Fire Protection Engineering

Home to the first master’s program and one of only three fire protection engineering graduate programs in the United States, WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering Department has driven significant cutting-edge research, developed real-world solutions through its state-of-the-art fire laboratories, and graduated highly trained, influential, in-demand experts.

Our internationally renowned faculty members are recognized for cutting-edge research and teaching focused on making the world safer by tackling challenging questions about fire behavior and our response to it. Students work alongside them in state-of-the-art facilities to gain and create knowledge that informs and shapes regulatory policy, building design, manufacturing processes, first responder operations, and product performance standards.

Contact

Location:

50 Prescott Street (Gateway Park II)

Phone:

508-831-5593

Fax:

508-831-5862

fpe@wpi.edu

Area of Study	Bachelor	Minor	Certificate	Master	PhD
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In light of the devastating California wildfires that have killed 17 people, Newsweek interviewed fire protection engineering professor Albert Simeoni, asking him if these types of fires always must be devastating to human life and property. Simeoni, who studies wildfires and is a former firefighter, said damage can be minimized through science and consideration of fire behavior.

Read the Story in Newsweek

Where the wind blows wildfires can go

Related video: WPI fire protection engineers are using a newly designed wind tunnel to better understand wildfires.

Stirred by the events of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire in December 1999 and the tragedy of 9/11, WPI has been developing and applying innovative technologies and new ideas to alleviate the dangers that firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and other first responders face every day.

Learn more about the Center

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FPE Faculty and student researchers have access to facilities that are unmatched in academia—including the Performance Engineering Laboratory at Gateway Park, where researchers can conduct large-scale burns up to a two-story building.

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Kathy A. Notarianni

Associate Professor

Fire Protection Engineering

Today, firefighters serve increasingly as first responders for emergency medical calls, civil emergencies, terrorist threats, and hazardous materials incidents, in addition to fire emergencies. The fire service needs tools and technologies that aid in carrying out their ever expanding mission without increasing costs. My research is focused on working with the fire service to achieve this important goal. I am conducting research on fire department mobilization times and exposure of fire fighters to toxic gases.

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Nicholas A. Dembsey

Professor

Fire Protection Engineering

My research focuses on the building performance applications of fire dynamics, fire characteristics of materials and fire models as well as fire surveillance applications of UAVs.

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Ali S. Rangwala

Professor

Fire Protection Engineering

Current fire-safety standards do not fully account for the wide range of combustibility of materials found in industrial settings. Nor do the standards provide for accurate measurement of hazardous dust accumulation within the environment. My research addresses combustion, industrial fire protection, and explosion protection. Among the potentially life-saving projects I’m working on is the development of measurement and ~sensing devices designed to identify the presence, velocity, and flow direction of smoke.

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Milosh T Puchovsky

Professor of Practice

Fire Protection Engineering

Fire protection engineers recognize and assess a broad range of fire and life safety risks and, possess the technical knowledge and skills needed to develop effective solutions. Through my academic endeavors and professional practice, I bring practical perspectives to our students' educational experience. My teaching incorporates situations that practicing fire protection engineers face on a daily basis, facilitating our students' functional understanding of a fire's physical behavior, its impact, and the role of reacting systems, regulations and product standards.

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Albert Simeoni

Professor, interim Department Head

Fire Protection Engineering

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The demand for fire protection engineers continues to grow, providing nearly unlimited career opportunities for WPI FPE graduates. Our alumni are highly sought after and can be found working as consultants, at fire protection equipment manufacturers, and in government, the insurance industry, research laboratories, and more. Their jobs have taken them from the South Pole to Alaskan pipelines, Disney World, and beyond.

Learn More about Career Outlook

This white paper, written by FPE professor of practice Milosh Puchovsky, introduces the profession of fire protection engineering and explores the many roles fire protection engineers play in helping organizations mitigate fire and explosion threats.

Download the white paper

ESS facilities pose unique challenges as they can result in fast developing fires of significant heat release. Through a radiation heat transfer analysis, separation distances are examined. The results can inform the development of standardized spacing practices based on associated energy capacity and container size.

Download the report

Announcements

October 11, 2019

SFPE 2019

January 29, 2018

Fire Protection Engineering Department Seminar Series

SEE MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Media Coverage

WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering Lab Featured on WBZ Radio

WBZ Radio featured WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering Lab, interviewing students and describing the research done there. “WPI boasts the largest fire lab in academia nationwide. They put the lab to good use doing a number of controlled burns over the course of the year,” WBZ reported.

Valve Problems, Water Quality Can Affect Fire Sprinkler Functionality

Facilitiesnet sought insight from Professor Milosh Puchovsky, fire protection engineering, for the article (2^nd graph), “Valve Problems, Water Quality Can Affect Fire Sprinkler Functionality.”