The development of degree programmes in Fire Safety Engineering – the industrial view

The following is a very brief overview of a very big subject, which is intertwined with the rapid development of fire safety engineering and the needs of industry. A fire safety engineering degree has to meet the needs of the: -
  • Designer
  • Manufacturer
  • Contractor
  • Building operator
  • Those involved with the regulatory process and its implementation
The full circle of fire safety from strategy, to procurement, leading to an effectively run building truly does require a very wide range of skills. Our universities need to appreciate the depth and breadth of this knowledge even though they may not be able to deliver it in its entirety. How is it possible to be so broad, whilst delivering skills and expertise of a sufficient depth to be useful? The realistic answer is that it is almost impossible, so we have to be selective about what to teach at university and subsequently learnt in industry on real projects. Fire safety design is rapidly converting from a prescriptive methodology to a full performance based discipline and will continue to rely more and more on the basics of mathematics, computational skills, physics and chemistry which form the bedrock of any engineering discipline. Added to this are the management issues and psychological aspects of the discipline, which all together creates an exiting opportunity. What do industrial partners want from graduates?
  • Solid engineering skills that can be applied to a multitude of scenarios across the full breadth of the fire engineering discipline
  • The ability to understand, to recognise risk and to manage risk in an engineering sense, and clearly communicate the outcomes
  • A good appreciation of the design process and a broad understanding of the range of products available
  • Some knowledge of codes and legislation - not too much time on this as that will come quickly on projects
  • A methodology for using computers - not just running the programmes- that is effective and reliable
How can the universities deliver this?
  • Adopt formal and effective industrial liaison for both research and teaching
  • Back up the teaching with sound research
  • Spend time understanding the priorities and agreeing what is best done in industry
  • Fire safety engineering is changing and developing rapidly so the courses have to keep up with the needs of industry via effective consultation
  • Appreciate that fire safety engineering does not have the stability of a100 years of steady growth like the more traditional engineering disciplines. Therefore universities should consider working closer together as every department can not easily be an expert in every area at this early stage. This helps UK industry maintain its position amongst the leaders in the world market.
  • Only recruit the very best undergraduates - marketing and communication is necessary and clearly a joint effort with industry and the professions is essential.
Construction as a whole still remains very fragmented, so the challenge is to make sure that the education process provides our graduates with the basic skills to be a positive influence on the delivery of built environment. It is essential that our fire engineering courses deliver the full circle of fire safety.