SFPE Foundation: Opportunities for Engagement and Presentation on the Development of Fire Engineering Practitioner Tools Project

Fire Research Group and the University of Canterbury have recently completed a research project funded by the SFPE Foundation. The research project conducted an international survey of fire model usage amongst fire safety practitioners and used the results from the survey to make recommendations to SFPE and the Foundation on a future workplan to help support and improve the usage of fire models.

The presentation will be comprised of two parts:

1. Leslie Marshall, Ph.D., Director, SFPE Foundation; will provide an overview of the Foundation and current opportunities for engagement
2. Greg Baker, Ph.D., Director, Fire Research Group Ltd; will provide a summary of the research project, the survey and its findings, current gaps and future needs, and recommendations for a future workplan. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Presenter bios:

• Leslie Marshall, Ph.D., Director, SFPE Foundation

Dr. Leslie Marshall serves as the Director of SFPE Foundation, a global non-profit organization that supports research and education to improve the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the natural and build environment. Affiliated with the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Inc., SFPE Foundation leverages support from external grants and individual, corporate, and SFPE chapter donations to fund professional awards, student scholarships, and research grants; lead cross-sectoral research collaborations; conduct research workshops and meetings; develop new initiatives to support the next generation of fire protection engineers; and disseminate knowledge to advance the field of fire engineering and fire safety science globally.

Previously, Dr. Marshall served as founding Associate Director of the Center for Sustainable Business at the University of Pittsburgh, overseeing all aspects of the center’s programming. In that role, she was also Co-Principal Investigator, Project Manager, and Lead Author for the Marshall Plan for Middle America (MP4MA) Roadmap, an award-winning, non-partisan, multi-sectoral research effort to envision a more equitable and sustainable regional economic future for the Ohio River Valley and Upper Appalachia. Her academic work has been published in top academic journals, including the Journal of Experimental Political Science, The Journal of Politics, and the Quarterly Journal of Political Science. She has extensive field experience coordinating large-scale data collection and research efforts in Lebanon, Uganda, and the United States, and has spent time studying in Indonesia on a U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship. As an independent consultant, she has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and Innovations for Poverty Action, and she previously collaborated with the Centre for Women in Governance (Uganda) and with the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. She also co-owns a small consulting firm, the Research Group for Sustainable Impacts, that assists organizations in developing more inclusive and sustainable practices for measuring and evaluating the impact of their programs. She is an affiliate of the Economic and Social Rights Research Group of the University of Connecticut’s Human Rights Institute and sits on the Advisory Council of the Ohio River Valley Institute. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Denison University

• Greg Baker, Ph.D., Director, Fire Research Group Ltd

Greg Baker is a Director of specialist applied fire research consultancy Fire Research Group Ltd, based in Wellington, New Zealand. Greg has worked in the building and construction sector for approximately 35 years. Originally starting his working life as a consulting structural engineer, then working in building product manufacturing and contracting, and then involved in product R&D and scientific research for the last 25 years. Greg’s primary area of professional activity is performance-based fire safety engineering. Greg is the Chair of the SFPE’s Standing Committee for Research. Tools and Methods (RTM) and within that committee also chairs a committee which is developing a new SFPE PBD Standard. Greg has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and two post-graduate degrees in fire engineering. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer in Australia and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a Professional Member of SFPE