Ali Rangwala

Fire Protection Engineering
Professor
AFFILIATED DEPARTMENT OR OFFICE
Chemical Engineering
EDUCATION
BS Electrical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, India MS
MS Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland
PhD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California,San Diego
Expert Bio

Professor Rangwala's research interests include problems related to industrial fire and explosions. 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.

Research areas/Expertise
climate change
Energy
clean energy
energy efficiency
energy storage
fossil fuels
fire characteristics
fire modeling
Fire Protection Engineering
fire
Fire dynamics
fire safety
fire science
fire testing
wildfires
fire tests
summer safety
Fire test and product standards
Extreme weather
Green energy
Clean Technology
Climate Tech
Explosion protection engineering

Media Coverage

See More Media Coverage
Boston Globe
The Los Angeles wildfires are thousands of miles away, but the science of fighting them happens in Worcester

The devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area exemplify the dangers of wind-driven fires in inhabited areas. WPI’s Department of Fire Protection Engineering is leading research designed to understand how fires spread with the goal of contributing to measures that can better protect communities and firefighters. WPI’s research, which involves faculty and ongoing experiments conducted by students in a state-of-the-art wind tunnel on campus, was featured by several media outlets.

Additional Publications: WCVB | NBC Boston | NECN
Business Insider
Explosive experts: The Las Vegas blast could have been worse

Ali Rangwala, director of WPI's first-in-the-nation Master of Science in Explosion Protection Engineering program and professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, provided expert analysis to Business Insider for an article, republished by Yahoo! News, about a New Year's Day truck explosion in Las Vegas. 

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