Thursday 12 December 2019

PhD Studentship in timber and fire at Imperial College London

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the field of fire science and artificial intelligence funded by EPSRC and Arup.

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The objective of the PhD thesis is to understand how a fire behaves inside a compartment made of timber. The work will contribute towards better fire engineering design of tall timber in the UK and worldwide. The method of research will be based on computational modelling of fire phenomena in combination with artificial intelligence.


Innovative wood product like cross-laminated timber are revolutionizing the construction industry. However, all wood products are flammable to a degree and therefore fire engineering is required for safe design. The results of this PhD thesis can help to unlock timber’s potential as a construction materials leading to safer, more efficient, and more sustainable construction of high-rise buildings.


The student will join Imperial Hazelab, the multidisciplinary research group led by Prof Guillermo Rein, part of the Thermofluids Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. The purpose of the group is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. 

More about Imperial Hazelab: Visit our website Imperial Hazelab, watch the promotional video, and browse through our research papers.


If interested in this opportunity, you would be an enthusiastic person who believes in the power of engineering to deliver a better world and who wants to work in the heart of London. You would have a degree in engineering, and an rigorous approach to science. Good knowledge in heat transfer and computational methods are essential. Good team-working and communication skills are essential as well. Knowledge in fire science and timber are desired but not essential prior the project.
Candidates should fulfil the residence requirements of EPSRC for stipend and fees (UK citizens or long term resident). You can check your eligibility here.

For further details of the PhD studentship, contact Prof Guillermo Rein. Position open until filled.

Thursday 24 October 2019

Join Imperial Hazelab: Research Associate investigating fire and polymer composites used in airplanes

Applications are invited for a Research Associate in the field of fire science and engineering at Imperial College London, UK.

The Research Associates will join Imperial Hazelab, the multidisciplinary research group led by Prof Guillermo Rein, part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. The purpose of Hazelab is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. To do so, Hazelab studies computationally and experimentally heat transfer processes, condensed-phase chemistry and fluid dynamics of all types of fires.



We recently obtained industrial funding for a new project called DAEDALUS funded by Innovate UK which, in close collaboration with the London firm FAC Technology, will study fire and the polymer composites used in airplanes. FAC Technology is a leading-edge R&D firm focused on the design, testing and manufacturing of composite structures. As such, we are looking to hire a Research Associate to assist in our research which will ultimately boost our understanding of ignition and fire safety for composite materials.

More about us: Visit our website Imperial Hazelab, watch the promotional video, and browse through our research papers.

Requirements: If interested in this opportunity, you will be an enthusiastic person who believes in the power of engineering to deliver a better world and who wants to work in the heart of London. You will have MEng, MSc or PhD degrees in engineering or physics, and an inquiring and rigorous approach to science and engineering. Good knowledge in heat transfer and fire are essential. Good team-working and communication skills are essential as well. National and overseas are candidates welcome.
 
How to apply: Follow this link.

Closing date: 24 Nov 2019


Queries relating to the position should be directed to Prof Guillermo Rein at g.rein@imperial.ac.uk or +44(0) 20 7594 7036.


Tuesday 30 July 2019

Imperial Hazelab is hiring Research Associates in fire science. Join us.

Applications are invited for several Research Associates in the field of fire science and engineering at Imperial College London, UK.

The Research Associates will join Imperial Hazelab, the multidisciplinary research group led by Prof Guillermo Rein, part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. The purpose of Hazelab is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. To do so, Hazelab studies computationally and experimentally heat transfer processes, condensed-phase chemistry and fluid dynamics of all types of fires.

Life in Hazelab, sometimes.

First two RA positions on peat fires are now open here (deadline 29 Aug). The incoming other three RA positions will open soon and are:

- international round-robin of large scale tests of facades in fire.
- computational study of facades fires.
- computational and experimental study of polymer flammability for the aeronautical industry.
 


More about us: Visit our website Imperial Hazelab, watch the promotional video, and browse through our research papers.

Requirements: If interested in this opportunity, you will be an enthusiastic person who believes in the power of engineering to deliver a better world and who wants to work in the heart of London. You will have MEng, MSc or PhD degrees in engineering or physics, and an inquiring and rigorous approach to science and engineering. Good knowledge in heat transfer and fire are essential. Good team-working and communication skills are essential as well. Overseas candidates welcome.
 
Topics: There are several positions for experimental or modelling work in the topics of peat fires, facade fires and polymer flammability.

How to apply: Send CV or ask for further details by email to Prof Rein at g.rein@imperial.ac.uk.

Closing date: 8 Sept 2019.

Wednesday 21 November 2018

PhD Studentship in fire science and high-rise timber buildings at Imperial College London

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the field of fire science with Prof Guillermo Rein at Imperial College London.

Cross-laminated timber: the future of buildings?
Photo: Watts&Helm, 2015 in Seattle Business.
The objective of the PhD thesis, funded by EPSRC and Arup UK, will be to understand how a fire behaves in a building with exposed timber. The work will contribute towards better fire engineering design of tall timber in the UK and worldwide. The method of research will be based on computational modelling in close collaboration with experimentalists.


Innovative wood product like cross-laminated timber are revolutionizing the construction industry. However, all wood products are flammable to a degree and therefore fire engineering is required for safe design. The results of this PhD thesis can help to unlock timber’s potential as a construction materials leading to safe, more cost-efficient, and more sustainable (more than 30 % carbon footprint saving) construction of high-rise buildings.

The student will join Imperial Hazelab, the multidisciplinary research group led by Prof Guillermo Rein, part of the Thermofluids Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. The purpose of the group is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. To do so, Hazelab studies computationally and experimentally heat transfer processes, condensed-phase chemistry and fluid dynamics of all types of fires.

If interested in this opportunity, you will be an enthusiastic and self-motivated person who meets the academic requirements for enrolment for the PhD degree at Imperial College London. You will have a degree in engineering, mathematics or physics (at least 2:1 degree), and an inquiring and rigorous approach to science and engineering. Good knowledge in heat transfer and computational fluid dynamics are essential. Knowledge in fire science and timber are desired but not essential prior the project. Good team-working and communication skills are essential as well.

Candidates should fulfil the residence requirements of EPSRC for stipend and fees (UK citizens or long term resident). You can check your eligibility here. For further details of the PhD studentship, contact Prof Guillermo Rein.

Closing date: Position already filled (Feb 2019).

Thursday 14 December 2017

PhD Studentship in facade fires at Imperial College London

2013 facade fire in Grozny. Photo from huffingtonpost
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the field of fire science funded by EPSRC and Arup.

The objective of the research project is to understand via the combination of modelling and experiments how combustible facades burn so we can avoid these fires from spreading in real buildings.

The student will join Imperial Hazelab, the multidisciplinary research group led by Prof Guillermo Rein, part of the Thermofluids Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The purpose of the group is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. To do so, Hazelab studies computationally and experimentally heat transfer processes, condensed-phase chemistry and thermodynamics of all types of fires.

You will be an enthusiastic and self-motivated person who meets the academic requirements for enrolment for the PhD degree at Imperial College London. You will have a degree in engineering or physics (1st or 2:1 degree), and an inquiring and rigorous approach to science and engineering. Good knowledge in heat transfer and fluid mechanics are essential. Knowledge in fire science and facade design are desired but are not essential prior the project. Good team-working and communication skills are essential as well.

Candidates should fulfil the eligibility criteria of EPSRC for stipend and fees (UK citizens or long term resident). Please check your suitability by reading this. For further details of the PhD studentship, contact Prof Guillermo Rein g.rein@imperial.ac.uk with up-to-date curriculum vitae.

Closing date: July 2018.

Wednesday 28 June 2017

Open Letter to the EU Commission: Without understanding of fire, protection of citizens cannot be guaranteed

Open Letter to the Commission: Without understanding of fire, protection of citizens cannot be guaranteed by Guillermo Rein on Scribd

Dear EU Commissioners,

Fire in our forests or in our buildings is an old evil that has always threatened and harmed humans. Despite being a millennial-old risk to humanity, our understanding of fire remains very limited. Following the very recent events of the Grenfell Tower fire in London and the large forest fires in Portugal, both of which claimed a significant number of lives, an intense EU and worldwide discussion of fire safety issues has started in the media, among authorities, and citizens at large. Many of the questions raised by these dramatic events cannot be answered today because fire science is limited and not sufficiently developed. We as members of the European Scientific Community would like to give our contribution to support a better use of the billions of Euros that are spent annually across the EU to protect buildings, or to fight wildfires, for the safety of citizens, communities, businesses and the environment.

Our concern is not raised just by the accidents of last week. Forest fires are a major issue every summer in Greece, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, but the risk of devastating forest fires does not only affect the EU southern countries. Due to climate change it is expanding to central and northern countries as well, with new unprecedented fire regimes. In the urban areas, dozens of dramatic building fires occur annually in major EU cities. Accidental fires stress the need for research in several critical areas of science, for example, as how to respond to fire emergencies, how fire grows and how humans behave during emergencies.

In sharp contrast, Horizon 2020, the EU’s current funding mechanism, pays negligible attention to fire safety and related areas, and provides little funding to fire science community. As representatives of the fire safety scientists, we write to underline the urgent need to support fire safety and request that the EU takes our reflections into account. The allocation of substantial funds to fire research and fire safety innovation.

Although all EU countries face and will continue facing substantial fire threats in buildings and in the forest, there are limited opportunities for sustained and concerted scientific discovery or coordination of efforts among EU research institutions, many of which are world leading in this field.

Without a better understanding of fire, safety technologies needed to protect our citizens we cannot provide a safer life to our Citizens and to those who live among us or just visit Europe. We declare ourselves ready to assist you in this quest.

Signatories:

George Boustras, Professor of Risk Assessment at European University Cyprus, Cyprus.

Guillermo Rein, Reader at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London, UK.

Bart Merci, Professor, Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, University of Ghent, Belgium.

Domingos Xavier Viegas, Full Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Patrick Van Hees, Professor at the Division of Fire Safety Engineering, at Lund University Sweeden.

Eulàlia Planas, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain.

Paul-Antoine Santoni, Professor at the University of Corsica, France Oriol Vilalta, Director at Pau Costa Foundation, Spain.

Vladimir Molkov, Professor of Fire Safety Science, Director of Hydrogen Safety Engineering and Research Centre (HySAFER), Ulster University, UK.

Siaka Dembele, Associate Professor, Kingston University London, UK.

Enrico Ronchi, Associate Senior Lecturer in Evacuation Modelling at Lund University, Sweden.

Friday 18 November 2016

Fire is a bad master: acceptance speech of the IAWF Early Career Award

16th of November, Long Beach, California, 2nd International Smoke Symposium,
International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF).

by Dr Guillermo Rein, Imperial College London.


Guillermo (left) receives the award from Dr Tom Zimmerman,
the President of the
International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF).

I am honoured for receiving the Early Career Award and I am thankful to the Board of Directors and the IAWF for having chosen me. I also would like to thank my students, collaborators, sponsors and my family; if I did something of merit, it was because of their abundant support all the way.

Our mission, the mission of all of us attending the conference, is dual. First to understand fire, and then apply this knowledge to protect the habitants of Earth; namely humans, and Nature itself.

You see. I am an engineer, and my other affiliation is with fire safety in buildings where all fires are unwanted. It is easier: all fire is evil; it must be suppressed and not be given any change to come back to the building.

But fire in the forest can be a force for the good and only becomes evil when unbalance. Indeed, wildfires are important elements of Nature. Not only fire contributes since millions of years ago in shaping most ecosystems on Earth, but fire plays essential roles supporting life through the regulation of atmospheric oxygen, the carbon cycle, and the climate.

This obligatory balance between excess and absence must be attained through the management of fire, and makes the wildfire problem more complex, more important and more fascinating to solve.

Fire science requires more decades of fruitful work and international collaborations to mature and establish a complete understanding of the phenomena and its management. And I am delighted to see the IAWF is at the fore front of these efforts at an international scale, and has become the home where practitioners and researchers come together to talk and share.

I would like to finish with the old Finnish saying:
Fire is a good servant but a bad master”.


Wednesday 2 November 2016

Constructive role of Peer Review in science

I am fortunate to have been interviewed by Publons on my views about peer review and scientific progress.
I took the opportunity to highlight that peer review has an essential constructive role in science, it is not only about setting a minimum standard. I also complimented the important role of editors, the elephant in the room of peer review.

The full Q&A can be read here: [download pdf file].

Thursday 27 October 2016

Fancy dresses and flaws in flammability requirements

After reading a sign in the local charity shop, I watched this excellent 2015 BBC One investigation piece on textile flammability requirements for children's fancy dresses. It was produced after the daughter of TV presenter Claudia Winkleman was badly injured in 2014 because her fancy Halloween dress got on fire. 

BBC One found that fancy dresses had been classified as children toys and not as children’s clothing for fire safety requirements. Toys have to pass a much less onerous flammability test than children’s clothing. Hence the danger, because fancy dresses are in close proximity to the body and can be very flammable due to the fluffy arrangements of synthetic and thin fabrics.

"Flammable fancy dress clothing", watch it here.

"Flammable fancy dress clothing" by BBC One.


There are three things that I would like to highlight about this case:

1) This safety flaw in the flammability requirements is born from the wrong trade classification of the consumer product, not from a lack of understanding of the fire hazard. Now that this is known, it should be easy to rectify.

2) The response of national retailers in 2015 was overwhelming. The BBC lists the responses of 12 major companies (eg, John Lewis, Mothercare, Toys ‘R’ Us) which revisited the safety of their products. Some of them (Fara Kids, for example, see photo from our local shop below) even stopped selling fancy dresses altogether.

3) The industry response has been towards increasing flammability requirements of fancy dresses and match the higher requirements of children’s nightwear. I say this because there are current pressures asking to downgrade flammability requirements of consumer products (eg, sofas in California).

Photo of the sign in our local charity shop.