Guest Lecture FP 575: Explosion Protection Engineering - Hazardous Area Classification
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Fire Protection Engineering Department
FPE SEMINAR SERIES
Guest Lecture FP 575: Explosion Protection Engineering
Hazardous Area Classification
John LeBlanc
FM
Thursday, April 9, 2026
11:00 – 12:00 pm EST
https://wpi.zoom.us/j/97396230897
Online Only
Biography:
John LeBlanc is a Staff Vice President and Senior Engineering Technical Specialist within the Chief Engineer’s group of FM. John has been with FM for 40 years. John is responsible for the development and updating of FM’s Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets on ignitable liquid handling/storage, aerosol products, explosion protection systems, and provides support to all of the special hazard subject matter experts who handle combustible dust standards, flammable gas standards, hazardous chemical standards and special protection systems. In addition, he works with Research to support the development of research programs to understand and protect client scenarios.
John received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Master of Science in Fire Protection Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He serves on fifteen National Fire Protection Association committees responsible for ignitable (flammable and/or combustible) liquids (NFPA 30), aerosol products (NFPA 30B), finishing processes (NFPA 33/34), explosion protection systems (NFPA 67/68/69), static electricity (NFPA 77), hazardous chemicals (NFPA 400), the correlating committee for NFPA 13, and the three committees working on the creation of NFPA 660 combustible dusts. He is chair of the NFPA 30 Correlating Committee and NFPA 30B. John has recently been appointed to the NFPA Standards Council. John is a Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
This lecture is offered as part of FP 575 (Explosion Protection Engineering) taught by Prof. Lorenz Boeck for the Explosion Protection Engineering (XPE) – A new and exciting interdisciplinary MS program by Aerospace, Chemical, Civil, Fire Protection, and Mechanical Engineering at WPI.
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/master-science-explosion-protection-engineering