Faculty & Staff

Albert Simeoni
Professor and Department Head, Fire Protection Engineering

Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x5162

Professor Simeoni is an internationally recognized expert in fire and wildland fire and fire science, with over 120 journal papers, conference papers, and book chapters. He has more than 20 years of experience developing experimental, analytical, and numerical techniques to better understand fire dynamics and to predict fire and wildland fire behavior. Before joining WPI, he held academic leadership positions in fire research in the UK (University of Edinburgh) and in France (University of Corsica). He has also experience as a consultant in fire science in the U.S. and has spent over 10 years ...

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Nicholas Dembsey

Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x5971

My research focuses on the building performance applications of fire dynamics, fire characteristics of materials and fire models.  I am working in the following areas: closing the fire performance gap in buildings; fire safety of green buildings; development of new techniques and guidance documents for practicing engineers to measure fire properties of materials; the optimization of building assemblies for fire performance, ease of manufacturing and cost effectiveness.

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Kathy Notarianni
Associate Professor, Fire Protection Engineering

Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6786

Today, firefighters serve increasingly as first responders for emergency medical calls, civil emergencies, terrorist threats, and hazardous materials incidents, in addition to fire emergencies. The fire service needs tools and technologies that aid in carrying out their ever expanding mission without increasing costs. My research is focused on working with the fire service to achieve this important goal. I am conducting research on fire department mobilization times and exposure of fire fighters to toxic gases. I work with a team that developed and will commercialize a tool that will predict ...

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Milosh Puchovsky
Professor of Practice & Associate Department Head, Fire Protection Engineering

Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x5113

Practicing fire protection engineers are trained to recognize and assess a broad range of complex fire and life safety issues. They are called upon to bring forth technical knowledge and the skills necessary to develop effective solutions. Through my academic and professional practice I bring practical perspectives to our students' educational experience. My teaching and research incorporates circumstances that practicing fire protection engineers face on a routine basis facilitating my student's functional understanding of fire behavior, and the role safety systems, regulations ...

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Ali Rangwala

Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6409

 Professor Rangwala’s research interests include problems related to industrial fire and explosion problems. He has worked on topics such as deflagration of combustible dust clouds, ignition behavior of combustible dust layers, in-situ burning of oil, spread of an oil slick in channels, velocity measuring techniques in fire induced flows, and flame propagation and burning rate behavior of condensed fuel surfaces.He teaches courses on Explosion Dynamics, Explosion Protection, Industrial Fire Protection, Fire Dynamics, Combustion, and Heat and Mass Transfer.Visit Digital WPI to view student ...

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James Urban
Assistant Professor, Fire Protection Engineering

Phone: +1 (508) 8316885

My research focuses on the physical processes controlling whether or not flammable material ignites and then understanding how it burns. Much of this research has focused on small, hot objects such as firebrands (burning debris from an existing fire). https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2476-8212    

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Associated Faculty

First Name Last Name Title Department Email Phone Extension Office Location
William Krein Affiliated Faculty    wakrein@wpi.edu    
Jeffrey Tubbs Affiliated Faculty Fire Protection Engineering jtubbs@wpi.edu    
Christopher Wood Affiliated Faculty Fire Protection Engineering christopherwood@wpi.edu    
             
             

Collaborative Faculty

First Name Last Name Title Department Email Phone Extension Office Location
Leonard Albano Associate Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering ldalbano@wpi.edu x 5492 KH 201
Tahar El-Korchi Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering tek@wpi.edu x 5530 KH 206
Nikolaos Gatsonis Professor Aerospace Engineering gatsonis@wpi.edu x 5576 HL 244
Nikolaos Kazantzis Professor Chemical Engineering nikolas@wpi.edu x 5666 GH 224A
Roberto Pietroforte Associate Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering roberto@wpi.edu x 5295 KH 209B
Brian Savilonis Professor Mechanical Engineering bjs@wpi.edu x 5686 HL 108
             
             

Faculty Emeriti

First Name Last Name Title Department Email Phone Extension Office Location
Bob Fitzgerald Professor Emeritus Civil and Environmental Engineering rfitz@wpi.edu x 5271 KH 201
David Lucht Director Emeritus and Adjunct Professor Fire Protection Engineering dalucht@wpi.edu x 5593 HL
Robert Zalosh Professor Emeritus Fire Protection Engineering bzalosh@wpi.edu x 5593 HL