About the Department
In 1956, the Department of Fire Protection Engineering was established within the School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. A great and unique tradition had started.
To date we offer the only fully accredited undergraduate program and one of two graduate degree programs in the U.S. More than 800 graduates from the Department are now employed in industry, insurance companies, Federal, state or local government, military, and fire service.
Our faculty are recognized in the profession: four are fellows in the professional engineering societies, James Quintiere, the J.L. Bryan Professor of Fire Protection Engineering, is a former Chair of the International Association of Fire Safety Science and Fred Mowrer is a former President of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. Presently, there are eight faculty members in the department. The student enrollment is of approximately 80 undergraduate and 25 graduate students. About 30 students graduate each year.
The rapid worldwide acceleration in the growth of science and technology are opening up vast new opportunities and demand for uniquely trained fire protection engineers. Therefore, we foster a sustained growth of our graduate program through increased opportunities in research for our students. In particular, we focus on recent advances in material testing practices, fire detection, performance-based design and modeling techniques to predict fire growth, smoke movement or the response of building systems in design and fire investigation applications.
Our laboratory facilities provide hands-on experience with "standardized" ASTM test procedures and permit the investigation of fire dynamics principles. Students conducting their graduate thesis projects, as well as students conducting their undergraduate research theses use these facilities extensively.
We are deeply grounded in the fire protection engineering profession while we are launching advanced research programs to meet the challenges of the future. We would like to share our unique heritage and our innovative research experiences with you. We welcome you to join us in these endeavors.
