On November 8, 2019, Professor Albert Simeoni was awarded the prestigious Rasbash Medal by The Institution of Fire Engineers, one of the world's leading professional organization for those involved in fire engineering, fire prevention and fire suppression. Simeoni, who heads the fire protection engineering department, was given the award for his advanced work in wildfire research.
The medal, one of the highest honors in the field, is named for David Rasbash. Rasbash was a pioneer in the field of fire safety engineering and became the first ever professor of fire safety engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
As part of the honor, Simeoni was invited to deliver the annual Rasbash Lecture at the University of Edinburgh. His talk, “Investigating the physics of wildfires to help build resilience in society” gave an overview of the challenges that our societies face and what can be done to overcome them, with an emphasis on the issue of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI).
“The Rasbash Lectures are a vital part of the IFE calendar. The lectures and the associated award of the Rasbash medal showcase the outstanding research carried out by key members of the fire community, and give us, as a sector and an Institution, a chance to celebrate them,” said Roy Bishop, CEO of the Institution of Fire Engineers. “Professor Simeoni has provided so much to the fire sector, his research and pioneering attitude includes research on wildland fires, looking at combustion, heat transfer and fire spread modelling. We're delighted to honour Professor Simeoni and all his achievements at this esteemed event.”
Professor Simeoni’s Rasbash Lecture can be viewed here.