BS Fire Protection Engineering

Fire Protection Engineering is concerned with the applications of scientific and technical principles to the understanding, mitigation, and suppression of fire. This includes the effects of fire on people, on structures, on commodities, on the environment, and on operations. The identification of fire hazards and their risk, relative to the cost of protection, is an important aspect of fire safety design.

The fire protection engineering student receives a fundamental engineering education involving the subjects of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The program builds on other core engineering subjects of material science, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer with emphasis on principles and phenomena related to fire. Fluid mechanics includes applications to sprinkler design, suppression systems, and smoke movement. Heat transfer introduces the student to principles of heat conduction, heat convection, thermal radiation, evaporation of liquid fuels and pyrolysis of solid fuels. The subject of combustion is introduced involving premixed and diffusion flames, ignition and flame spread, and burning processes. Laboratory experience is gained by collecting, viewing, and analyzing data obtained in standard fire tests and measurements.