News
JUNE 2024 In memoriam ir. Xavier Deckers
The IMFSE Management Board Members are very sad to share the news of the passing away of Xavier Deckers on 17th June 2024.
A former Ghent University student (first Electro-Mechanical Engineering and then Fire Safety Engineering), Xavier joined the research team of Prof. Bart Merci in 2007. In 2009 he created FESG (Fire Engineered Solutions Ghent) as spin-off of Ghent University. Through the combination of Xavier’s enthusiasm and competency, he managed to grow FESG into an internationally successful and renowned consultancy company. He was very proud on the realization of making FESG become part of Jensen Hughes.
Xavier Deckers has always been exceptionally supportive of the IMFSE program in words and in deeds. FESG has been member of the IMFSE Sponsorship Consortium from the start, but Xavier was personally always very active, as member of the Industry Advisory Board as well as through supervision and assessment of master’s dissertations, internships and project assignments. Many IMFSE alumni found their way to FESG (now Jensen Hughes Belgium) through Xavier.
Xavier Deckers will never be forgotten and IMFSE will remain grateful forever. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
MAY 2024 Celebration day 2024 - 20 june 2024
On June 20th 2024, the IMFSE (International Master of Science in Fire Safety Engineering) Management Board organizes the Celebration Day for the student cohort 2022-2024. This will be held at Campus Aula, Voldersstraat 9, 9000 Gent (Belgium).
The registration form and more information can be found here: https://congrezzo.ugent.be/celebration-ceremony-imfse-class-of-2024/tw14-event-registratie
UPDATE JULY 2024: The pictures from our Celebration Ceremony are now available. Thank you for attending, it was great to celebrate this day with all of you!
https://lnkd.in/ecdK6jYp
FEBRUARY 2024 New IMFSE contributor: FSRI
Recently IMFSE welcomed FSRI as one of the IMFSE contributing companies.
UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) advances fire safety knowledge to address the world’s unresolved fire safety risks and emerging dangers. As part of UL Research Institutes, we are committed to sharing our fire safety insights with everyone to advance UL’s public safety mission of providing safe living and working environments for people everywhere. Through advanced fire science, rigorous research, extensive outreach and education in collaboration with our international network of partners, we impart stakeholders with the information, tools and resources that enable them to make better, more fire-safe decisions that ultimately save lives and property.
NOVEMBER 2023 IMFSE Virtual Tour 11 December 2023
IMFSE is setting up a Virtual Tour for everyone interested to find out more about the programme! This tour will take place on Monday 11 December 2023, at 14:00 CET (until 15:15 CET). It's a great way to get to know the IMFSE programme and the different universities involved, as well as meet the IMFSE staff and ask questions on the spot. And everything just by sitting in front of your computer, really easy!
Click on the link to join the meeting: https://bit.ly/VirtualTour-11December2023
This meeting will be recorded. If you join the meeting, you will agree to this.
Hope you will be joining us then!
August 2023 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.
August 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.
JUly 2023 Rita Fahy - October 4, 1955 ~ July 12, 2023
The IMFSE family shares condolences on the loss of Dr Rita Fahy. Rita has been involved in the IMFSE programme as visiting scholar since its beginning. Rita spent her career working at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and was a renowned world expert on evacuation and human behaviour in fire, being considered a leader in the community. Her main fields of expertise included fire statistics, the panic misconception, design of behavioural scenarios, evacuation simulations and analysis of fires through behavioural theories. Her lectures in the IMFSE Human Behaviour in Fire course at Lund University have always been appreciated by students and colleagues. She had a key role in developing the human behaviour in fire course at Lund University and acted as a generous and knowledgeable mentor for younger colleagues and students. Rita has played an important role for IMFSE as educator, also bringing her vast knowledge on NFPA and ISO codes related to evacuation design. Most importantly, her genuine passion for fire safety was a source of inspiration for the whole IMFSE community and contributed to shape several generations of fire safety engineers.
The IMFSE directors, administrators, teachers and students will all miss Rita.