Publications
The master dissertations have already led to high quality publication in the leading journals in the field of Fire Safety Engineering.
Received awards
2024
The Ragnar Wighus Award for IMFSE alumnus Cédric van de Vondel
Yet again, one of our alumni wins the Ragnar Wighus Award. This time it was Cédric van de Vondel who won the prestigious prize award, which made it possible for him to present his master thesis at the annual international Water Mist Conference (#IWMC2024 - Antwerp, Belgium).
Cédric van de Vondel says: "Winning this award for my thesis on numerical modelling of water mist is a tremendous honour. I'm grateful to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Tarek Beji, and the IMFSE institute for their invaluable knowledge and support. I am excited to share my research and its potential impact on the water mist field."
The sponsor of the award is the International Water Mist Association (IWMA). In 2023, the award was renamed “Ragnar Wighus Award” in memory of the former and late president. Prior to that, the prize was called “IWMA Young Talent Award”.
2023
IMFSE Program Director Bart Merci receives the Arthur B. Guise Medal
The IMFSE is proud to share that IMFSE Program Director Prof Bart Merci (Ghent University) has been awarded the Arthur B. Guise Medal! According to the SFPE Foundation website it 'represents its most prestigious research award'. Prof Merci receives the Medal as recognition for the research on CFD in fire safety science and engineering, as well as for his leadership in the IMFSE program.
IMFSE award winning alumni - SFPE Foundation
The IMFSE is proud to share some news on our award winning alumni:
Silvia Arias (Lund University) graduated in 2013 and is one of the recipients of the Jack Bono Award for Engineering Communication. The recipients received their award for their article “A Study on Evacuation Behavior in Physical and Virtual Reality Experiments.” Endowed by UL Research Institutes, this award recognizes author(s) who have most contributed to the advancement and application of professional fire protection engineering in the prior year.
Pascale Vacca graduated in 2017 and was awarded a 2023 Student Scholar Award. This award aims to recognize outstanding undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate students performing research to advance the science and practice of fire protection engineering worldwide.
Dr. Martin Thielens wins IWMA Young Talent Award for his PhD Thesis
Since 2016, the IWMA (International Water Mist Association) scientific council evaluates submissions from scientists applying for the IWMA Young Talent Award. Former IMFSE lecturer Martin Thielens is granted the award in 2023 for his PhD thesis (“Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of Water Sprays in Fire-Driven Flows”), under supervision of Profs Tarek Beji and Bart Merci.
Dr. Xiepeng Sun received the IAFSS Best Thesis Award - Regio Asia Pacific
Xiepeng Sun performed his PhD research on ‘Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Ejected Facade Flame Behavior from Compartment Fires under Different Ventilation Conditions’ under the joint supervision of Prof Longhua Hu (USTC) and Prof Bart Merci (Ghent University) and obtained a joint PhD degree from both institutes. The quality of the work was recognized by IAFSS (the International Association for Fire Safety Science), granting dr. Sun the prestigious 3-yearly Best Thesis Award (Region Asia Pacific). USTC is an associated partner institute of the IMFSE program, coordinated by Ghent University.
2022
IMFSE alumnus Robert Bray wins the US-UK Fulbright Award
Robert Bray - graduated in 2020 - was awarded a US-UK Fulbright scholarship (“All Disciplines” Award) to work as a visiting researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, USA. Rob will spend five months primarily working on the evaluation of experimental methods for the purpose of producing scalable fire properties from under-ventilated compartments. He also hopes to assist in a diverse range of fire research projects currently ongoing at WPI as well as explore the rich offerings of cultural and historical significance dotted throughout the East Coast region.
The Fulbright commission is a prestigious scholarship programme with the “All Disciplines” award being extremely competitive. Rob is thankful for this opportunity to broaden UK engagement and collaboration with other nations in the field of fire engineering and believes that the IMFSE programme was critical to the application’s success.
IMFSE alumnus Haydn Lewis wins the IWMA Young Talent Award
In 2022, the IWMA scientific council declared Haydn Lewis the winner of the 2022 IWMA Young Talent Award / Master! Haydn Lewis completed his master thesis towards the end of 2020. Under the given circumstance, i.e. that there was no conference in 2020, thus no opportunity to apply for the award, his thesis was also accepted. Haydn graduated from the International Master of Science in Fire Safety Engineering (IMFSE) and was supervised by Dr. Nils Johansson. The title of his thesis is: “Factors influencing the generation of carbon monoxide in fires partially suppressed through water mist application”.
Haydn Lewis has now been invited to the 21st International Water Mist Conference which will take place in Madrid on 9th and 10th November 2022. Having been given a speaker slot, he will get the opportunity to introduce his thesis to a wider audience.
An interview with the award winner himself can be found here (page 54-55).
Lea Elhokayem (IMFSE alumnus) wins the best thesis award at the Nordic Fire & Safety Days conference in Lund
Recently graduated IMFSE student Lea Elhokayem received the best thesis award at the Nordic Fire & Safety Days conference in Lund. The Nordic Fire & Safety Days is a biannually conference carried out by the Nordic universities and research institutes dealing with risk and fire safety.
2021
Both Prof Jose Torero and Prof Grunde Jomaas receive a SFPE award
Mentoring of students is essential for the success of the IMFSE. In 2012, we were excited when one of the founders of the programme, Robert Jönsson, received the John L. Bryan mentoring award. It is with great pride and pleasure that we can announce that Grunde Jomaas is the 2021 recipient of the same award (The John L. Bryan Award - SFPE), as it means that our mentoring now has been recognised for a decade by the leading professional organisation in our field.
Jose Torero on receiving the David A. Lucht Lamp of Knowledge Award: “Educating the next generations of professionals in the field has always been my main driver. It is the people that make our profession and therefore it is the people that have been my focus. I believe the drive to increase the opportunities for higher education in Fire Safety Engineering is something I shared with David A. Lucht. I therefore feel deeply proud and humbled to receive the SFPE David A. Lucht award (https://www.sfpe.org/about-sfpe/awardshonors/luchtrecipients). It is particularly rewarding to receive the award alongside two individuals, both affiliated to the IMFSE, with whom I have shared a long path and a commitment to higher education. Grunde Jomaas (receiving the John L. Bryan award for his commitment and dedication to education) and Richard Emberley (SFPE Emerging Professionals 5 Under 35 award).”
2021
Leo Menzemer and Robert Bray both win the Ernst-Achilles-Award 2021
The Ernst-Achilles-Award recognizes final theses (Master & Bachelor) or dissertations, theses that deal with outstanding innovations in the field of fire protection. In 2021 there were IMFSE alumni among the winners: Leo Menzemer (2nd place) and Robert Bray (3rd place).
Ernst Achilles is considered a pioneer in preventive fire protection and a pioneer in medical emergency rescue by the fire brigade. As head of the Frankfurt fire brigade and university lecturer for many years, he has significantly shaped German fire protection to this day with new ideas and solutions and is thus a representative of the spirit of further developing fire protection in Germany.
2019
Silvia Arias (IMFSE alumnus) receives the Dr. Guylène Proulx, OC Scholarship
In 2019 Silvia Arias received the Dr. Guylène Proulx, OC Scholarship. Dr. Proulx was a preeminent researcher and communicator in the field of human behavior. The goal of this award is to honor those who continue Dr. Proulx’s legacy in the area of human behavior studies.
“This scholarship honors Dr. Guylène Proulx's legacy by building on her research in the field of human behavior in fire. I received this award to further explore ways to enhance realism in Virtual Reality scenarios for human behavior in fire research.”
2018
Simon Santamaría
Simon Santamaría (IMFSE alumnus) wins the John Moyes Lessells Travel Scholarship
I received the John Moyes Lessells Travel Scholarship, which is designed for "Honours Graduates in Engineering from Scottish Universities, who wish to study some aspect of their profession outwith the UK". This allowed me to complete a three month stay as a visiting researcher at The University of California, Berkeley, working with Prof. Carlos Fernandez-Pello's group. This was an incredibly interesting and rewarding experience. Having the opportunity to work with Prof. Fernandez-Pello in the field of ignition and flame spread was a true joy. His research and expertise is recognized world-wide. During my time at Berkeley I collaborated in a project studying the ignition of cellulose fuels by hot embers, with particular emphasis on the effects of Fuel Moisture Content and Particle Size. This has direct applications to wildfire spread by spot ignition, a topic that increasingly worries and focuses the attention of the fire science community. Other than that, I got to visit wonderful places, such as Lake Tahoe, The Sequoia's National Park and of course, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, home of the cyclotron and the site where 14 elements of the periodic table were discovered.
2018
Dr Juan P. Hidalgo
Dr Juan P. Hidalgo (The University of Queensland), Prof José L. Torero and Dr Stephen Welch have received the 2018 Tibor Z. Harmathy Award
Dr Juan P. Hidalgo (The University of Queensland), Prof José L. Torero and Dr Stephen Welch have received the 2018 Tibor Z. Harmathy Award for their paper titled ‘Experimental Characterisation of the Fire Behaviour of Thermal Insulation Materials for a Performance-Based Design Methodology’, published by Fire Technology (Springer) in 2017.
The Tibor Z. Harmathy Award is given to the best paper published during the year that was led by a student. The paper was first nominated by the Editorial Board as one of the best papers and then judged to be the Harmathy winner by the Associate Editors. This paper is an outcome of Dr Hidalgo's PhD research on the fire safe use of insulation materials, which was developed at the University of Edinburgh and funded by Rockwool International A\S.
The journal paper can be accessed here. For more information visit Fire Technology's tweet.
2017
Bart Van Weyenberge (IMFSE Alumnus) wins the 2017-2018 Fire Forum Award
MFSE Alumnus Bart Van Weyenberge (center in the picture), representing study office FESG, won the 2017-2018 Fire Forum Award in the category ‘Consultancy and architecture’ on the 4th National Fire Forum Awards (In November 2017). He won the award for the development of a fire safety design for the renovation of an old church into a multicultural building. FESG, founded by Xavier Deckers (right on picture) is a spin-off from Ghent University, IMFSE sponsor and employer of several IMFSE alumni.
2017
Carmen Gorska Putynska
Carmen Gorska Putynska (IMFSE alumnus) wins the IAFSS Best Poster Award
IMFSE alumnus Carmen Gorska Putynska won the Best Poster Award at the occasion of the 12th IAFSS Symposium (June 2017 - Lund). The poster presented her research on 'Self-extinguishment of Exposed Cross Laminated Timber Walls in Compartment Fires' wich is being performed at the University of Queensland (Australia) under the supervision of Juan P. Hidalgo and Jose Torero. Congratulations, Carmen!
2017
IMFSE Alumnus becomes program evaluator for ABE
Nick Bartlett, Senior Fire Protection Engineer at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, California, was recently accepted to become a program evaluator for for ABET. ABET is a non-governmental accreditation agency for engineering and science programs. As a volunteer for ABET, Nick will work to assess undergraduate fire safety engineering programs to assure they are meeting the standards required by the profession. Nick also recently assisted in the fire investigation of the Ghost Ship Fire in Oakland, California, a tragic fire which claimed the lives of 36 individuals.
2016
IMFSE alumnus Daan Van den Broecke wins the 'Daan Sugden Young Engineerings Writing Award' (ATS)
Daan Van den Broecke (IMFSE class 2014-2016) has won the D. Sugden Young Engineers Writing Award award for his paper 'Study on the Effectiviness of Sprinklers in Tunnels'. The research was done at the University of Queensland (Australia), one of the Associated Partners of the IMFSE Consortium. This award from the Australasian Tunnel Society is given yearly to a young engineer to develop the art of technical writing. Additional publishing.
IMFSE alumnus Daniel Martin (USA) wins the very first 'IWMA Young Talent Award 2016'
The winner of this year’s “IWMA Young Talent Award / Master” is Mr. Daniel Alexander Martin. The title of his winning master thesis is: “The Use of a Water Mist Curtain as a Radiation Shield”.
Daniel performed his thesis research under the supervision of Bjarne Husted (Lund University) in academic year 2014-2015, within the framework of his IMFSE studies. The full thesis can be accessed here.
Mr. Martin, who has been a volunteer firefighter, has now started to work for Jensen Hughes, Inc. as an Associate Fire Protection Engineer at the company headquarters in Baltimore, USA.
2015
IMFSE alumnus Bart Van Weyenberge wins the Fire Forum Award
IMFSE Alumnus Bart Van Weyenberge won the 2015-2016 Fire Forum Award in the category 'Research' on the 3th National Fire Forum Awards. He won the award for his research regarding the development of a risk assessment methodology for quantifying the life safety risk in case of fire in challenging buildings.
The research was conducted in cooperation with Ghent University and Fire Engineered Solutions Ghent (SFEG), an UGent spin-off.
2013
IMFSE Alumnus Brecht Debrouwere wins IFV-VVBA Award with Master Thesis
(Promotor: Prof. Bart Merci)
IMFSE Alumnus Brecht Debrouwere won the IFV-VVBA Award on the 6th National Fire Safety Engineering congress in The Netherlands. He won the award for his excellent master thesis entitled ‘A study on initial fire behaviour in lower energy houses’.
This master thesis has been written as final assessment in the International Master of Science in Fire Safety Engineering, with Prof. Bart Merci as promotor. More info about the award (in Dutch) can be found on nieman.nl.
The decision for the award has been motivated by the Chairman as follows:
‘Given the scientific argumentation, the applicability for the fire brigade and the presentation of the work, we as jury decided to grant the Scriptieprijs 2013 to Brecht Debrouwere. He describes in an exceptionally clear manner the risks that may occur in case of fire in a (very) low energy house. The dissertation is of high scientific level and of strong relevance for the fire brigade. It provides important information for the fire service, both for the phase of fire prevention and for the phase of fire service intervention. Debrouwere combines clear and useful theory, experiments and application to practice.’
Prof. Bart Merci’s group wins 2 Fire Forum Awards
Prof. Bart Merci’s group received 2 of the 2013 FireForum Awards. The first award concerns the collaboration with Brandweer Gent for the fire tests in the high-rise buildings ‘Rabottoren’, where also ELIS-iMinds was involved. The other award concerns the successful spin-off company Fire Engineered Solutions Ghent, led by ir. Xavier Deckers.
2011
Prof. Bart Merci’s group wins the Fire Forum Award for Social Value- November 2011
FireForum Awards is a new Belgium prize to celebrate excelence in fire safety engineering. It is organized by Fire Forum in cooperation with the Federal Public Service Home Affairs and the Federal Civil Security Knowledge (KCCE). The first edition of the awards was celebrated at the Koloniënpaleis, Tervuren, on 17 November 2011.