The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) enters a new phase with the appointment of Dr. Jonathan L. Hodges as Chair of the Research, Tools & Methods (RTM) Committee. With a career spanning fire model development, fire risk assessment, artificial intelligence (AI), and emerging hazards such as electric vehicles and wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, Dr. Hodges brings both technical depth and practical leadership experience to one of SFPE’s most influential committees. He worked in engineering consulting for eight years prior to transitioning to UL Research Institutes in 2025.
Dr. Hodges has led and contributed to a wide range of research initiatives, including development of physics-based fire models, integration of artificial intelligence into fire safety applications, and large-scale validation studies supporting the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). His work bridges fundamental research and real-world application which is precisely the connection the RTM Committee is charged to strengthen.
In addition to his research portfolio, Dr. Hodges has been deeply engaged with SFPE for the last decade. He has been a member of the RTM committee since 2017, contributing updates to the S.01 SFPE Standard on Calculating Fire Exposures to Structures and the SFPE Engineering Guide on Fire Model Substantiation. He has contributed to presentations at each annual meeting since 2021 on topics related to his research.
He has also been a strong supporter of the SFPE Foundation where he has been a member of the Board of Governors since 2025. He has contributed to the WUI and Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) working groups and was one of the authors of the white paper on Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization, and Cybersecurity. He contributed three presentations to the SFPE Foundation AI summit in 2025 including a pre-conference webinar on an “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Methods” which was available to all SFPE members.
These experiences position him uniquely to align RTM’s future work with both the profession’s needs and emerging global priorities.
A Decade Retrospective: What Were Our Priorities and What Has Been Our Progress
The research roadmap [1] was published in 2018 through global workshops and presentations and survey feedback from more than 370 fire safety engineers, researchers, and educators. The stated goals of the roadmap were [2]:
This research roadmap will be the definitive document and will be central to defining the future of SFPEs technical initiatives. At the same time, the main focus of this research roadmap will be on what is needed by practicing fire safety/protection engineers. Its purpose is to serve as a roadmap that will:
· Be a living document
· Have a long-term focus on advancing fire safety engineering
· A means of coordinating research initiatives
· A basis for forming partnerships with research organizations
· Act as a bridge between research and practice
· Become a subtheme of future SFPE conferences
The research roadmap is a comprehensive snapshot of the needs of the profession at the time of publication. The SFPE and SFPE Foundation have made progress on several of the highest priority items identified in each of the nine threads:
1. Human Behavior
a. Highest priority research need: Data on demographics
b. 2nd Edition of SFPE Guide to Human Behavior in Fire published in 2018.
c. 3rd Edition of SFPE Guide to Human Behavior in Fire currently being developed.
d. SFPE Foundation funded projects:
i. Estimating Occupant Loads in Retail Buildings.
ii. Anthropometric Data and Movement Speeds.
iii. Determining Evacuation Capability with Biomechanical Data
2. Building Fires
a. Highest priority research need: Standardization of design fires and analysis approaches
b. Draft of S.03 SFPE Standard on Design Fires was created. Progress has stalled and the draft may need to be updated due to delays.
c. SFPE Foundation funded project: Design Fire and Material Performance Database Report – literature review and gap analysis of existing guidance.
3. Resilience / Sustainability
a. Highest priority research need: Environmental impact of fire and fire suppression activities
b. Identified as a core research area for the SFPE Foundation GCI. GCI white paper published with additional detail on needs for the profession.
c. SFPE Foundation funded projects:
i. Fire Testing of Resilient and Sustainable Building Materials
ii. Risk and Performance Assessment Framework for Sustainable and Fire Resilient Buildings
d. Need to develop guidance on findings and identify next highest priority items.
4. Fire Service
a. Highest priority research need: Smart firefighting
b. Identified as a core research area under the AI, Digitalization, and Cybersecurity thrust area of the SFPE Foundation GCI.
c. SFPE Foundation funded project on The Interface Between Digital Buildings and Fire Service Operations.
d. Need to develop guidance on findings and identify next highest priority.
5. Fire Dynamics
a. Highest priority research need: Practical models for fire growth, sprinkler suppression, under-ventilated fires, glass breakages, etc.
b. SFPE Foundation funded project on Fire Engineering Practitioner Tools: Survey and Analysis.
c. Needs not addressed by SFPE or SFPE Foundation; however, progress in some of these areas through academia.
d. Need to review current literature and develop guidance on what can be done now and identify next priorities.
6. Fire Safety Systems
a. Highest priority research need: Impact of ITM requirements on system reliability
b. SFPE Foundation funded projects:
i. Water Supply & Climate Change: The Impact of Water Stress on Fire Protection Systems.
ii. Integration of Fire Protection Systems in Building Information Modeling
c. Highest priority not addressed by SFPE or SFPE Foundation.
7. Forensics / Investigations
a. Highest priority research need: Improved guidance for quantifying measurement and calculation uncertainty
b. Not addressed by SFPE or SFPE Foundation.
8. Wildland / WUI Fires
a. Highest priority research need: Risk assessment of WUI structures
b. SFPE Foundation funded projects:
i. Beyond Parcel-Level Risk Assessment Mitigation: Engaging Fire Service and Community Stakeholders
ii. Engineering Science for the Fire Service: Developing a WUI Risk Assessment & Mitigation Curriculum
iii. Beyond the Checklist – A Virtual Handbook of Engineering Resources for WUI Property Fire Risk Assessment and Mitigation
c. SFPE Foundation published the WUI Virtual Handbook for Fire Risk Assessment & Mitigation
d. Need to develop guidance on findings and identify next highest priority.
9. Non-Building Fires
a. Highest priority research need: Energy storage including containment for new and damage products, higher reliability manufacturing and design, safer energy storage chemistries, etc.
b. SFPE Foundation published white paper on environmental and health impacts of outdoor BESS.
c. No progress from SFPE or SFPE Foundation on containment or product design.
d. Need to revisit roadmap topic due to fast pace of emerging technology.
In addition to the progress in the individual threads in the roadmap, SFPE has also made progress on the following standards and guidance documents:
· In progress:
o S.01 Calculating Fire Exposures to Structures – Progress was made in updating this standard to a probabilistic framework for the second edition. However, progress stalled before the draft was completed.
o S.04 Performance-Based Design – A draft of the first edition of this standard has been completed by the committee and it is going through final edits.
o SFPE Guide on Existing Building Fire Safety – Committee has been formed and an outline and framework of the guide has been completed. The committee presented on the progress at the PBD conference in April 2026.
o SFPE Guide on Model Substantiation for a Given Application – The second edition of this guide was completed and revised based on public comment. It is on track to be published this year.
o SFPE Guide on Human Behavior third edition is under development.
· Published:
o SFPE Guideline on Fire Protection Hydraulics and Water Supply Analysis was published in 2026.
o SFPE Guideline on Testing of Materials for Fire Protection Needs was published in 2023.
o SFPE Guide on Fire Risk Assessment second edition was published in 2022.
o SFPE Guideline on Residential Fire Safety was published in 2022.
o SFPE Guideline on Fire Safety for Very Tall Buildings was published in 2021.
o Guidelines for Peer Review in the Fire Protection Design Process was published in 2020.
o Sprinkler Hydraulics: A Guide to Fire System Hydraulic Calculations, 3rd edition was published in 2020.
o SFPE Guide on Human Behavior second edition was published in 2018.
Over the past decade, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers has made meaningful progress in advancing the priorities identified in the 2018 research roadmap, while also revealing clear gaps between research, guidance, and implementation. The roadmap set out to serve as a living document that connects research with practice, coordinates global efforts, and guides long-term technical development. Since its publication, both SFPE and the SFPE Foundation have invested in key areas such as human behavior, resilience and sustainability, and wildfire risk. These efforts have produced new engineering guides, datasets, and targeted research projects that address several of the highest-priority needs identified across the roadmap’s nine technical threads.
At the same time, progress has not been uniform. Several high-priority topics remain incomplete or have stalled at critical stages, particularly in areas such as design fire standardization, fire dynamics modeling tools, system reliability, and uncertainty in forensic analysis. In many cases, research has advanced through academia or foundation-funded work, but the profession still lacks corresponding engineering guidance and consensus standards. This gap highlights a central challenge moving forward. The profession does not only need more research. It needs stronger mechanisms to translate existing knowledge into usable tools and guidance. As the RTM Committee looks ahead, this retrospective underscores both the success of coordinated research efforts and the need to convert those efforts into completed, practice-ready documents.
Setting the Next Agenda: Prioritizing What Matters Most and Finishing What We Started
The RTM committee plays a central role in advancing the profession by developing engineering guides and standards. The committee will focus first on identifying the highest-priority topics for new and updated technical documents. This will build on the existing SFPE Research Roadmap, published research by the SFPE Foundation and academia, and on-going efforts in the GCI with the SFPE Foundation. This task will be assigned to the Research Roadmap Working Group which will be reactivated to update the current research roadmap. The committee will be tasked with identifying which of the previously identified gaps can be addressed with the latest research and which are still limited by current research.
The standards and oversight committee will review the findings from the Research Roadmap Working Group to recommend and prioritize development of new and updated standards and guidelines. New standards-making committees and engineering guide task groups will be developed by the committee as necessary to develop these documents.
While defining new priorities is essential, an equally critical goal is to finish the guides and standards that are in progress. RTM currently oversees a broad portfolio of active projects. However, like many volunteer-driven efforts, progress can be slowed by competing priorities, evolving scopes, and limited resources. The standards and oversight committee will also be tasked with revitalizing stalled committees and revisiting committee rosters as needed based on availability of current committee members.
Conclusion
The fire protection engineering community has made steady and meaningful progress over the past decade. Through the combined efforts of the SFPE and the SFPE Foundation, the profession has expanded its technical knowledge base, delivered new guidance documents, and advanced research in critical areas such as wildfire risk, sustainability, and digital technologies. These accomplishments reflect a strong commitment to improving practice and addressing emerging challenges.
However, the work is not complete. Several high-priority topics require development into formal engineering guides and standards. In many areas, research has progressed faster than implementation, leaving a gap between what is known and what practitioners can readily apply. Closing this gap will require a deliberate focus on translating research into usable tools, prioritizing the most impactful topics, and maintaining momentum on projects that are already underway.
The path forward will require patience and sustained engagement. RTM committees rely on the dedication of volunteer professionals who contribute alongside their primary careers. Progress will continue, but it will do so incrementally. With clear priorities, committed leadership, continued support from the community and SFPE full-time staff, the committee can build on its successes and deliver the guidance needed to support the next generation of fire protection engineering.
We will be doing some work in the background over the next couple of months with SFPE full-time staff and chairs of existing committees. Keep an eye out for future communications from SFPE for opportunities to get involved with the RTM committee.
References
[1] SFPE Research Needs for the Fire Safety Engineering Profession (chart), 2018. url: https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/SFPE/93e7d31c-6432-4991-b440-97a413556197/UploadedImages/Research_Roadmap/SFPE_Research_Roadmap.pdf
[2] SFPE Research Needs for the Fire Safety Engineering Profession: The SFPE Roadmap (report), 2018. url: https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/SFPE/93e7d31c-6432-4991-b440-97a413556197/UploadedImages/Research_Roadmap/180703_SFPE_Research_Roadmap.pdf