Schedule







This annual conference is recognized as the
top source of the latest technical information on fire protection engineering issues and emerging trends, case studies, research, and codes and standards. With more than 400 leading professionals from around the globe, the conference offers unparalleled opportunities for networking with peers and exploring new products, technologies, and business opportunities. 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Pre-Conference Schedule

Monday, October 10, 2022

8:30 – 5:00p
Marquette A 

Pre-conference Seminar: Introduction to Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview

8:30 – 5:00p
Greco 

Pre-conference Seminar: Advanced Fire Alarm System Design: Applying the Principles of Performance-based Design

8:30 – 5:00p
LaSalle B

Pre-conference Seminar: Principles of Fire Protection Engineering 

8:30 – 5:00p 
LaSalle A

Pre-conference Seminar: Sprinkler Design for Engineers 

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

8:30 – 5:00p 
Marquette A

Pre-conference Seminar: Introduction to Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview

8:30 – 5:00p 
Greco

Pre-conference Seminar: Advanced Fire Alarm System Design: Applying the Principles of Performance-based Design

8:30 – 5:00p 
LaSalle B

Pre-conference Seminar: Principles of Fire Protection Engineering 

8:30 – 5:00p 
LaSalle A

Pre-conference Seminar: Sprinkler Design for Engineers 

Wednesday, October 12, 2022 

8:30a
Hotel Lobby

Stellantis Complex Tour (Sponsored by Stellantis and the SFPE Michigan Chapter)sfpe_michiganHR.jpg

8:30 – 11:30a 
La Salle B

Pre-conference Seminar: Principles of Fire Protection Engineering 

8:30 –11:30a 
LaSalle A

Pre-conference Seminar: Sprinkler Design for Engineers 

10:00a - 5:00p
Renaissance

Registration in the Renaissance Foyer

11:00a - 3:00p
Ontario

Expo Setup in Ontario - exhibitors must check in at registration

12:30 – 2:30p
Mackinac

Chapter Leadership Forum
Welcome
Chapter Resources & Support
Foundation Report

2:30p – 3:00p 
Mackinac

Ice Cream Social Networking Break 

3:00p – 5:00p 
Mackinac

Annual Business Meeting 

  • President’s Report, Beth Tubbs 
  • CEO’s Report, Nicole Boston 
  • Treasurer’s Report, Amanda Kimball 
  • RTM Committee Report, Greg Baker 
  • CPQ Committee Report, Doug Fisher 
  • CPD Committee Report, Mark Fessenden 
  • CMC Committee Report, Craig Vesely 

    Hat's Off Award: Stanis Yu, UL Solutions
    ACE Awards Presentation
  • Foundation’s Report & Chapter Donations, Peter Senez 

5:00p – 7:00p
Ontario 

President’s Welcome Reception and Expo Opening – All Invited to Expo Hall


Conference Schedule

Thursday, October 13, 2022

6:30a 

Sunrise Walk/Run on the Riverwalk (meet in hotel Motor lobby)

7:00 – 7:55a 
Ontario

Networking Breakfast in Expo Hall  (Sponsored by Hydratec Inc.) hydratec.jpg

7:00 – 7:55a
TBD

Women in Fire Protection Engineering Networking Breakfast (Generously Supported by FM Global) Event is by invitation only, contact bfogel@sfpe.org for more information.fmglobal.jpg

General Session

8:00 – 8:15a 
Columbus

Opening & Welcome Remarks 
Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President 
Rose West, SFPE Michigan Chapter President 

8:15 – 9:00a
Columbus

Opening Keynote 
Systems & Safety: An Equity Perspective
Adam K. Thiel, Fire Commissioner, Philadelphia Fire Department

9:00 – 9:30a
Columbus

General Session

Today’s Challenges & Tomorrow’s Triumphs – Exploring our Role as Individuals, as a Profession, and as a Global Society

Nicole Boston, SFPE CEO; Chris Jelenewicz, SFPE Chief Engineer

In this era of constant change and constant challenges – where environmental unease and an ever-present focus on sustainability drive our focus toward new ideas, collaboration, and performance – there is a role for each of us as individuals, for our fire protection engineering profession, and for SFPE as our global professional society. With a healthy dose of reality and future-focused outcomes, this talk will explore how you, how our profession, and how SFPE can champion triumphs for tomorrow.

9:30 – 10:05a
Columbus

General Session 
Need for Structural Resilience to Mitigate Fire Hazard in Modern Structures
Venkatesh Kodur, Centre on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics, MSU
Fire is one of the extreme loading events that a building may experience during its service life and such an event can have severe consequences on the safety of its occupants, first responders, and the structure and ensuring resilient structural system is critical for mitigating fire hazard in modern buildings The emerging trend in construction sector is to design critical structures for resiliency to ensure safety and mitigate progressive collapse under extreme loading events. The performance problems associated with high performing materials and modern structures under fire conditions will be discussed at this session and through case studies it will be demonstrated that by adopting proper strategies, both at material and structural levels, fire resistance and resiliency of modern structures can be enhanced.

10:05 - 10:30a
Columbus

IGNITE® Session
5 Under 35 Award Recipients

  • Spence R. Carter, PE, Idaho National Laboratory
  • Will Clay, PE, Burns & McDonnell
  • Jessica L. Doermann, ARUP
  • Ruggiero Lovreglio, PhD, Massey University
  • Yu Wang, PhD, State Key Laboratory of Fire Science

 

10:30 – 11:00a
Ontario 

Networking Break in Expo Hall (Sponsored by International Code Council) ICC.jpg

Breakout Tracks

11:00a – 12:30p 

A – Fire Dynamics

Location: Cabot 

Moderator: Peter Senez

B – Building Fire/Building Design 

Location: Columbus

Moderator: Jack Fairchild

C – Resiliency / Sustainability

Location: Mackinac 

Moderator: Adam Graybeal

D – Sponsored Track 

Location: Cartier


11:00 – 11:30a 

Sensitivity of Explosion Vent Sizing to Fundamental Burning Velocity and Maximum Deflagration Pressure Measurement

Veronica Kimmerly

A Holistic Approach to Fire Safety for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Susan Lamont

Water Supply and Climate Change: The Impact of Water Stress on Fire Protection Systems

Virginia Charter
*SFPE Foundation-supported project

Low Oxygen Fire Protection for Cold Storage Warehouses

Chris Wesner

11:30a – Noon 

Development and Validation of a Material Property Database for Fire Models

Mark Mckinnon

Thermal Response of Curtain Wall Systems Exposed to Fire

Francesca Lugaresi 
*SFPE Foundation-supported project

Environmental and Health Impacts of Fire and Fire-Suppression Activities During Large-scale Fire Events

Jamie McAllister and Zelda Zhao
*SFPE Foundation-supported project

Benefits of Industrialization and Digitalization in Improving Fire Safety Objectives of Mission Critical Facilities Case Study

Alejandro Uribe

Noon – 12:30p 

An Engineering Model for the Pyrolysis of Materials

Jonathan Hodges

Existing Buildings Performance-Based Design

Fang Li

A New Way to Spray: Seeking a Greener Alternative to Spray-Applied Fire-Resistive Material

Kevin Black

Prefabricated Fire Pump Solutions

Jesse Baker

12:30 – 2:00p

Ontario

Networking Lunch in Expo Hall (Sponsored by Protectowire Fire Systems) Protectowire.jpg

1:00 – 2:00p

Student Poster Presentations in Expo Hall

General Session

2:00 – 2:15p 

Columbus

Awards Presentations
Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President  

  • The Harold E. Nelson Service Award: Sean S. Donohue, PE, PEng, FSFPE, Jensen Hughes
  • The D. Peter Lund Award: Jack Poole, PE, FSFPE, Poole Fire Protection
  • The John J. Ahern President's Award: Daniel L. Arnold, PE, FSFPE, Seneca Fire Engineering

2:15 – 2:55p

Columbus

General Session
The Use of Research and Forensics in Developing Industry Best Fire Protection Practices for Lithium Ion Applications.

Jason Sutula, Forensic Expert, Jensen Hughes

Clear guidance on the method and means to protect products, applications, and storage involving lithium-ion cells, modules, and batteries does not exist in the currently available codes and standards. As such, the fire protection of a facility that contains lithium ion cells, modules, or batteries must rely on available fire protection research and overall industry best practices. The goal of these best practices is to lower the chances of a thermal runaway event occurring and, if a thermal runaway event does occur, to promote early discovery, personnel safety, and the mitigation of potential business interruption. This presentation will cover the codes and standards gap associated with lithium-ion battery formation and storage, provide a lithium-ion forensic failure example, and demonstrate how research and lessons learned can lead to a set of best practices that should be considered when engaged in fire protection design for these applications.

Lightning Talks Breakout Track

3:00 – 5:00p 

A – Building Fire Design/Fire Dynamics 

Location: Cabot

Moderator: Peter Senez

B – Forensic/Human Behavior/Fire Safety

Location: Columbus

Moderator: Jimmy Landmesser

C – Fire Safety Systems 

Location: Mackinac

Moderator: Craig Vesely

D – Sponsored Track 

Location: Cartier


3:00 – 3:15p 

External Flaming from a Large Open-plan Compartment with Exposed Timber: CodeRed#

Rikesh Amin

 

Classification of the Fire-Damage Degree to Gypsum Wallboards Using Data-Driven Image Analysis

Shuna Ni (presenting for David Unobe)

Effect of Inert Gas Discharge Time on Wood Crib Fires Used in Extinguishing Approval Testing

John Zimak



No More Charlie Brown's Teacher! Voice Intelligibility, A Deeper Dive

Eric Lenhof

 

3:15 – 3:30p 

Ensuring Fire Safety of Hybrid Meeting Pods for Open Offices through Full-scale Fire Testing 

David Rich (presenting for Timo Inkinen)

Opportunity Knocks…A Refresher on a Critical Passive Fire Protection Feature - Fire Doors

Michael Rzeznik

Lessons Learned from the Use of Automatic Water Cannons (aka Smart Monitors) in Warehouse and Chemical Plant Applications

James Lynch and John Frank

3:30 – 3:45p 

Company-wide Fire
Risk Assessment of Hydraulic Jet-Spray Fires in a Heavy Manufacturing Environment

David Harvey

Validation of Computer-based Models to Predict Egress Times from Railcar

Mishuk Datta

Diesel Fire Pump Systems – Required Calculations Engineers Often Miss

John Denhardt

Technology and Code Updates Impacting Designs and Specifications

Jeff Merwin

3:45 – 4:00p

Effects of Randomness in Occupant Loading in High-density Areas on Evacuation Time Using Pathfinder

Karli Steranka

Seismic Shakes It Up Again

Victoria Valentine

4:00 – 4:30p

Networking Break in Expo Hall

4:30 – 4:45p 

Bringing Fire Protection to the Forefront of Architectural Design

Steven Barrett

Implications of Li-ion Technology for Structural Design of Buildings

Ali Ashrafi

New Fluorine Free Foams and their efficacy through various proportioning methods

Joe Stonecypher

IBC Spill Containment

Shaun Kramer

4:45 – 5:00p 

Toxicity Test and Performance Criteria for Passenger Railcar Materials

Stefan Kraft

Advancements in Corrosion Mitigation Technology for Dry Pipe and Preaction Sprinkler Systems 

Mark Hopkins

Performance Based Design in Mega-Warehouses

Tom Gardner

General Session 

5:00 – 6:00p

Columbus

Delegated Fire Protection Engineering – A Panel Discussion on Expectations and Practice

SFPE Engineering Practice Subcommittee
Moderator: Brandon Wilkerson, Founder and Principal, Rated Engineering
Panelists: John Denhardt, VP Engineering, AFSA; Jonathan Lund, Fire Marshal, Des Moines Fire Dept.; Mark Hopkins, Regional Director, TERP Consulting; and Mike Stone, Field Sales Engineer, Johnson Controls
Excess liability shedding, inconsistent practice, and misunderstanding of stakeholder roles can each devalue the practice of fire protection engineering. Alignment of terms and practice is an essential step in establishing fire protection engineers as a valuable member of the AEC industry. This panel will address issues such as regional variability, risks, and lessons learned from the perspective of engineers, contractors, and other industry stakeholders. This panel discussion has been organized by the SFPE Engineering Practice subcommittee, whose mission is to help develop efforts to improve relationships and policies impacting fire protection engineering.

6:00 – 6:30p 

Columbus

SFPE 2022 Fellows Presentation
Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President

  • Warren D. Bonisch, PE, FSFPE, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates
  • Dale C. Hansen, PE, FSFPE, Harrington Group
  • Gavin Horn, PhD, FSFPE, UL Fire Safety Research Institute
  • Peter L. Senez, PEng, FSFPE, Senez Consulting
  • Victoria B. Valentine, PE, FSFPE, American Fire Sprinkler Association
  • Steven D. Wolin, PE, FSFPE, The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co.

6:30 – 8:00p 

Wintergarden

SFPE Fellows’ Reception (Open to All Attendees) 

In the GM Renaissance Center

Friday, October 14, 2022 

6:30a 

Sunrise Walk/Run on the Riverwalk (meet in the hotel Motor lobby) 

7:00 – 7:55a 

Ontario

Networking Breakfast in Expo Hall (Sponsored by Peerless Pump) peerlesspump

General Session

8:00 – 8:20a 

Columbus

Welcome & SFPE Foundation Awards
Peter Senez, SFPE Foundation Chair      

  • The Jack Bono Award:
    Haavard Boehmer, PE, Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Performance Based Fire Protection Engineering, USA
    Michael S. Klassen, PhD, PE, Principal Research Engineer, Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc., USA
    Stephen M. Olenick, MSFPE, PE, Principal Engineer, Combustion Science &   Engineering, Inc., USA
  • The Dr. Guylène Proulx, OC Scholarship: Erik Smedberg, Ph.D. student, Lund University, Sweden
  • The Student Scholar Award: Iffah Umairah Zulmajdi, Ph.D. candidate, Universiti Putra Malaysia
  • The Frederick W. Mowrer Global Scholar Award: Hafizha Mulyasih, S.T., M.T., Ph.D. student, Universitas Indonesia
  • The Arthur B. Guise Medal: Albert Simeoni, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

8:20 – 9:00a 

Columbus

Guise Medalist Keynote: WUI Fire Research for Fire Protection Engineering

Albert Simeoni, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire is a new frontier in Fire Protection Engineering, and it is a topic that has not been fully integrated into our practice. There are still a lot of unknowns about WUI fires, how they spread and how to assess vulnerabilities, of the build environment, but also of first responders and the population. This talk will look at what research has been done in this field that can support the work of FPEs and will also discuss some of the needs for future research.

9:00 – 9:30a 

Columbus

Your SFPE Foundation: Updates and Opportunities to Engage
Peter Senez, SFPE Foundation Chair
Leslie Marshall, SFPE Foundation Director 

9:30 – 10:00a 

Ontario

Networking Break in Expo Hall (Sponsored by Jensen Hughes) jensenhughes.jpg

Breakout Tracks 

10:00 – Noon 

A – Fire Service (AHJs)

Location: Columbus

Moderator: Edward Prendergast

B – Grand Challenges Initiative

Location: Mackinac

Moderator: SFPE Foundation

C – Fire Safety Systems

Location: Cabot

Moderator: Mark Hopkins

D – Sponsored Track 

Location: Cartier


10:00 –10:30a 

The Impact of Li-Ion Energy Storage Systems on Residential Garage Fire Dynamics and Considerations for Incident Response

Adam Barowy 

Overview of the Grand Challenges Initiative

Leslie Marshall, SFPE Foundation 

Large-Scale Testing of Oxygen Reduction Systems for ASRS Applications

Stanislav Kostka

Lithium-Ion ESS Enclosure Heat Flux Analysis

Jon Reymann and Andrew Taggart

10:30 – 11:00a 

On the Effect of Exposed Timber on the Severity of Structural Fires in a Compartment and Required Firefighting Resources

Shuna Ni

Updates from Two GCI Working Groups:

Climate Change

Ankit Sharma, GCI Fellow

Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity

Tianhang Zhang, GCI Fellow

Aircraft Hangar Fire Protection; Changes to NFPA 409 and Review of FPRF Research Report 

Brian O’Connor

The Fundamentals of Surge Protection

Jason Klein

11:00 – 11:30a 

What the WUI Fire Community Can Learn from the Field of Civil Engineering on Resilience

Ann Jeffers

GCI Founding Partners Featured Panel 

Raj Arora, CEO, Jensen Hughes

Dale C. Hansen, P.E., Principal/Chief Engineer/Director of Quality & Technology, Harrington Group Inc.

Steve Kerber, PhD, PE, VP & Executive Director,
UL Research Institutes

Seth Sienkiewicz, PE, Senior Lead Research Engineer, AVP,
FM Global

Evaluating Data and Voice Signals in Pathway Survivable Cables for Life Safety Systems – A Fire Protection Research Foundation Study

Amanda Kimball (presenting for Jacqueline Wilmot)



Survivability and the addition of Level 4 to NFPA 72

Mike Stone

11:30 – Noon 

Real-time Mine Fire Classification to Support Firefighter Decision Making

Jonathan Hodges (presenting for Manuel Daza)

Protecting Liquids That Burn: NFPA 30 - Where It Was, Where It Is Now, Where It May Go, and the Value of Change

John LeBlanc

Understanding NFPA 4 - Standard for Integrated Fire Protection & Life Safety System Testing

Jonathan Sullivan

Noon – 12:55p

Ontario

Networking Lunch in Expo Hall (Sponsored by HRS Systems, Inc.) HRS.png

General Session

1:00 – 1:15p

Columbus

Awards Presentations
Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President 

  • The David A. Lucht Award: Robert Jönsson, Sweco
  • The John L. Bryan Mentoring Award: Guo-Qiang Li, Tongji University
  • The Rolf H. Jensen Award for Outstanding Committee Service: Jeffrey Harrington
  • Fire Protection Person of the Year: Gary Lewis, City of Summit New Jersey

1:15 – 2:15p

Columbus

Fire and Life Safety in Today’s Rapidly Changing World – What are We Missing?
Moderated by Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President
Moriel Kaplan, Jensen Hughes
Gary Lewis, SFPE 2022 Fire Protection Person of the Year
Mike O’Brian, Brighton Area Fire Authority
Dwayne Sloan, UL Solutions

Fire protection engineers often develop engineering solutions to address unique issues that don’t fit within the prescribed building or life safety codes. Unfortunately, many building and fire code officials (AHJs) do not have the background and experience to approve these designs. The limited exposure to advanced engineering methods may make it harder to take fire engineering to the next level and runs the risk of engineering solutions being approved that may lack the necessary robustness. During this panel discussion, SFPE President Beth Tubbs will lead a conversation with designers, testing experts, and building and fire code officials to understand these challenges and what steps SFPE can take to bridge these gaps.

2:15 – 2:30p

Columbus

Invitation to 2023 Annual Conference
Beth Tubbs, 2022 SFPE President and Mark Hopkins, SFPE Chesapeake Chapter President 

2:30 – 3:00p

Ontario

Networking Break in Expo Hall 

Breakout Tracks

3:00 – 4:30p 

A – Fire Dynamics 

Location: Columbus

Moderator: Bryan Klein

B – Wildland-Urban Interface: Practical Applications

Location: Mackinac

Moderator: SFPE Foundation

C – Energy Storage 

Location: Cabot

Moderator: TBD

D –  Human Behavior & Evacuation Modelling

Location: Cartier

Moderator: TBD

3:00 – 3:30p 

Structural Hazards of Smouldering Fire in Timber Buildings

Harry Mitchell

Live Demonstration & Workshopping of SFPE & SFPE Foundation’s new

“Virtual Handbook of Engineering Resources for WUI Property Fire Risk Assessment and Mitigation”

Led by Darlene Rini, PE, Jensen Hughes and Alex Cooper, Jensen Hughes

Fire service personnel, AHJs, and fire engineers operating in the WUI are especially encouraged to attend.

Battery Energy Storage - Landscape of Systems, Hazards, and Mitigation Strategies

Noah Ryder

Effectiveness of Alert Tones

Bryan Hoskins

3:30 – 4:00p 

Computational Reconstruction of Heat Transfer Measurements from Firebrands to Surfaces

TJ Khambhampati

Updates to Current Codes & Technologies for Large-Scale Battery Storage Systems – 4.0

Paul Hayes

Application and Interpretation of Visibility through Smoke in Performance-based Design

Mathilde Girault

4:00– 4:30p

Assessing the Impact of Fires within Large Electrical Cabinets

Kevin McGrattan

Landscape of Battery Energy Storage Hazards, Mitigation Strategies and a Roadmap for Future Research

Victoria Hutchison

Using the Latest Findings to Improve Evacuation Strategies, Evacuation Modelling and Code Requirements

Chris Campbell

Networking & Closing Reception

4:30 – 5:30p

Renaissance Foyer

Closing Reception (Open to all attendees)

 

Registration

Renaissance Foyer (Level 4)
Monday, October 10, 2022 7:30a - 12:00p
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 8:00a - 12:00p
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 8:00a - 5:00p
Thursday, October 13, 2022 7:00a - 5:00p
Friday, October 14, 2022 7:00a - 3:00p

Expo Hours

Ontario (Level 3)
Monday, October 10, 2022 closed
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 closed
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 5:00p - 7:00p (exhibitor set up 11:00a - 3:00p)
Thursday, October 13, 2022 7:00a - 4:30p
Friday, October 14, 2022 7:00a - 3:00p


All Times are in Eastern Time (ET)


Thank You to Our Sponsors

Inferno

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Blaze

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  • Protectowire.jpg
  • Reliable.jpg
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Flame

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  • Hydratec.jpg
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  • ICC.jpg
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