Dear SFPE members,
I am honored to introduce myself as the new Chief Engineer of SFPE. It is a privilege to step in to this role and serve a community that plays such a vital part in advancing the science and practice of fire protection engineering worldwide.
Currently, I live in Richmond, Kentucky with my wife and our twin 13-month-old boys. My passion for fire protection started at a young age related to the fire service with my father being our local volunteer fire chief, the same department I joined immediately after high school.
My background has included consulting in which much of my work focused on Performance-Based Design using fire modeling and egress modeling. I also taught for 9 years at Eastern Kentucky University in which my course load included classes such as Human Behavior in Fire, Advanced Structural Fire Protection, Sprinkler Design, Special Hazards System Design, Fire Alarm Design, Fire Dynamics, Hydraulics, and introductory classes to codes and standards.
As Chief Engineer, my goal is to support our members by advancing technical excellence, encouraging innovation, and ensuring that our work continues to address the evolving needs of our profession. In this role, I hope to carry on the legacy already built by those that have preceded me in this position. I have long respected SFPE’s leadership in shaping guides and standards, fostering research, and connecting professionals across disciplines and borders.
In my short time with SFPE I have already been quite impressed with the work my colleagues and our SFPE members are doing. This work includes the upcoming WUI Fire Engineering Summit this August at the University of Maryland, the upcoming Performance-Based Design Conference this April in Singapore, the continual stream of on-demand education offered, the informative articles in our FPE Magazine, and the dedicated work producing standards, guides, and the 6th edition of the Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. There is so much more going on than I can list here, and I truly believe now is a great time to be involved with SFPE and informed in everything SFPE is doing.
I look forward to engaging with many of you in the months ahead. Your experience, insight, and dedication are what make this organization strong. Please do not hesitate to reach out – I welcome your ideas, feedback, and collaboration as we continue to move SFPE forward together.
Thank you for the important work you do every day in service of our profession and people who depend on life safety.
Sincerely,
Joshua Reichert, PE
Chief Engineer
Society of Fire Protection Engineers