Take your place at the frontline of a global movement to design a safer world with WPI’s internationally renowned PhD in Fire Protection Engineering.
The first university to offer a PhD in Fire Protection Engineering—and currently home to one of the nation’s three graduate programs in the field—WPI is recognized as a world leader in fire dynamics and computational modeling.
As a PhD student here, you’ll learn from and work with expert WPI faculty members who are making advances that inform regulatory policy, building design, first responder operations, and product performance standards. You’ll also benefit from our strong industry connections, robust alumni network, and hands-on approach to learning.
Fire protection engineering is interdisciplinary in its nature—protecting our increasingly crowded world from the risk of fire means diving into a stimulating mix of engineering disciplines, mathematics, computer science, and even psychology.
As you pursue your PhD in fire protection engineering, you will have a chance to explore all the facets of FPE through our large selection of courses, and through focused research undertaken in collaboration with a faculty advisor. Our courses and research focus on these topics:
Groundbreaking research is a cornerstone of WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering Department. Fire protection engineering is a relatively young field, and WPI faculty and student researchers are helping shape the discipline and create new areas of knowledge.
Our researchers receive significant funding from public and private sectors as they increase breakthroughs aimed at making the world a safer place, from assessing fire hazards of green buildings, to streamlining procedural standards for firefighters and understanding of how wildfires spread.
Our graduate students have access to state-of-the-art facilities and unsurpassed, technologically advanced laboratories and classrooms. Our Performance Engineering Laboratory boosts unique full-scale capabilities, including 2,000 square feet of space that can be adapted for a wide range of large-scale experiments. Other resources include our Combustion Laboratory and Fire Fundamentals Laboratory.
My research focuses on the building performance applications of fire dynamics, fire characteristics of materials and fire models. I am working in the following areas: closing the fire performance gap in buildings; fire safety of green buildings; development of new techniques and guidance documents for practicing engineers to measure fire properties of materials; the optimization of building assemblies for fire performance, ease of manufacturing and cost effectiveness.
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.
Practicing 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.
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.
Whether you want to gain professional experience or just have fun, you’ll find many opportunities to get involved outside of class, from club sports to the performing arts. You may also connect with other fire protection engineering students in the WPI Student Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.
Ready to become a leader in fire protection, but need to earn a master’s first? With our master’s in fire protection engineering, you will gain the hands-on experience and exposure to predict and inform policy while on the frontline of fire emergencies.
Prefer the flexibility to study online at your convenience? Our online master’s in fire protection engineering is a customizable program that provides students the ability to study remotely part-time. Maybe you’re looking to get an introduction in fire protection rather than the commitment of a master’s? We offer online and on-campus graduate certificates that cover fire dynamics and computational modeling so you can gain advance knowledge in the field.
