboration with a range of international partners.
Scholarship
This project is supported by the Research project scholarship.
This scholarship includes:
- living stipend of $37,500 per annum tax free (2026 rate), indexed annually
- tuition fees covered.
Learn more about the Research project scholarship.
Supervisor
Principal supervisor
Associate Professor David Lange
School of Civil Engineering
View Associate Professor David Lange’s profile
Associate supervisor
Dr Anwar Orabi
School of Civil Engineering
Associate supervisor
Dr Wenxuan Wu
School of Civil Engineering
Associate supervisor
Dr David Morrisset
School of Civil Engineering
View Dr David Morrisset’s profile
Preferred educational background
Your application will be assessed on a competitive basis.
We take into account your:
- previous academic record
- publication record
- honours and awards
- employment history.
A working knowledge of fire engineering would be of benefit to someone working on this project.
You will demonstrate academic achievement in the fields of civil engineering, fire safety engineering, and fire science, and the potential for scholastic success.
A background or knowledge of fire science, fire engineering, and flammability is highly desirable.
How to apply
You must submit an expression of interest (EOI) by 3 April, 2026.
Before you apply
- Check your eligibility for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
- Prepare your documentation.
- If you have any questions about whether the project is suitable for your research interests, contact Associate Professor David Lange ([email protected]).
When you apply
To apply, submit an expression of interest (EOI) for the program. You don’t need to apply separately for the project or scholarship. How to submit an EOI
In your EOI, complete the ‘Scholarship/Sponsorship’ section with the following details:
- Are you applying for an advertised project: ‘Yes’
- Project: ‘Research project scholarship’
- Scholarship Code Listed in the Advertisement: FIRESAFETY-LANGE
- Link to Scholarship Advertisement: https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/projects/integrating-external-wall-systems-fire-safety-strategy
Research Associate in Fire Dynamics at King’s College London
We are looking to appoint a full-time (1.0 FTE) Research Associate to work for the next 2.5 years at the interlink of prevention and prediction of wildfire risk, by contributing to the development of a fundamental physical model to understand the process of fire spread for wildfires, as part of the European Research Council grant FIREMOD ( https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101161183).
This is a full time post, and you will be offered a fixed term 30-month contract.
At King’s, you will be part of an active research programme in the Heat and Fire Lab ( https://heatandfire.github.io/) in the Department of Engineering under the supervision of Dr Francesco Restuccia. Our group is focused on carrying out experimental and computational multidisciplinary research in the thermal sciences covering heat transfer, combustion, fire science, and bioenergy. Our interests range from helping develop more efficient and durable energy storage to understanding the fundamentals of ignition and fire spread for prevention of damage to people, property, and the environment from unwanted fires in topics such as wildfire and electrification. Our current projects focus on wildfire dynamics, battery fires, thermal management of Lithium-Ion batteries, and ignition research.
The research in this project at King’s aims at creating a detailed physical model to better understand and predict fire behaviour.
The project will study fire across different scales, include smouldering effects, and improve small and large-scale fire models. This approach will help manage wildfires more effectively and provide valuable tools for researchers.
Specifically this role will lay the foundation to enable:
1. Fire dynamic modelling for upscaling current lab scale models to field-scale fires
2. Supporting the development of a numerical model of ignition and flame spread based on fuel properties
3. Integrate transition from smouldering to flaming regimes when quantifying different fire spread regimes
4. Support experimental validation work at the lab scale on a variety of vegetation.
Candidates with a background in Fire Science and physics-based modelling are particularly encouraged to apply.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
1. PhD in Mechanical Engineering or in an area related to Fire Safety Engineering*.
2. Good knowledge and research experience in fire dynamics.
3. Publications in fire safety engineering or closely related area in peer-reviewed journals.
4. Proficiency in a Multiphysics software and fire dynamics simulation software (FDS or similar).
5. Knowledge of kinetics processes for vegetation.
6. Proficiency in Chemical Kinetics software (Cantera or similar)
Desirable criteria
1. Experience in experimental work for wildfires
2. Supervision experience of students at Masters or PhD level
*Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6
Interviews are due to be held in April 2026.
Where to apply
Website
IAFSS Newsletter – Fire Safety Science News No 54
The Nov 2025 edition of the IAFSS Newsletter, the official newsletter of IAFSS is now available (Link for view and download).
Young Researcher Opportunity at ZAG, Slovenia
ZAG is offering postgraduate training opportunities for young researchers. Research areas and mentors are presented below.
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrijana Sever Škapin
Research area: Sustainable use of resources in construction
Sustainable use of resources is an important aspect in construction, where society and industry are facing the problem ofCO2 emissions and significant energy consumption. The photocatalytic decomposition ofCO2 to energy-rich compounds offers both a solution to excessiveCO2 concentrations and the use of renewable energy sources (sunlight). In the field of photocatalysis, one project is currently underway at SM462 and one is due to be completed in 2024. The development of a method to evaluate photocatalyticCO2 reduction using the existing GC-MS system will be one of the first tasks of the MR. In future work, MR will focus on the preparation of new materials based on Nb2O5 and Nb2O5-TiO2 heterostructures. By developing new photocatalytic materials and understanding the links between synthetic parameters and material properties, he will contribute to the development of the field with the aim of increasing the efficiency of photocatalysis and eventually transferring knowledge into practice.
- Assoc. Prof. Andrea Lucherini, PhD.
Research area: Safety, resilience and adaptability of the built environment
The MR training programme develops highly qualified young researchers to carry out complex thermomechanical analyses of wood structures exposed to fire, in collaboration with world-leading institutions. The researcher will build on existing knowledge of wood ignition, heat transfer, pyrolysis, charring and flame propagation, which has traditionally only been studied under standard stove conditions. The key focus is on the decay and cooling phases of fire, which are often overlooked in fire design, but are crucial for timber structures. The aim of the programme is to develop advanced fire testing techniques using high performance radiant panels and reduced scale fire testing, with accurate quantification of temperature boundary conditions. The project will integrate structural analysis with multiphase computational models to improve performance-based fire design methodologies, leading to safer and more resilient timber buildings. The findings will support engineering guidelines and standards, benefiting researchers, engineers, architects and policy makers, while promoting wood as a sustainable building material and increasing the global competitiveness of timber construction.
The conditions for a young researcher are:
- has not completed a PhD or obtained the title of Doctor of Science,
- have a second-level degree in a relevant technical or natural science discipline,
- has not yet been employed as a young researcher,
- not more than 4 years have elapsed since the end of your studies; and
- meets the conditions for admission to a doctoral programme.
Description of works and tasks
- Carrying out the school requirements for the doctoral degree
- Carrying out research in projects under the guidance of a mentor
- Preparing your doctoral dissertation
- Demonstrated ability to carry out individual research independently
- Contributing to the drafting of terms of reference and opinions in the field of action
- Work on the certification of the conformity of construction products
- By order of the Supervisor, all the tasks for which he/she is qualified
More information and registration
A more detailed description is available on the website of the Employment Service of the Republic of Slovenia. To apply, you must be enrolled in a postgraduate programme in the academic year 2025/2026. Pending the selection procedure, a declaration that the candidate will graduate or nostrify his/her diploma by 15.9.2025 inclusive (documentation must be submitted to the ZAG by this date to be considered as valid fulfilment of the condition) will be sufficient in lieu of a copy of the diploma.
For more information, please contact the mentors: [email protected] and [email protected].
Applicants are requested to indicate their registration number when applying. the posting on the ZRSZ, the job code and title of the post for which they are applying, and the field of research in which they are interested (as described).
Applications are invited until 15 August 2025 at [email protected].
PhD Studentship at Birmingham City University on AIDIGFIRE project
AIDIGFIRE: Developing smart buildings fire safety management using an integration of artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/architecture-built-environment-computing-and-engineering
This funding model includes a 36 month fully funded PhD Studentship, set in-line with UK Research & Innovation values. For 2025/6, this will be £20,780 per year. The tax-free stipend will be paid monthly. This PhD Studentship also includes a Full-Time Fee Scholarship for up to 3 years. The funding is subject to your continued registration on the research degree, making satisfactory progression within your PhD, as well as attendance on and successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice.
All applicants will receive the same stipend irrespective of fee status.
Application Closing Date:
Midday (UK Time) on Wednesday 17th September 2025 for a start date of 2nd February 2026.
How to Apply
To apply, please follow the below steps:
- Complete the BCU Online Application Form
- Complete the Doctoral Studentship Proposal Form in full, ensuring that you quote the project ID. You will be required to upload your proposal in place of a personal statement on the BCU online application form.
- Upload two references to your online application form (at least one of which must be an academic reference).
- Upload your qualification(s) for entry onto the research degree programme. This will be Bachelor/Master’s certificate(s) and transcript(s).
- International applicants must also provide a valid English language qualification. Please see the list of English language qualifications accepted here. Please check the individual research degree course page for the required scores.
Project title: Developing smart buildings fire safety management using an integration of artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies
Project Lead: Dr Javad Hashempour
Project ID: 13 – 46456414
Project description:
Fires in high-rise buildings can be challenging and difficult to manage and suppress. In recent years, fires in high-rise buildings have caused disasters resulting in death and injury, such as the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, where 72 lives were lost. Regardless of what caused the fire, the fire service faced difficulties in spotting fires in the external cladding, which led to delays in identifying the fire’s location and, more importantly, delays in shifting from a stay-put strategy to full simultaneous evacuation due to the evolving situation. Therefore, having integrated systems that alert the fire service to fire conditions and occupant locations, and allow monitoring of fire and smoke progression through the building, is extremely essential.
This project aims to address this issue by developing a coupled AI–digital twin system that displays essential building fire safety information and provides real-time predictions of fire and smoke conditions in the building, as well as occupant locations and the status of the evacuation process. These capabilities include extracting data from fire detection and protection devices in the building, monitoring evacuation routes, and estimating the number of evacuees and occupants remaining inside.
The project will utilise advanced fire and smoke dynamic simulations to train machine learning models to understand how fire and smoke behave in a building. Once trained, the models will be able to predict the likely spread of fire and smoke based on real-time sensor inputs such as heat or smoke detectors. In addition, evacuation conditions will be monitored by training machine learning based detection algorithms to count the number of occupants leaving the building and identify the locations of remaining occupants.
This information will be visually mapped onto a digital model of the building for easy viewing and interpretation. The resulting digital twin platform will continuously update and display the current fire conditions in the building. During an emergency, this innovative tool will provide firefighters and building managers with critical, timely information to support better and faster decision-making, ultimately improving building fire safety and firefighting efforts.
Anticipated findings and contributions to knowledge:
This research is anticipated to deliver several important findings. The project will promote the use of building sensor data in machine learning–based real-time prediction models. It will establish the feasibility of using machine learning, trained on extensive fire simulation data, to rapidly and accurately predict the behaviour and spread of fire and smoke within high-rise buildings.
The significant contributions to knowledge include providing a novel, integrated approach to digital fire safety management. The developed digital twin will bridge gaps between static fire safety documentation, real-time fire detection and protection sensor data, and predictive modelling. This innovative framework will set a new benchmark for how fire safety information is managed, visualised, and utilised during emergencies.
Moreover, the research outcomes will advance the theoretical understanding of data integration in digital twin platforms. It will demonstrate practical methods to enhance building fire safety practices, improve emergency response capabilities, and inform future building fire safety regulations and standards, supported by abundant data from real fire incidents.
Person Specification:
We are seeking a highly motivated and capable candidate to support a project at the intersection of fire safety engineering, computational modelling, and emerging digital technologies. This position is ideal for graduates in computer science or computer/electronic engineering with experience in the application of machine learning. However, applicants with other relevant engineering backgrounds, such as fire engineering, mechanical engineering, architectural engineering, or civil engineering, with proven experience in applying machine learning will also be considered.
While an MEng or MSc qualification in a relevant field is desirable, equivalent industry experience with a BEng or BSc will also be considered. The successful candidate should have applied programming skills to develop, train, and validate machine learning models, along with a sound understanding of algorithm selection, model evaluation, and the interpretation of results. The candidate must demonstrate strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, particularly in working with complex datasets and interpreting outputs within the context of the built environment and fire safety.
A working understanding of digital twin technology and its applications, such as how digital twins integrate simulation, monitoring, and real-time data to support improved decision-making, is desirable but not essential. The ideal candidate will have experience working across disciplines, including fire safety engineering, building engineering, and computational modelling. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, are important, as the role involves presenting complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences. Collaboration and teamwork are essential; the candidate should be confident working independently as well as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Overseas applicants:
International applicants must also provide a valid English language qualification, such as International English Language Test System (IELTS) or equivalent with an overall score of 6.5 with no band below 6.0.
Contact:
If you have any questions or need further information, please use the contact details below:
– For enquiries about the funding or project proposal, please contact: [email protected]
– For enquiries about the application process, please contact: [email protected]
PhD position at Gent University
A novel combustion modelling approach for critical and transient phenomena in fire-driven turbulent diffusion flames: extinction, re-ignition, production of toxic species
See PDF flyer: https://iafss.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/PhD-position-in-Ghent-Belgium-.pdf
Motivation
Predictive modelling of compartment fires remains very challenging, due to the prohibitively wide spectrum of scales to be resolved in simulations of turbulent flames and two-way coupling of gas-phase combustion with gasification of combustible material. This project will advance both problems by developing, from revisited theory, a novel sub-grid combustion model (SCM) for unresolved gas-phase combustion phenomena in large-eddy simulations (LES). The SCM will be capable of capturing flame extinction and (re-)ignition accurately, enabling prediction of these critical transient phenomena in fires by inclusion of finite-rate chemistry. The novel SCM will be implemented in multiple software packages and validated against available experimental data. Its advantage over conventional models (infinitely fast chemistry) will be demonstrated. The SCM will be tested in a systematic manner for unconfined flames and then applied to predict transient development of under-ventilated enclosure fires. With respect to the latter, dynamics of burning rate will be thoroughly examined with and without full coupling between the gaseous flame and fuel gasification rate. While advancing the problem of gas-condensed fuel coupling, charring and non-charring combustible materials as well as liquid fuel evaporation together with complex heat and mass transfer will be considered, and the finite-rate chemistry effects in flaming combustion will be investigated. A new approach for production of toxic species (CO) in under-ventilated fires will be developed and validated.
Job description
You will be closely involved in implementation of the novel modelling concepts in commercial (ANSYS Fluent) and open-source (OpenFOAM and/or FDS) software and perform a very extensive and systematic CFD study, assessing and further developing the SCM. The flow chart gives an overview of the work packages.
Your profile
- You have an MSc degree in mechanical/thermal/chemical engineering or fire safety engineering.
- You have a strong interest in numerical simulations, combustion and fire modelling.
- You have proven experience in using ANSYS Fluent, with the ability to code and implement user-defined functions, or OpenFOAM, with the ability to modify existing and incorporate new code blocks.
- You have proven experience of numerical simulations in fluid dynamics, preferably in combusting flows and fires.
- You have good skills in written and oral communication in English.
- You are flexible, responsible and able to work independently as well as in a team.
What we offer
Ghent University (https://www.ugent.be/en) is one of the major universities in Belgium, and most of its activities take place in and around historic city of Ghent. You will work in an internationally well- recognized team with many years of experience in CFD simulations of fires. Project funding is guaranteed for the entire PhD period of 4 years.
How to apply
Submit your application via email before 21 July 2025 to Prof. Bart Merci ([email protected]), Dr. Georgios Maragkos ([email protected]) and Dr. Alexander Snegirev ([email protected]). Applications must include:
- A cover letter in which you specify why you are interested in the position and why you consider yourself a suitable candidate (800 words max).
- Your full CV, including a full transcript of records to date (complete degrees and grade lists).
- E-mail addresses of at least two reference persons.
IAFSS Newsletter – Fire Safety Science News No 53
The June 2025 edition of the IAFSS Newsletter, the official newsletter of IAFSS is now available (Link for view and download).
Two PhD positions Available on Wildfire Risk in King’s College London
There are two PhD positions available. These PhD projects in fire science interlink prevention and prediction of wildfire risk, by contributing to the development of a fundamental physical model to understand the process of fire spread for wildfires, as part of a European Research Council grant (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101161183 ).
Uncontrolled wildfires are a global phenomenon that are becoming more commonplace as changes in moisture and local temperature driven by climate change affect local fuel properties and ecosystems. Different vegetation distributions can lead to very different fire spread mechanisms, as well as different effects on structures. In these PhD projects the research will aim at quantifying some of these mechanisms for different wildfire scenarios. The project will likely require a combination of qualitative, quantitative and simulation methods.
Depending on the strengths and interests of the PhD candidates, the PhD projects will focus on some of the following aspects:
- The quantification of the fundamental physical and kinetic differences arising from different vegetation fire types such as crown fires, shrub fires, and smouldering fires.
- A methodology to link lab-scale and field-scale fires.
- Numerical model of ignition with a database of fuel properties for various geographical regions.
- A multi-physics model of the fluid dynamic and combustion interaction of fuels based on the effect of moisture, fuel distribution and fuel obstructions.
You will be part of an active research programme in the Heat and Fire Lab (https://heatandfire.github.io/ ) in the Department of Engineering under the supervision of Dr Francesco Restuccia. Our group is focused on carrying out experimental and computational multidisciplinary research in the thermal sciences covering heat transfer, combustion, fire science, and bioenergy. Our interests range from helping develop more efficient and durable energy storage to understanding the fundamentals of ignition and fire spread for prevention of damage to people, property, and the environment from unwanted fires in areas such as wildfire and electrification. Our current projects focus on wildfire dynamics, battery fires, thermal management of Lithium-Ion batteries, and ignition research.
Application Details:
To be considered for the position candidates must apply via King’s Apply online application system. Details are available at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/engineering/postgraduate/research-degrees
Please apply for Engineering Research (MPhil/PhD) and indicate Dr Francesco Restuccia as the supervisor and quote the project title in your application and all correspondence.
Please ensure to add the code [FIREMOD] in the Funding section of the application form.
Please select option 5 ‘I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London’ and type the code into the ‘Award Scheme Code or Name’ box. Please copy and paste the code exactly.
The selection process will involve a pre-selection on documents and, if selected, will be followed by an invitation to an interview. Interviews will take place on a rolling basis with an expected start date of October 2025.
Further information can be found at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/how-to-apply
Funding Notes
Stipend: Tax-free stipend of approximately £22,780 p.a. with possible inflationary increases after the first year.
Bench Fees: Research allowance for consumables, conferences and travel.
Tuition fees: UK tuition fees 25/26 £7,500 per year or international tuition fees 25/26 £32,400 per year.
These tuition fees may be subject to additional increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King’s terms and conditions.
Note: A UKRI fully funded studentship will only cover what is listed above. Applications should be aware there may be other costs which will not be covered by the studentship, for example, visa fees, healthcare surcharge, relocation costs
Dr Natalia Flores-Quiroz is a researcher with experience in fire safety engineering. She worked for five years as a fire safety engineer in the mining industry before joining academia. She holds a MSc in fire safety from Ghent University, and her PhD focused on Fire investigations in Informal Settlements. Currently she is a lecturer at Stellenbosch University, where her main research areas are reconstruction of incidents in low-income settlements (i.e., informal settlements, refugee camps) and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires.
Bronwyn Forrest is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Waterloo, conducting multi-disciplinary research investigating human physiological response to fire exposure. Bronwyn graduated in 2017 with a BSc. Honours Kinesiology and in 2020 with a MASc. Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering (Heat Release Rate in Ventilation-Limited Furniture Fires) before merging her two degrees in her PhD research. As a senior graduate student in the Fire Research Group, Bronwyn spear-heads large-scale fire experiments, mentors junior graduate and undergraduate students, and has recently set-up a new ‘human exposure lab’ at the Fire Research Facility where she leads new research in that area. Since her induction into the world of fire science, Bronwyn has grown more and more passionate about the multi-faceted nature of emerging fire safety challenges. Through innovative research, she hopes to make meaningful contributions that help shape changes to fire safety over the course of her career.
Dr. (HDR) Eric Guillaume has worked in fire sciences since 1998. He formerly led the fire behaviour department of SNCF (French Railway), then changed company in 2005 to join LNE (The French National Laboratory for Testing and Metrology) as head of Fire safety studies department, and later as head of research for whole testing activities of LNE. Nowadays (since 2015), he works for Efectis France, first as Technical Director and more recently as General Manager of the company, leading one of the most important fire testing and fire safety engineering companies in Europe (With approx. 180 people and 28 M€ turnover)
Dr. Albert Simeoni is Professor and the Department Head of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is the WPI site director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States. Dr. Simeoni has served IAFSS by being chair or co-chair of the Wildland Fire track (2014, 2020 and 2023), Co-chair of the Awards Committee for the Best Thesis Awards (2023), Associate-Editor of Fire Safety Journal (2010-2015), member of the Editorial Board of Fire Safety Journal (since 2016), and Contributing Editor of Fire Safety Science News (since 2011).
Brian J. Meacham, PhD, PE (CT&MA), EUR ING, CEng (UK), FIFireE, FSFPE, is the Managing Principal of Meacham Associates. He develops risk-informed performance-based solutions to complex building and infrastructure challenges, provides peer-review services, and undertakes building and fire regulatory system studies. He also conducts research in these areas as well as in sustainable and fire resilient built environments and fire safety technologies. Brian has authored more than 300 publications, given more than 300 presentations and has been awarded more than $4M in research funding. His prior positions include Associate Professor of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Principal at Arup, Technical Director and Research Director at SFPE, and fire safety engineer in Europe and the USA. Brian is Chair of the ICC Performance Code Committee, Chair of the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Risk Assessment Methods, Immediate Past Chair of the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS), a Past President of the SFPE, and a past Chair of the Inter-jurisdictional Regulatory Collaboration Committee (IRCC). He is a licensed Professional Engineer in CT and MA, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), a registered European Engineer (EUR ING), a Fellow of the SFPE, and a Fulbright Global Scholar.
Kazunori Harada is a professor of architecture & architectural engineering at Kyoto University, Japan. He has a career in fire research for over 35 years. He has authored 14 IAFSS symposium papers. His expertise covers the fire resistance of construction materials, smoke movement and control, burning of combustibles in open and compartment, performance-based code & design of buildings and so on. He serves as a vice president of AOAFST, Asia-Oceania Association of Fire Science and Technology. He also serves as the Convenor of ISO/TC92/SC4 WG9, calculation methods for fire safety engineering (FSE), which develops calculation standards concerning FSE.
Enrico Ronchi is an Associate Professor at Lund University, Sweden. His research and education activities are focused on evacuation and human behaviour in case of building fires and wildfires. His work has been published in over 150 publications (including >90 peer-reviewed journal papers). He is currently Associate Editor for the journals Fire Technology and Safety Science and member of the editorial board of the Fire Safety Journal.
Jennifer Wen is currently Professor of Energy Resilience in the School of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey as Professor. Previously, Jennifer held positions at Computational Dynamics Limited (founding vendor of STAR-CCM), British Gas plc, South Bank University, Kingston University London, and University of Warwick. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Vice-Chair for Research for the International Association for Fire Safety Science. Jennifer is also a member and sub-task leader of the European Safety Panel on Hydrogen Safety (EHSP) established by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (now Clean Hydrogen Partnership) of the European Commission. She is an Associate Editor for the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.
Dr Wojciech Węgrzyński is with ITB, that is the Polish Building Research Institute in Warsaw. He currently holds the position of the Deputy Head of Fire Research Department and the Professor of the Institute, and a Director at SFPE Europe. He is the Author of 40 peer-reviewed papers published in all of the primary FSE journals. His main area of interest is the fundamentals of compartment fire dynamics and standardized fire testing, and also: use of computational fluid dynamics in fire, wind and fire interaction and evaluation of the effects of the spread of smoke in buildings. His research is focused on the impact of the architectural context of the building on the smoke control performance, as well as finding solutions to make the smoke exhaust systems cheaper and more efficient. Member of the Sub-committee for Research of the IAFSS. 2018 NFPA Harry C. Bigglestone Award Recipient; 2019 Jack Watts Award Recipient; 2020 SFPE 5 Under 35 Award Recipient. Member of Editorial Board of ‘Fire Technology. Hosts a fire podcast at 
Dr. Shuna Ni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. degree at Texas A&M University in 2018 and her Master’s degree at Tongji University in 2013. Dr. Ni’s research focuses on fire forensics, structural fire engineering, WUI fire resilience, fire safety of tall mass-timber buildings and fire-related multiple hazards. Her research has been funded by National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, Fire Protection Research Foundation, University Transportation Centers under the Department of Transportation, Grand Challenges Grants Program at the University of Maryland and industrial partners.
Brian Lattimer, Ph.D. is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech where he performs experimental and computational research on fire safety and disaster resilience. He has nearly 30 years of experience in fire related research. His research areas include material behavior in fires, fire dynamics, suppression agents, heat transfer from fires to surfaces, structural response during fire, and firefighting technology.
Yu Wang is a professor at the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He got joint Ph.D. from USTC and the City University of Hong Kong in 2016 and had working experience at the University of Edinburgh, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and National University of Singapore before returning to China in 2020. His primary research areas are high-rise building fire and large outdoor fire. Yu has published over 50 SCI journal papers, and is currently an Associate Editor in Fire Technology and Editorial Board Member in Fire Safety Journal. He initiated the first English fire course at USTC, Introduction of Fire Dynamics, reported by China News and People’s Daily Online (over 260,000 audiences). In recent years, he has received SFPE Global 5 Under 35 Award, Youth May Fourth Medal (Anhui Province), Young Faculty Career Award (USTCAF), and some Best Paper/Presentation/Poster/Image Awards in IAFSS or AOSFST.
ROGAUME Thomas is an Professor at the University of Poitiers – Pprime Institute (UPR3346 CNRS), FRANCE.
Prof. Yuji Nakamura is Full Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT), appointed as Affiliate Full Professor in Center for Fire Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science (since 2014). He currently serves the Head of Energy Conversion Laboratory and appointed as Department Chair since 2024. Prof. Nakamura has made professional service in Fire Science Community served as Management Committee of IAFSS during 2021-2023, worked as Co-chair of LOC in the most recent IAFSS symposium at Tsukuba, acting Associate Editor of Fire Technology since 2014 and board member of Fire Safety Journal since 2017.
Dr Felix Wiesner is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and study the role of engineered timber in fire safety. I work in the Faculty of Forestry as part of the Wood Science department. My research focus has mostly been experimental, considering fire dynamics in timber compartments and the structural fire capacity of engineered timber products. In addition, I am interested in the performance of timber in exterior building or infrastructure setting. This closely interfaces with wildfire considerations for the wildland urban interface (WUI), especially when it comes to smouldering.
Arnaud Trouvé is Professor and Chair in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland in College Park, USA. He joined the Faculty in 2001 with a Ph.D. (1989) and Engineering Degree (1985) from École Centrale of Paris, France, and with previous experience as a combustion research engineer. Professor Trouvé’s research interests include fire modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); application of data assimilation to fire and combustion; and physical modeling of combustion- and fire-related phenomena, including compartment fires, wildland fires and explosions. Professor Trouvé is a Fellow of the Combustion Institute and the recipient of the 2017 FORUM Sjölin Award. He has served on the editorial boards of the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Combustion and Flame, and Fire Technology, and is currently on the editorial boards of Combustion Theory and Modelling and the Fire Safety Journal. Professor Trouvé is also a past Chair of the US Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute (ESSCI) and a past Member of the Executive Board of the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS). He is a co-Chair of a recent initiative endorsed by IAFSS and called the “IAFSS Working Group on Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena” (the MaCFP Working Group) and the past Chair of a new network of leading higher-education institutions and research laboratories in fire safety engineering called the International Fire Safety Consortium (IFSC).
Dr Xinyan Huang is an Associate Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Fire Safety Engineering. He received his PhD from Imperial College London, MSc from UC San Diego, and BEng from Southeast University, and was a Postdoc at UC Berkeley. Dr Huang is a Combustion Scientist and a Fire Safety Engineer who has co-authored over 200 journal papers. He is an Associate Editor of Fire Technology and International Journal of Wildland Fire, an editorial member of J. Building Engineering, Fire Safety J. and Fire and Materials, a Chartered Building Services and Fire Engineer, a committee member for HK Fire Safety Code, and a Fire Expert for HK High Court. He receives the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund, Bernard Lewis Fellowship and Sugden Best Paper Award from Combustion Institute, “5 under 35” and Bono Award from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).