The University of Edinburgh has been a major seat of learning in the field of Fire Safety Engineering for over three decades. Many of those who are now leaders in the field came to Edinburgh to study and research under the supervision of the late Prof David Rasbash, one of the main pioneers of the discipline, Prof Dougal Drysdale, author of the definitive text book on the subject, 'Introduction to Fire Dynamics' (Wiley, 3rd edition 2011), and Prof José Torero, the BRE/RAEng Chair in Fire Safety Engineering from 2004 to 2012. Teaching and research in fire safety continues at Edinburgh under the leadership of Prof Albert Simeoni appointed to the BRE Chair in Fire Safety Engineering in 2013, and Prof Luke Bisby, Chair of Fire and Structures, since 2013.

#ed40fire

The 2014 FIRESEAT event was an invite-only conference and reunion for our own alumni and former staff. This took place on 15-16 May 2014 in Edinburgh, and featured both the Philip Thomas Lecture 2014 and the IFE Rasbash Lecture 2014. Photos, papers and presentations from this event are available on the ed40fire. A personal review of the event, written by one of the delegates, can be found on our blog.

History

2014

• The sixth FireSeat event was a two day symposium and reunion held on the 15th and 16th of May 2014, celebrating 40 years of Fire Safety Engineering @ Edinburgh. This symposium featured the fourth Philip H. Thomas Lecture which was delivered by Prof. Colin Bailey, and the 2014 IFE Rasbash Lecture which was delivered by Dr John de Ris. Printed proceedings of the event will be available shortly.

2011

• The fifth FireSeat event was a one day symposium held on the 9th of November 2011 entitled "The Science of Suppression". This symposium featured the third Philip H. Thomas Lecture which was delivered by Dr Ronald L. Alpert. Printed proceedings of the event are available.

2010

• The fourth FireSeat event was a one day symposium held on the 10th of November 2010 entitled "Fire Safety Engineering in the UK: The State of the Art". Printed proceedings of the event are available.

2009

• The third FireSeat event was a one day symposium held on the 4th of November 2009 entitled "Fire and Rescue in the 21st Century: How Science and Engineering Support the Fire Service". This symposium featured the second Philip H. Thomas Lecture which was delivered by Dr Bjorn Karlsson. Printed proceedings of the event will be available shortly.

2008

• The second FireSeat event was a one day symposium held on the 12th of November 2008 entitled "Fire & Building Safety in the Single European Market". This symposium featured the inaugural Philip H. Thomas Lecture which was delivered by Prof Geoff Cox. Printed proceedings of the event are available.

2007

• The first FireSeat event was a one day symposium held on the 14th of November 2007 detailing the results of the large scale building fires carried out in Dalmarnock, Glasgow by the University of Edinburgh and partners in July 2006. Each of the presentations given on the day is now available for download from the Dalmarnock Fire Tests. The book detailing the tests and the modelling, produced for the event, is available to order on the publications. It is also available to buy through Amazon.co.uk.

5th Fire and Explosion Hazards

• The 5th International Seminar on Fire and Explosion Hazards was held in Edinburgh in April 2007. It brought together an exciting body of 120 researchers and international experts working on the underlying science and technology associated with fire and explosion hazards. The proceedings of the event are available to order on the publications.