Episodes
104 - Experiments that will change fire science pt. 6 - MaCFP with Arnaud Trouve
June 7, 2023
What makes an experiment truly groundbreaking, and how can researchers plan and execute such experiments in fire science? Join us as we chat with Professor Arnaud Trouve from the University of Maryland, a co-chair of the MaC…
103 - The Science and Art of Scale Modeling with James Quintiere
May 31, 2023
Ever wondered how scale modelling can provide invaluable insights into fire science? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Professor James Quintiere, as we delve into the fascinating world of scale modelling and its …
102 - Fire Safe Design Competent Architect with Michael Woodrow
May 24, 2023
We all agree competencies are key to fire safety. We have discussed this. We have argued about this. We have come up with decent sets of core competencies, course curricula and numerous courses and modules that help us be co…
101 - The Society of Fire Protection Engineers with Chris Jeleniewicz
May 17, 2023
What is the Society of Fire Protection Engineers? I just got a really good answer from the Interim CEO Chris Jeleniwicz. It is our profession. It is us. With this important definition sorted, we dig into what SFPE is doing (…
100 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 3 - Smoke plumes (and other flow phenomena) with Wojciech
May 10, 2023
This week we cover the fundamentals of smoke flow (proliferation!), entrainment and smoke plumes. All the basics that impact the spread of the smoke in our buildings. You will learn: the ideal gas assumption for a smoke mixt…
099 - Electric vehicle fires in tunnels with Peter Sturm
May 3, 2023
Do you have any idea how bad the tunnel fire will be if there is an EV involved? That is a question I hear a lot, way more often than I would like. And usually, my answers do not get approval. I guess telling people "doesn't…
QA4 - Wojciech in Smart Firefighting podcast episode 151 - fire science, innovation and built environment
April 26, 2023
This week in place of a normal episode I would like to share an interview I gave to my friend Kevin Sofen in his podcast. In this episode I am interviewed by Kevin on the science of fire, how I understand the built environme…
098 - Digital innovation in built environment with Michael Strömgren
April 19, 2023
Innovation is a big world. A digital innovation sounds even bigger. But it is in fact our reality - we live in a world of constant change and "improvements". Many of those come to us in form of digital technologies, informat…
097 - Smoke toxicity (Part 2) Asphyxiants and irritants with David Purser
April 12, 2023
This episode is the 2nd part of interview with Professor David Purser, this year recipient of IAFSS'14 Emmons Plenary Lecture. If you have not seen it, I would highly encourage you to first listen to the Part 1 , which sets …
096 - Smoke toxicity (Part 1) Why fires used to be less toxic in 1950's? with David Purser
April 5, 2023
I have to start with a word of warning, I am extremally hyped about this and upcoming episodes. I think for the first time I have recorded a podcast episode with a ratio of my commentary to the guest 1:5. This is because whe…
095 - An AI supported Fire Safety Engineer with Michael Kinsey
March 29, 2023
It is the newest Internet craze. In my opinion, maybe even be the most disruptive tech since bitcoin or the Internet itself. And suddenly, we got a lot of very interesting conversations around, but I've lacked on oriented on…
094 - Experiments that changed fire science pt. 5 - Compartment fires at NBS with James Quintiere
March 22, 2023
In the fifth episode of mini-series 'Experiments that changed fire science' we cover the compartment fire experimental campaigns carried at NBS (now NIST) in 1970's and 1980's, with the maybe most famous of them all - the St…
093 - The story of the golden era for the US fire science with James Quintiere
March 14, 2023
It's finally here, the episode many of you were waiting for! Discussing the history of US fire movement with prof. James Quintiere from the University of Maryland. I often wondered what it felt like in the 1970's and 80's wh…
092 - European Commission view on Performance Based FSE with Adamantia Athanasopoulou
March 7, 2023
It seems we will not have EU Fire Code for at least a few more decades... Why is that? Because the people in power found out that it is not the most efficient thing to do it right now. And they found it through the power of …
091 - Fire fundamentals pt 2 - Ignition with Rory Hadden
Feb. 28, 2023
Welcome to Fire Fundamentals pt. 2 with Rory Hadden. This episode is focused on the concept of ignition and its role in fire safety - as an event leading to fires, as something often investigated post-fire, but also as a veh…
QA3 - Some Polish experiences with a year of war in Ukraine (interviewed by Arnold Dix)
Feb. 24, 2023
1 year. This is insane the war is still going on and people are still hurt. This war in Ukraine significantly affected everyone in here, and in this episode, I get a chance to share some of my thoughts and background to the …
090 - Objective driven suppression system for Swedish tunnels with Ulf Lundström
Feb. 22, 2023
If you want to design a suppression system for a certain application, you have a lot of technical solutions to choose from and most likely a handful of codes to follow. It seems pretty straightforward for most applications, …
089 - Designing law by disasters (or not?) with Birgitte Messerschmidt
Feb. 15, 2023
There is no universal answer to the question of how law and testing regimes should be set up. Sometimes, we build up our law after a huge tragedy, making sure that the same cause will not be of harm in the future. Sometimes,…
088 - Modeling fires of natural fuels with Eric Mueller
Feb. 8, 2023
Modelling ignition and fire of a tree branch with some leaves can't be that much different from modelling burning timber, right? Well, that is the kind of ignorance that can backfire on you... It certainly did on me! I have …
087 - Structural FSE inspired by earthquake engineering with Negar Elhami Khorasani
Feb. 1, 2023
Performance-based engineering or the use of probabilistic methods in building design are not inventions of Fire Safety Engineering. But we sometimes tend to act like we need to 'discover' and work out everything on our own. …
086 - Experiments that changed fire science pt. 4 - Runnehamar tunnel with Haukur Ingason and Anders Lönnermark
Jan. 25, 2023
Would you rather do 20 published experiments and take your impact factors, or make one that truly changed the world of fire science? Or maybe a different way, would you pursue something that is quick, easy and gives immediat…
085 - E-mobility and energy storage hazards with Adam Barowy
Jan. 18, 2023
Three months ago I saw a video of some sort of an electric scooter going off in someone's residential building. That person had absolutely no chance of controlling that fire. I guess they have escaped, but it must have been …
QA#2 - Turning podcast professional and the outcomes of the listener experience survey
Jan. 16, 2023
Welcome to Questions & Answers session 02 covering the recent sponsorship opening in the podcast and how the podcast is turning from a hobby project to something more professional, and the summary of the 2022 listener experi…
084 - Industry lead research with Steve Gwynne and Mike Spearpoint
Jan. 11, 2023
In my first episode, I mentioned that I'm doing this podcast to preserve some amazing conversations and share them with a larger audience, as sometimes it is a huge waste of interesting thoughts that remain just between the …