Internationally Known Consultant Joins Faculty
Brian J. Meacham ’84, ’91 joined the WPI faculty as associate professor of fire protection engineering in January 2008. A highly respected consultant, he previously headed the management consulting business and the risk consulting practice for Arup in the Americas. Meacham is widely sought out for his knowledge and expertise in risk-informed performance-based design and regulation.
Meacham’s 23-year career includes four and a half years at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, where he served as technical director and, later, research director. He earlier worked for FireTech in Switzerland as principal fire protection engineer, ran his own fire protection and risk consulting firm, Meacham Associates, and held engineering positions at Cerberus AG, FP&C Consultants, Firepro, and the Gamewell Corporation.
His consulting work has taken him throughout the world. As just a few examples, he has led threat, vulnerability, and risk assessments for key transit agencies in New York City and Phoenix. He led a quantitative risk assessment and fire and life safety analysis of a new consolidated rental car facility at Miami International Airport. He has conducted fire safety assessments of facilities in England, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. And, serving as principal risk and regulatory policy consultant, has advised the governments of Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore on building and fire regulatory issues.
In addition to a long list of publications, conference proceedings, technical reports, and other publications, Meacham has published four books, including Egress Design Solutions, which he co-authored with Jeff Tubbs ‘90, Extreme Event Mitigation in Buildings, which he co-edited with Matt Johann for the National Fire Protection Association, and Introduction to Performance-Based Fire Safety, which he co-authored with Richard Custer. With funding from sources including the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the private sector, Meacham has conducted a number of research projects on topics that include building regulatory policy and development, quantification of uncertainty and variability in computational models, and development of performance-based fire protection engineering design concepts.
He is frequently invited to lecture on risk-informed, performance-based engineering, and on regulation, at venues around the world, including WPI, where he previously taught FPE courses and co-advised MS theses and independent study projects. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the National Fire Protection Association and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, which elected him a fellow in 2000 “in recognition of significant accomplishment and stature in engineering.”
In addition to a BS in electrical engineering and an MS in fire protection engineering from WPI, he holds a PhD in risk and public policy from Clark University.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: January 25, 2008 11:10:20