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.
Curriculum
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:
- advanced fire suppression
- building fire safety
- detection, alarm, and smoke control
- explosion protection
- failure analysis
- fire dynamics
Faculty Profiles
Getting Involved
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.