VACANT RESEARCH POSTS

Specific vacant research posts are advertised here.  If you do not see a suitable post advertised here but are thinking of doing a PhD in Fire Safety Engineering or are looking for a job as a research assistant or post-doctoral fellow drop us a line.  FSEG is always interested in talking to prospective doctoral research students, research assistants and post-doctoral research fellows.  If you have an interest in any of the FSEG research areas please give the FSEG Director a call or send him an email.
 

[December 2022] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship

For information about this scholarship including the application process, please use the following link: https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/307618/vcs-fes-05-22-web-advert-updated.pdf

Project Title: A Building Information Modelling based Digital Workflow for Fire Safety Engineering

Bursary: Year 1: £17,668 (FT) or pro-rata (PT) Year 2: In line with UKRI rate Year 3: In line with UKRI rate. In addition, the successful candidate will receive a contribution to tuition fees equivalent to the university’s Home rate, currently £4,596 (FT) or pro-rata (PT), for the duration of their scholarship. International applicants will need to pay the remaining tuition fee for the duration of their scholarship. This fee is subject to an annual increase.

Closing Date for applications: midnight UTC on 15 March 2023

Faculty: Engineering and Science (FES)

Department: School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences (CMS)

Scholarship Reference: VCS-FES-05-22

Project Description: The research work will examine the Fire Safety Engineering (FSE) data exchange requirements of computational modelling tools and then develop technical solutions to enable enhanced Building Information Modelling (BIM) based digital workflow for suitable use cases. Developing and setting standards within this area while working with an international team of academics, researchers, and practitioners in Fire Safety will be part of this potentially impactful work.

The suitable candidate should have a background in computer programming and an interest in fire safety.

Please click on the following link for more information,  https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/307618/vcs-fes-05-22-web-advert-updated.pdf

Project Supervisors: Dr Asim Siddiqui, Dr Peter Lawrence, Prof Ed Galea

 

 

[October 2021] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship [POSITION NOW FILLED]

Information on the application process is available at: https://www.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply
Applications need to be made online via this link.

Please confirm that you have made a submission by emailing:e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project

Title: Numerical modelling of external cladding fires in High-Rise Buildings – fire performance and mitigation strategies
Stipend: £15,609 per year and contribution to tuition fees at Home rate: £4,500 per year for 3 years FT study. International student tuition rates are higher and difference will have to be met by student.
Research studentships and scholarships further information: https://www.gre.ac.uk/research/study/research-studentships-and-scholarships
Closing Date: 30 October 2021
Starting Date: 1 February 2022
Faculty: FES

Ref: VCS-FLAS-01-21

Project Description:

The Grenfell Tower fire highlighted systemic failures in provision of fire safety for high-rise dwellings, resulting in a devastating fire that caused 72 fatalities.

The primary cause of fire severity was the use of a combustible ACM cladding material. However, systemic failures in construction, lack of understanding of fire spread mechanisms, and inappropriate firefighting procedures contributed to the inability to contain the fire and safely evacuate the residents. This project aims to identify critical failures exemplified by the Grenfell fire and perform in-depth numerical studies of selected issues to determine the impact/efficacy of appropriate mitigations that demonstrably improve the response to and outcome of such fires. This will include issues associated with material choices (i.e. flammable ACM panels) for cladding, fire breaks as remedial/temporary mitigations, adaptation of firefighting procedures and investigation of issues associated with ‘stay put’.

The successful applicant will first undertake a comprehensive review of the issues exemplified in the Grenfell Tower disaster. They will then numerically and comprehensively investigate identified critical issues using CFD-based fire modelling.

Project Supervisors: Dr John Ewer, Dr Zhaozhi Wang, Prof Ed Galea

The Candidate: We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated graduate with a suitable fire safety, engineering, physics or mathematical background to work alongside a highly experienced team, known for the quality of their research and creative approach to problem solving.

Further information about this studentship: https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/255175/2df187205f30b8ddcab1e8725b363488a1a3f463.pdf

 

 

[May 2017] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship [POSITION NOW FILLED]

Information on the application process is available at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply/application_process
Applications need to be made online via this link.

Please confirm that you have made a submission by emailing:e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project
Title: Representing the Movement of Devices within Evacuation Simulation Models
Stipend: The bursary stipend is £14553 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award.
Further Information: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/studentships
Closing Date: midnight 5 June 2017
Starting Date: September 2017
Faculty: FACH

Ref: VCS-ACH-02-17

Project Description:

The project will involve the computer simulation of various movement devices, such as baggage trolleys, roller bags, push chairs, wheel chairs, evac+chairs, stretchers, etc, and their interaction with pedestrians. The presence of these devices will have a profound impact on both normal circulatory and evacuation dynamics, in particular when assist devices are used in the evacuation of people with reduced mobility (PRM) down stairs. However, currently these devices are only crudely represented, if at all, within evacuation models. Clearly, there is a need to represent movement devices within evacuation models, particularly for planning hospital evacuation, the evacuation of PRM in multi-floor buildings and the evacuation of airports, rail stations and shopping complexes where people may be encumbered with baggage.

This project will address this issue through the development of a capability within the buildingEXODUS evacuation model to represent these devices and the impact they have on both pedestrian and evacuation flows. The project will utilise data FSEG has collected on the impact of these devices on pedestrian and evacuation flows from earlier projects (CPNI Bollard Project and PRM evacuation project). The movement capability of the devices will include horizontal and vertical movement, with and without crowds including situations involving bi-directional flow.

[April 2016] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships and EU Horizon2020 RISE funding

The Fire Safety Engineering Group has two Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships to run in conjunction with the EU Horizon2020 MSCA – RISE funded GEO-SAFE project. The areas of research are indicated below. Potential candidates who wish to submit an application must do so in accordance with the procedures set out on the application form. Tuition fees will be waived up to a maximum amount equivalent to the university’s home/EU tuitions fee for MPhil and PhD students. Both projects are likely to involve extensive travel (funded through the GEO-SAFE project) within the EU and Australia.

For those whose first language is not English or if from a country where English is not the first language, a language proficiency score of at least IELTS 6.5 (in all elements of the test) unless the candidate’s degree was taught in English and obtained in a majority English speaking country, e.g. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

Information on the application process is available at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply/application_process
Applications need to be made online via this link.

Please confirm that you have made a submission by emailing:e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss these positions, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project 1: [POSITION NOW FILLED]
Title: Urban-scale evacuation modelling with application to Wild Fires
Stipend: The bursary stipend is £14057 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award.
Further Information: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/studentships
Closing Date: midnight 24 May 2016
Starting Date: Scholarship must commence before 25 July 2016
Faculty: FACH

Ref: VCS-ACH-03-15-3

Project Description:

Incidents such as wild fires, explosions, chemical spills, floods, etc often require the evacuation of large populated areas. It is essential to ensure that appropriate procedures are in place to efficiently manage these evacuations. When planning a large-scale evacuation, it is important for civil authorities to know what areas will be affected due to the incident, when the areas will become untenable, how long it will take occupants in these regions to evacuate and how long it will take occupants to reach a designated place of safety. This information is essential to assess the level of risk associated with each region, how and when to warn the population appropriately, how to allocate available resources (first responders, fire fighters, police and staff at assembly locations) and most importantly to formulate an effective evacuation strategy which involves safe routes that occupants can take to the designated assembly locations. Urban scale agent based evacuation modelling tools offer the potential to address all of these issues and quantify the effectiveness of the proposed procedures, especially if they can accurately model movement and behavioural aspects of people evacuating over long distances.

Though there exist many evacuation simulation tools, very few actually model large-scale evacuation involving pedestrians. As a result, evacuation planners do not have a reliable means to evaluate evacuation procedures during the planning phase of a large-scale incident. Furthermore, large-scale evacuation usually involves hazards due to forest fires, floods, explosions, chemical spills, etc. Ideally, evacuation models should be coupled with hazard prediction tools such as flood or forest fire or chemical dispersion simulation tools to determine the onset of hazardous condition and to identify potential routes that may be compromised due to the incident.

The EXODUS evacuation model was recently extended to model large-scale evacuation. As a result the software is able to read geometry information from maps such as Open Street Maps in order to simplify specifying the road network and the location of open spaces and buildings. In this project the modelling capabilities of the software will be enhanced to include:

•  the identification and implementation of large scale evacuation behaviours within evacuation models.
• the automatic identification of paved/unpaved paths enabling the agents to exhibit appropriate performance.
• the automatic extraction of elevation data from Digital Elevation Models (DEM) enabling agents to modify their speed according to gradient.
• coupling to appropriate hazard model(s) to represent time dependent hazard development.
• a route selection algorithm suitable for agents within a large-scale urban environment taking terrain and hazard information into consideration.
• represent vehicles and the interaction of pedestrians with vehicles during evacuation.

The proposed large-scale evacuation modelling capability will impact both the planning and incident management phases of disasters by allowing planners to run many ‘what-if’ scenarios before the incident to identify optimal evacuation plans and enable incident commanders to adapt their plans as the incident unfolds.

This project will contribute to the EU Horizon 2020 MSCA – RISE funded GEO-SAFE project.

Supervisors: : Dr Anand Veeraswamy, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Peter Lawrence

The Candidate: The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with a high level programming language (e.g. C++). Experience of evacuation research, knowledge and experience of graph theory and image processing is desirable.

Project 2: [POSITION NOW FILLED]
Title: The analysis of human behaviour during urban-scale evacuation involving Wild Fire
Stipend: The bursary stipend is £14296 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award.
Further Information: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/studentships
Closing Date: midnight 1st June 2016
Starting Date: Scholarship must commence before 1 August 2016
Faculty: FACH

Ref: VCS-ACH-05-16

Project Description:

Incidents such as wild fires, explosions, chemical spills, floods, etc often require the evacuation of large populated areas. It is essential to ensure that appropriate procedures are in place to efficiently manage these evacuations. When planning a large-scale evacuation, it is important for civil authorities to know what areas will be affected due to the incident, when the areas will become untenable, how long it will take occupants in these regions to evacuate and how long it will take occupants to reach a designated place of safety. This information is essential to assess the level of risk associated with each region, how and when to warn the population appropriately, how to allocate available resources (first responders, fire fighters, police and staff at assembly locations) and most importantly to formulate an effective evacuation strategy which involves safe routes that occupants can take to the designated assembly locations. Urban scale agent based evacuation modelling tools offer the potential to address all of these issues and quantify the effectiveness of the proposed procedures, especially if they can accurately model movement and behavioural aspects of people evacuating over long distances.

While several evacuation simulation tools are available very few are appropriate for urban-scale evacuation scenarios. To improve the reliability of these models it is vital to develop an understanding and quantification of human behaviour during urban evacuation scenarios. This project will address this requirement with a focus on evacuation from wild fire incidents. The project will involve a systematic study of evacuation behaviour during wild fire and involve questionnaire based studies of people who have experienced wild fires and through structured interviews of disaster management organisations that have experience of managing wild fire evacuations. The project will focus on:

•  key human behavioural aspects affecting urban scale evacuation.
• population response behaviours and the potential impact of cultural or demographics response times.
• environmental impact on the evacuation process.
• influence of past experience and the behaviours of others on evacuation behaviour.
• the impact of terrain on the evacuation process.
• the impact of special evacuation needs of hospitals, schools, elderly homes.
• the development of behavioural models describing urban scale evacuation within an agent based modelling framework.

The proposed analysis and quantification of human behaviour will contribute to improving agent based urban scale evacuation modelling and assist in the planning and management of wild fires.

This project will contribute to the EU Horizon 2020 MSCA – RISE funded GEO-SAFE project.

Supervisors: Dr Lynn Hulse, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Anand Veeraswamy

The Candidate: The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to have experience of human factors research and be familiar with both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Experience of evacuation research is desirable.

 

[Dec 2015] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships

The Fire Safety Engineering Group has been awarded two Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships. The areas of research are indicated below. Potential candidates who wish to submit an application must do so in accordance with the procedures set out on the application form. All scholarships on offer have an application closing date of 31st Jan 2016 and successful candidates must have commenced work by 1 April 2016. The bursary stipend is £14057 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award. Also, tuition fees will be waived up to a maximum amount equivalent to the university’s home/EU tuitions fee for MPhil and PhD students.

For those whose first language is not English or if from a country where English is not the first language, a language proficiency score of at least IELTS 6.5 (in all elements of the test) unless the candidate’s degree was taught in English and obtained in a majority English speaking country, e.g. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc. r>
Information on the application process is available at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply/application_process
Applications need to be made online via this link.

Please confirm that you have made a submission by emailing:e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss these positions, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project 1: [POSITION NOW CLOSED]
Title: Urban-scale evacuation modelling

Ref: VCS-ACH-03-15-2

Project Description:

Incidents such as forest fires, explosions, chemical spills, floods, etc often require the evacuation of large populated areas. It is essential to ensure that appropriate procedures are in place to efficiently manage these evacuations. When planning a large-scale evacuation, it is important for civil authorities to know what areas will be affected due to the incident, when the areas will become untenable, how long it will take occupants in these regions to evacuate and how long it will take occupants to reach a designated place of safety. This information is essential to assess the level of risk associated with each region, how and when to warn the population appropriately, how to allocate available resources (first responders, fire fighters, police and staff at assembly locations) and most importantly to formulate an effective evacuation strategy which involves safe routes that occupants can take to the designated assembly locations. Urban scale agent based evacuation modelling tools offer the potential to address all of these issues and quantify the effectiveness of the proposed procedures, especially if they can accurately model movement and behavioural aspects of people evacuating over long distances.

Though there exist many evacuation simulation tools, very few actually model large-scale evacuation involving pedestrians. As a result, evacuation planners do not have a reliable means to evaluate evacuation procedures during the planning phase of a large-scale incident. Furthermore, large-scale evacuation usually involves hazards due to floods, forest fires, explosions, chemical spills, etc. Ideally, evacuation models should be coupled with hazard prediction tools such as flood or forest fire or chemical dispersion simulation tools to determine the onset of hazardous condition and to identify potential routes that may be compromised due to the incident.

As part of the EU FP7 IDIRA project the EXODUS evacuation model was extended to model large-scale evacuation. As a result the software is able to read geometry information from maps such as Open Street Maps in order to simplify specifying the road network and the location of open spaces and buildings. In this project the modelling capabilities of the EXODUS evacuation simulation software will be enhanced to address urban scale evacuation issues, such as:

•  introducing hybrid spatial representation involving, coarse and fine spatial networks allowing faster than real time computational performance.
•  the automatic identification of paved/unpaved paths enabling the agents to exhibit appropriate performance.
•  the automatic extraction of elevation data from Digital Elevation Models (DEM) enabling agents to modify their speed according to gradient.
•  coupling to appropriate hazard model(s) to represent time dependent hazard development.
•  a route selection algorithm suitable for agents within a large-scale urban environment taking terrain and hazard information into consideration.
•  real time live feed from the incident to modify the evolving scenario.

The proposed large-scale evacuation modelling capability will impact both the planning and incident management phases of disasters by allowing planners to run many ‘what-if’ scenarios before the incident to identify optimal evacuation plans and enable incident commanders to adapt their plans as the incident unfolds.

Supervisors: Prof Ed Galea, Dr Peter Lawrence, Dr Anand Veeraswamy

The Candidate: The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language. Experience of evacuation research, knowledge and experience of graph theory and image processing is desirable.


Project 2: [POSITION NOW FILLED]
Title: Modelling fire evolution over bale and heaped solid fuels

Ref: VCS-ACH-04-15

Project Description:

Increased world-wide recycling and environmental concerns has led to an increase in the use of storage and handling of recycled-waste bales and heaped waste materials. This trend has been accompanied by a large increase in the incidence of fires in bale and heaped material storage – in the UK alone there are over 300 large-scale waste fires per year. These fires create significant environmental damage through the release of toxic products and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and through the pollution of ground water resulting from firefighting actions. A recent fire in the Smethwick recycling plant in the Midlands resulted in 100,000 tonnes of recycling material in the form of plastic bales being consumed, with fire fighters pouring 14 million gallons of water onto the fire. The fire is estimated to have released 19,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and injured 10 fire fighters. The fire is estimated to have caused £6 million in damages. By better understanding these fires we can reduce their severity and optimize the mitigation processes so as to minimize damage to the environment. Our understanding of the fire dynamics in stacked bales and heaped stacks is limited and so it is currently difficult to plan the correct handling of the waste to limit the likelihood of growing to an uncontrollable state.

In order to investigate, inform and develop strategies for the management of waste storage and for handling fire incidents, an advanced modelling technology is required to model the diverse phenomena that apply to solid and municipal waste storage. Using SMARTFIRE as a basis for this research, the intention is to research and develop capabilities to:

•  model solid fuel fire spread over baled and heaped storage (e.g. from flame progression and thermal radiative feedback);
•  modelling bale collapse (using integrated physics sub-modelling) and consequent fuel smothering, changes to local ventilation conditions and fire spread;
• modelling likely fire spread by melted (e.g. plastic) fuel dripping/pooling;
• to investigate and report on appropriate fuel handling techniques (e.g. separation and industry regulations); and
•  to investigate and report on the effectiveness of various fire incident handling strategies (e.g. allowing burn out, fuel separation, forced burning using venturi jets, foam covering, drench, etc.) – both in terms of overall effectiveness and minimising the environmental impact of fire incidents.

The management of baled and heaped waste and the strategic handling of fire incidents is a complex research area that has only limited experimental understanding and little in the way of high fidelity modelling capabilities that can inform decision making. This PhD research will provide a link between the available experimental data (bale burning rates, toxic effluent generation) and an expansive modelling capability that will be used to inform on guidance/regulation for waste storage handling, approaches to fire incident management, risk assessment (e.g. for insurance purposes for waste industry facilities) and providing a tool to allow the assessment of hazard evolution and impact from fires in waste storage.

The proposed research will have significant Environmental Impact by reducing the severity of waste fires and optimising the mitigation processes, Legislative Impact by enabling improved government guidelines on the storage and handling of waste products to minimize the likelihood of fire and minimize the impact of fires should they occur and Economic Impact by preventing large scale losses typically associated with waste fires.

 Supervisors: Dr John Ewer, Prof Mayur Patel, Prof E.R. Galea

The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language and experience of CFD modelling in a related area is considered essential. Experience of modelling fire related phenomena is desirable.

[May 2014] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships [POSITIONS NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group has been awarded two Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships. The areas of research are indicated below. Potential candidates who wish to submit an application must do so in accordance with the procedures set out on the application form. All scholarships on offer have an application closing date of 1st July 2014. The bursary stipend is £ 13863 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award. Also, tuition fees will be waived up to a maximum amount equivalent to the university’s home/EU tuitions fee for MPhil and PhD students.
For those whose first language is not English or if from a country where English is not the first language, a language proficiency score of at least IELTS 6.5 (in all elements of the test) or TOEFL 100 ibt (600 pbt) unless the candidate’s degree was taught in English and obtained in a majority English speaking country, e.g. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

Application forms can be found on-line at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/studentships

Please submit forms online at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply/application_process

Please confirm that you have made a submission by emailing:e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss these positions, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project 1:
Title: Modelling Water Mist suppression interaction with pyrolysis and combustion

Ref: VCS-ACH-05-14

Project Description:

Water mist is increasingly being used or considered as a fire suppression agent in marine and built environments. Although some simple empirical relations for sprinkler suppression effectiveness exist there is presently no detailed theoretical model for suppression, by mist, of pyrolysis and the combustion processes. Related to this is the simulation of suppression of pyrolysis and hence combustion by the process of surface wetting. Also of considerable interest is the potential change in combustion chemistry that could affect the nature of the combustion products, e.g. the potential to increase Carbon Monoxide production.

The proposed research aims to produce theoretical models that will include and model the effect of water mist on current pyrolysis, pool fire and gaseous combustion models. These models will then be implemented and tested within an existing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. This will have a number of benefits including helping in modern performance based building designs that will allow novel building designs to be implemented that would have been impossible under a prescriptive based design. With present modelling capabilities it is possible to demonstrate some of the benefits of a water mist system, e.g. cooling of the combustion region and O2 displacement. It is possible to establish the relative performance of a particular water mist system compared to another possible water mist system. However, with the new models, it should be possible to design and test a water mist system for the specific combustion processes and material that will be encountered, and in addition, evaluate the absolute performance of a water mist system.

Project Supervisors: Dr Angus Grandison, Dr Fuchen Jia and Prof Ed Galea

The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language. Experience of CFD and/or developing technical software would be an advantage as would knowledge of fire modelling.


Project 2:
Title: Multi-modal evacuation analysis

Ref: VCS-ACH-01-14

Project Description:
Large-scale incidents often require the evacuation of a populated area. The manner in which is achieved will determine the seriousness and extent of the incident’s impact. It is therefore important to design procedures to manage these evacuations and to quantify their effectiveness. The evacuation of the resident pedestrian population can currently be represented within evacuation models, such as buildingEXODUS. This aspect can therefore currently be quantified. However, in reality, an evacuation of this scale may also include the movement of vehicular traffic. The traffic may influence the time for evacuees to reach safety – both as passengers in the vehicles and through traffic congestion influencing pedestrian movement.

It is therefore important to include vehicle movements within evacuation models. As part of the proposed project the student will undertake research into the representation of vehicular traffic within a pedestrian/evacuee environment as simulated by the buildingEXODUS model. This environment may potentially include the immediate vicinity of an urban-scale population movement (e.g. several city blocks, transport hubs, etc.). buildingEXODUS will need to represent the movement of the population, the population loading of the vehicles, the interaction of moving vehicles with a mobile population, and then the movement of the vehicles around the immediate vicinity of the area being represented.

Supervisors: Dr Peter Lawrence and Prof Ed Galea

The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language. Experience of social science research would be an advantage as would knowledge of fire/evacuation analysis and/or experience of using the EXODUS software.

[May 2013] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships [POSITIONS NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group has been awarded two Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships. The areas of research are indicated below. Potential candidates who wish to submit an application must do so in accordance with the procedures set out on the application form. All scholarships on offer have an application closing date of 11th June 2013. The bursary stipend is £ 13726 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award. Also, tuition fees will be waived up to a maximum amount equivalent to the university’s home/EU tuitions fee for MPhil and PhD students.
For those whose first language is not English or if from a country where English is not the first language, a language proficiency score of at least IELTS 6.5 (in all elements of the test) or TOEFL 100 ibt (600 pbt) unless the candidate’s degree was taught in English and obtained in a majority English speaking country, e.g. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

Application forms can be found on-line at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/study/apply/application_process

Completed forms should be sent to: postgraduateresearch@gre.ac.uk. With a copy sent to e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss these positions, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.

Project 1:
Title: Evacuation Dynamics on Large Passenger Ships

Ref: VCS-CMS-01-13

Project Description:

The sinking of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 with the loss of 32 lives emphasises how important it is to understand evacuation dynamics on large passenger ships. Unlike a building, where the evacuation routes are generally well known and intuitive, on large passenger ships, evacuation routes can be complex, unintuitive and dependent on the occupant’s initial starting location. Thus the manner in which passengers way find in large complex passengers ships is extremely important to the success of the evacuation process. In addition, the impact that a heeled deck has on passenger movement will have a profound impact on the movement and behaviour of passengers. Understanding all of these factors is vital if we are to accurately simulate the evacuation process on large passenger ships. The PhD student will explore each of these areas through a combination of several unique datasets available to FSEG and through analysis of accounts of passenger behaviour in the recent Costa Concordia incident. The student will suggest models for way finding, group behaviour and movement under conditions of adverse vessel orientation and implement and test this within the maritimeEXODUS software environment.

Project Supervisors: Dr Steve Deere and Prof Ed Galea

The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language. Experience of social science research would be an advantage as would knowledge of fire/evacuation analysis and/or experience of using the EXODUS software.

Project 2:
Title: The computer simulation of residential and large scale smoke control systems

Ref: VCS-CMS-02-13

Project Description:
The most common cause of death in fire incidents is smoke inhalation. The uncontrolled spread of smoke causes visual obscuration, making it difficult for people to evacuate. Two commonly used means to control smoke movement are natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation such as the use of jet fans. Natural ventilation systems are attractive due to their low installation and maintenance costs. There is thus a growing interest in their potential use in domestic dwellings. While natural ventilation systems are currently used in large commercial buildings, little is known concerning their potential use in domestic dwellings. Jet fans are widely used to control smoke movement in a variety of large complex structures such as underground car parks and tunnels. However, the representation of jet fans in fire models is simplistic, with the jet fans usually being treated as simple momentum sources. This PhD project will focus on these two aspects of smoke control, using CFD fire modelling and evacuation modelling techniques to explore the potential benefits of natural ventilation systems in domestic dwelling applications and the development of a jet fan sub-model for CFD fire simulation models.

Supervisors: Dr Zhaozhi Wang, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Mayur Patel

The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree. The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language. Experience of CFD and/or developing technical software would be an advantage as would knowledge of fire modelling.

 

[March 2013] KTP vacancy for an Associate with a PhD in Psychology or a closely related social science discipline [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The University of Greenwich and Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KF&RS) have an opportunity to work at the research interface between academia and business. KF&RS (www. kent.fire-uk.org) is a public sector organisation, providing a range of community and emergency response services within Kent and Medway. Its aim is “To save lives and reduce risks”.

 
THE PROJECT:
Kent Fire and Rescue Service, in partnership with the Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Greenwich, now wish to develop new expertise within the fire service to build and embed a knowledge-base and research capability, initially directed at reducing fire-related deaths and injuries.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a PhD in Psychology or a closely related social science discipline with extensive experience in research methods and designs (quantitative and/or qualitative). They must have evidence of undertaking large-scale human behaviour surveys, experience of ethical review process and critical evaluation (e.g. demonstrated in written articles, reports, reviews). They must also have extensive experience in the use of statistical software (e.g. SPSS) for storing, coding and analysing data. In addition, the successful candidate must have experience working (either on a paid or voluntary basis) in a public service/charity sector which deals with people who have experienced emergencies (e.g. a former member of an emergency service, a Fire and Emergency Support Service volunteer, a Victim Support volunteer, bereavement counsellor, etc.). Personal attributes must include an inquisitive mind, excellent communication skills, and good organisational skills.

THE POSITION:
The appointment will be for three years and the successful candidate will be based in Tovil, Maidstone, Kent, and also spend time in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. The package includes a good base salary, range £30,000 - £38,000 depending on experience and benefits take-up, a technical and personal training allowance.

Closing date for applications is 1st April 2013

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Email your CV and covering letter (referring to KTP with Kent Fire and Rescue Service) to:
Prof. Ed Galea:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (020) 8331 8730
Email: E.R.Galea@gre.ac.uk

 

[May 2012] Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships [POSITIONS NOW FILLED]
 
The Fire Safety Engineering Group has been awarded two Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarships.  The areas of research are indicated below.  Potential candidates who wish to submit an application must do so in accordance with the procedures set out on the application form. All scholarships on offer have an application closing date of 13 July.   The bursary stipend is £ 13590 (Sterling) per year subject to review in the second and third years of the award.  Also, tuition fees will be waived up to a maximum amount equivalent to the university’s home/EU tuitions fee for MPhil and PhD students.

For those whose first language is not English or if from a country where English is not the first language, a language proficiency score of at least IELTS 6.5 (in all elements of the test) or TOEFL 100 ibt (600 pbt) unless the candidate’s degree was taught in English and obtained in a majority English speaking country, e.g. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
 
Application forms can be found on-line at www.gre.ac.uk/research/study/studentships
 
If you would like to discuss these positions, please contact Prof Ed Galea, Director Fire Safety Engineering Group by email at: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk or call +44 208 331 8706.
 
Project 1:
Title: Two-way Coupling of Evacuation and Fire Models
 
Ref: VCS-CMS-06-12
 
Project Description:
 
The actions of occupants within a burning building can have a significant impact on the development/spread of fire/fire-effluents. Current agent based evacuation models do not allow population actions to impact fire evolution, mostly due to practical issues associated with differences in computational costs between evacuation and fire models. 
 
This PhD will investigate two-way coupling between agent based evacuation models and fast fire models, so that agents within the evacuation model will be able to influence the fire development by for example, opening a door, which will in turn have consequences for the population.
 
The PhD project will build on existing research within the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) and have the following key objectives:

•  To develop efficient two-way data transfer protocols between evacuation and fire models, enabling state change of key objects to be registered within both models.
•  To identify and develop new agent behaviours such as; opening doors and windows, fire-fighting activities, route adaption, etc.

This coupling is critical for accurate forensic analysis, accident reconstruction and for modelling diverse fire/evacuation scenarios.
 
Project Supervisors: Dr John Ewer, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Peter Lawrence
 
The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree.  The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language.  Experience of social science research and/or developing technical software would be an advantage as would knowledge of fire/evacuation analysis and/or experience of using the EXODUS software.
 
 
Project 2:
Title: Simulating the Impact of Signage Systems on Pedestrian and Evacuee Behaviour
Ref: VCS-CMS-05-12
 
Project Description: 
Signage is an important building wayfinding component. However, the effectiveness of signage (based on the sign’s design, the environmental conditions, viewer attributes, etc.) has been ignored in most evacuation/pedestrian models.  The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) has developed a signage model as part of the buildingEXODUS software which is capable of simulating agent wayfinding based on research on detection/use of individual emergency signs.   In reality, there are various types of signs (routes, services, location, etc.) for general circulation and evacuation procedures, which normally form a chain rather than working in isolation. 
 
This PhD will build on the existing research and extend the signage capability to include:

•  a signage chain,
•  the impact of different sign types
•  the impact of the environmental conditions/agent attributes on viewing.

The project will include data collection and develop a behavioural sub-model for multi-agent models to simulate the interaction between agent and signage under routine or emergency conditions, and represent the subsequent impact of the interaction on agent’s behaviour.
 
Supervisors: Dr Hui Xie, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Peter Lawrence
 
The Candidate:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, etc.), or a good first degree and a Master’s degree.  The candidate would be expected to be familiar with C++ programming language and statistical analysis tools.  Experience of social science research and/or developing technical software would be an advantage as would knowledge of evacuation analysis and/or experience of using the EXODUS software.
 

 

[November 2011] Doctoral Student in Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction Modelling. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into the representation of vehicular traffic within a pedestrian and evacuee environment as simulated by the buildingEXODUS model. This environment will potentially include the immediate vicinity of an urban-scale population movement (e.g. several city blocks, transport hubs, etc.). buildingEXODUS will need to represent the movement of the population, the population loading of the vehicles, the interaction of moving vehicles with a mobile population, and then the movement of the vehicles around the immediate vicinity of the area being represented. This process should include the arrival, use and depart of vehicle and population traffic into the vicinity under routine or emergency scenarios.

This work will therefore need to address two key challenges:
(1) The introduction of vehicle objects into the buildingEXODUS model, the interaction between the population and the vehicles, and the movement of a limited number of vehicles (proportional to the simulated population size) within the vicinity.

(2) The interaction between the buildingEXODUS vehicle model and third-party transport models that simulate much large road networks and vehicle numbers (likely to be disproportionally larger than the population simulated by buildingEXODUS).

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills. Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage. The candidate may be asked to demonstrate these skills should no previous citable evidence be available. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or experience of using the EXODUS software would be considered an advantage. The candidate should expect to read through the relevant material provided prior to commencing the research, should their current understanding of the field be considered insufficient.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to January 2012. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend (£8750 year 1, £9250 year 2 and £9750 year 3).

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Applications (referring to Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction position) to:

Prof Ed Galea:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: FSEGadmin@gre.ac.uk

 

 [August 2011] Doctoral Student in Evacuation Modelling. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with evacuation modelling, in particular dealing with response phase behaviour. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into analysis of occupant response phase data. This will involve a study of the literature on response time data, analysis of response time data collected from a variety of experiments, and the formulation of appropriate response models based on experimental data. Response phase data will be extracted from extensive video footage of evacuation experiments and the analysis of transcripts of survivors from previous disasters. The project will also involve the implementation of appropriate experimental data and selected behaviour models within the EXODUS suite of evacuation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a good first degree and a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software. The candidate would also be expected to be familiar with C++. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills. Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage. The candidate may be asked to demonstrate these skills should no previous citable evidence be available. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or experience of using the buildingEXODUS software would be considered an advantage.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to November 2011. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend (£8750 year 1, £9250 year 2 and £9750 year 3).

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Applications (referring to Response time position) to:

Prof Ed Galea,
The University of Greenwich,
Fire Safety Engineering Group
Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Humanities.
Maritime Greenwich Campus
Old Royal Naval College,
Queen Mary Building,
Greenwich,
London SE10 9LS
UK.
Tel: +44(0)20 8331 8706
Email: FSEGadmin@gre.ac.uk

 

[Closing date 22 April 2011] Doctoral Student in Fire Modelling – Investigating the benefits of hardware accelerated CFD fire simulation [POSITION NOW CLOSED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with applications of high performance computing to fire and evacuation modelling. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into high performance computing with applications in Fire Safety Engineering. The primary aim of the project is to explore the use of parallel processing techniques using advanced GPU hardware to accelerate CFD based fire simulations thereby making these applications more practical for practitioners and researchers and to explore new application areas. With increased performance of CFD fire simulation an area we will pursue is the two-way coupling of CFD fire simulation and evacuation simulation. Currently only a one way coupling exists between these two models as a two way couple is impractical due to the difference in runtimes between the two techniques. A two-way coupling would provide a deeper understanding of the interaction between the evacuation and the generated fire atmosphere.

The project will make use of the Computational Fire Engineering (CFE) tools, SMARTFIRE and buildingEXODUS. As part of the project, the successful candidate will review existing work in parallel processing used for similar software products/techniques and gain knowledge and understanding of the current state-of-the-art hardware and software. The project will also require a detailed analysis of the SMARTFIRE and EXODUS CFE tools to understand how to apply these techniques effectively, particularly in the context of the unstructured mesh that is utilised within SMARTFIRE. Once the current state-of-the-art is understood, appropriate techniques will be implemented within SMARTFIRE and its performance will be assessed. It is hoped that speed-ups of 100 times will be achieved using this approach. Techniques will then be developed to allow the two-way coupling of the enhanced SMARTFIRE software with the buildingEXODUS evacuation software allowing agents within the evacuation model to interact with and modify the fire geometry e.g. by opening or closing doors within the geometry. A series of simulations will be performed using the coupled software system to demonstrate its capabilities.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a first class or 2.1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a good first degree and a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software. The candidate would also be expected to be familiar with C++. Experience of Microsoft Visual Studio would be an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills. Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage. The candidate may be asked to demonstrate these skills should no previous citable evidence be available. Experience of evacuation modelling and/or CFD fire modelling and experience of using buildingEXODUS and/or SMARTFIRE software would be considered an advantage. Evidence of previous parallel processing knowledge would be considered an advantage in particular previous knowledge of CUDA and/or OpenCL environments.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to May 2011. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend (£8750 year 1, £9250 year 2 and £9750 year 3).

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers.

For further details and application forms (referring to PhD Hardware accelerated CFD fire simulation position) contact:

Prof Ed Galea:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk 

 

[Sept 2010] Doctoral Student in Evacuation Modelling – Large-Scale Crowds. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with evacuation modelling. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into large-scale crowd movement and the representation of this movement within an existing simulation tool. This will involve a review of the existing material describing emergency and non-emergency situations involving large populations, the physical and non-physical influences upon this movement, and the modelling techniques currently available to represent this movement. Once the current state-of-the-art is understood, a sub-model will be developed, embedded within the buildingEXODUS model, and validated using the new and existing model capability to demonstrate the value of the research.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a good first degree and a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills. Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage. The candidate may be asked to demonstrate these skills should no previous citable evidence be available. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or experience of using the EXODUS software would be considered an advantage. The candidate should expect to read through the relevant material provided prior to commencing the research, should their current understanding of the field be considered insufficient.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to November 2010. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers.

For further details and application forms (referring to PhD Large Crowd Modelling position) contact:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[Nov 2010] Doctoral Student in Rail Evacuation Simulation.

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with evacuation from rail vehicles. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into evacuation from rail cars. This will involve a study of the literature on rail egress, detailed analysis of rail egress experimental data and the formulation of appropriate behaviour models based on experimental data. The project will also involve the implementation of appropriate experimental data and selected behaviour models within the EXODUS suite of evacuation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to November 2010. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Rail Evacuation Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

[Aug 2009] Doctoral Student in High Rise building Evacuation Simulation. [POSITION NO LONGER AVAILABLE]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with evacuation from high rise buildings. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into evacuation from high rise buildings. This will involve a study of the literature on highrise building evacuation, development of data collection methodologies for building evacuation trials, participation in building evacuation trials, detailed analysis of high rise building evacuation experimental data and the formulation of appropriate behaviour models based on experimental data. The project will also involve the implementation of appropriate experimental data and selected behaviour models within the EXODUS suite of evacuation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a good first degree and a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software.  The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.  Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage.  Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or experience of using the EXODUS software would be considered an advantage.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to April 2009. The successful candidate will be awarded a partial University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to High rise builiding Evacuation Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[Jan 2009] Doctoral Student in Ship Evacuation Simulation. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with evacuation from passenger ships. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into evacuation from passenger ships. This will involve a study of the literature on ship  egress, development of data collections methodologies for ship assembly trials, participation in ship assembly trials, detailed analysis of ship assembly experimental data and the formulation of appropriate behaviour models based on experimental data. The project will also involve the implementation of appropriate experimental data and selected behaviour models within the EXODUS suite of evacuation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) or a good first degree and a Masters degree with experience of developing technical software.  The successful candidate must have practical experience of ship evacuation issues, with experience of using RFID equipment and excellent written and oral skills.  Evidence of previous research paper publication would be an advantage.  Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or experience of using the EXODUS software would be considered an advantage.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to April 2009. The successful candidate will be awarded a partial University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Ship Evacuation Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

SEVERAL PHD POSITIONS WITH FSEG AVAILABLE

There are only two positions open.

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is offering a number of three year PhD studentships in a range of fire and evacuation modelling application areas. A range of topics are available, the precise number of positions offered will be dependent on the nature of the projects accepted by successful candidates and the availability of PhD supervisors. However, it is anticipated that around six positions will be awarded.

FUNDING
Funding for the PhD studentships may be by one of several sources to be confirmed on a case by case basis. These include University Bursary and EPSRC funding. The nature of the funding will be dependent on the candidate eligibility and the availability of funds. The funding information indicated on the further details for each project represents the minimum financial support offered. In all cases, the studentship will pay the student a stipend and cover university fees.

THE PROJECTS:
The list of projects, in no specific order of preference are concerned with the following broad topics:

• The modelling of fire suppression using water mist. (please refer to Water Mist project). [Position now filled]
• LES modelling as applied to fire simulation. (please refer to LES Modelling project)
• The simulation of evacuation from rail car environments. (please refer to Rail Evacuation Modelling project) [Position closed]
• Representing Building Familiarity and simulating Occupant Wayfinding Capabilities within egress models. (please refer to Wayfinding Modelling project) [Position now filled]
• The development of numerical techniques to assess building complexity. (please refer to Building Complexity project) [Position closed]
• The Development, Implementation and Application of Elevator models within an evacuation modelling environment. (please refer to Elevator Evacuation Modelling project) [Position now filled]
• The simulation of evacuation from Very Large Aircraft environments. (please refer to Aircraft Evacuation Modelling project) [Position closed]
• Prediction of Soot generation in fires. (please refer to SMOKE Modelling project) [Position now filled]
• The use of Knowledge Based Technology to Optimise the solution of CFD based fire simulations. (please refer to KBS project) [Position closed]

 

[July 2007] Doctoral Student in Representing Building Familiarity and Simulating Occupant Wayfinding Capabilities in Egress Models. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

One of the main research interests of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is the study of evacuation and pedestrian dynamics. Part of this on-going programme of research is the study of wayfinding within complex building spaces. The specific area of interest for this PhD project focuses on the development of numerical techniques to represent the wayfinding capabilities of individuals. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into the use of mathematical modelling techniques to represent a building occupants familiarity with the structure and how this impacts on wayfinding. This will involve a study of the literature on building design and human evacuation behaviour, detailed analysis of relevant mathematical techniques and the formulation and implementation of appropriate software algorithms within buildingEXODUS. It is proposed that the occupants knowledge of the structure will be based upon a mathematical graphical representation of the structure.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with mathematical modelling and computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of graph theory, evacuation and fire safety engineering would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2007. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend or other appropriate funding.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Wayfinding Modelling position) to:
Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[July 2006] Doctoral Student in the Development of Numerical Techniques to Assess Building Complexity. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

One of the main research interests of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is the study of evacuation and pedestrian dynamics. Part of this on-going programme of research is the study of building complexity and the development of numerical techniques to assess building complexity. The specific area of interest for this PhD project focuses on the development of numerical techniques to assess building complexity. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into the use of mathematical techniques in the understanding of the impact of structural complexity in relation to a wide variety of buildings. This will involve a study of the literature on building complexity and the methods available to assess complexity, detailed analysis of relevant mathematical techniques and the formulation and implementation of appropriate software algorithms within buildingEXODUS.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with graph theory, mathematical modelling and computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to October 2006. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend or other appropriate funding.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Building Complexity position) to:
Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[July 2006] Doctoral Student in the simulation of building evacuation with the aid of Elevators. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich wish to continue the research which has lead to the development of its building evacuation simulation model buildingEXODUS. The specific area of interest focuses on the use of elevators for evacuation. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into the use of elevators as part of the evacuation system. This will involve a study of the literature on building evacuation, detailed analysis of relevant egress experimental data, the formulation and implementation of an appropriate elevator model within the buildingEXODUS software and the exploration of appropriate evacuation strategies utilising elevators.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with mathematical modelling and computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to October 2006. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend or other appropriate funding.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Elevator Modelling position) to:
Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[July 2007] Doctoral Student in Aircraft Evacuation Simulation.

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich wish to continue the research which has lead to the development of its aircraft evacuation simulation model airEXODUS. The specific area of interest focuses on the interaction of crew with passengers and the passenger decision making process in Very Large Aircraft (VLA) such as the Blended Wing Body (BWB). FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into evacuation from VLA. This will involve a study of the literature on aircraft evacuation, detailed analysis of relevant egress experimental data from both the aviation and built environment and the formulation and implementation of appropriate behaviour models within the airEXODUS software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with mathematical modelling and computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering and/or psychology would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2007. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend or other appropriate funding.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk  for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Aircraft Evacuation Modelling position) to:
Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk

 

[July 2007] Doctoral Student in Large Eddy Fire Simulation.

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with large eddy fire simulation. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into large eddy simulation in fire applications. This will involve a study of the literature on LES, analysis of the potential problems of applying LES in fire simulations and the formulation of appropriate LES models within the SMARTFIRE suite of CFD fire simulation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of turbulence models and CFD technique would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2007. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to LES Fire Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
 

[July 2006] Doctoral Student in Smoke production.  [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich will commence a research project concerned with soot formation and transport. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research. The position is for a period of three years and is funded by a University Bursary.

THE PROJECT:
The presence of soot in fire effluent is an important component in determining the hazardous impact of fire. The presence of soot in fire products will influence the temperature and thermal radiation produced by the fire as well as the light transmittance of the fire smoke, all of which will in turn influence the survivability of a particular fire environment. However, soot formation is currently poorly represented within fire models. The successful candidate will undertake research into soot production and develop and implement a soot generation model within the SMARTFIRE fire field model. This will involve a study of the literature on soot formation and transport, the formulation and implementation of an appropriate soot model simulating soot formation and transport and examine the impact of sooty smoke on evacuation through computer simulation.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of CFD and/or fire modelling would be considered an advantage as would knowledge of physics and/or chemistry. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to October 2006. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Soot Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
 

 [July 2006] Doctoral Student in Knowledge Based System Control and Optimisation of Fire Field Modelling Software. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich would like to recruit a PhD candidate to continue research successfully demonstrated by FSEG in the application of Knowledge Based System Control and Optimisation to Fire Field Modelling software. The position is for a period of three years and is funded by a University Bursary.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into Knowledge Based System Control and Optimisation of Fire Field Modelling. The project will build on recent FSEG advances in the development of the Experiment Engine module of the SMARTFIRE software. The project will involve a study of the literature on fire field modelling techniques, optimisation strategies and knowledge based systems; the development and implementation of optimisation strategies within the SMARTFIRE suite of software and the development of appropriate validation and demonstration cases for the newly developed techniques.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and will be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of fire safety engineering and/or CFD based modelling and/or optimisation methods and/or Knowledge Based Systems would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to October 2006. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to KBS position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
 

[July 2007] Doctoral Student in Fire Suppression Simulation.

One of the main research interests of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is the study of fire simulation. Part of this on-going programme of research is the development of water mist and sprinkler models. The specific area of interest for this PhD project focuses on the development of fire suppression models to tackle both non-spreading and spreading fires. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:
The successful candidate will undertake research into the CFD modelling of fire suppression with water mist/sprinkler. This will involve a study of the literature on fire suppression, analysis and the formulation, implementation and testing of appropriate fire suppression models within the SMARTFIRE CFD fire simulation software.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with CFD and computer programming, preferably in C++. Knowledge of fire dynamics and multi-phase flow would be considered an advantage. The successful candidate must have excellent written and oral skills.

THE POSITION:
The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich. Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2007. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

FSEG:
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world. The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers. Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Water Mist Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
 

 

[Sept 2005] 3 Behavioural Researchers Required for EPSRC funded World Trade Centre 9/11 Study. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, FIRESERT of the University of Ulster and the University of Liverpool, with financial support from the UK EPSRC will undertake behavioural research into the WORLD TRADE CENTRE evacuation of 11 Sept 2001. Three motivated researchers are required to join the existing team to interview the survivors of the World Trade Centre tragedy to elicit their experiences and archive these in a database for use in informing future design of high rise buildings. This is a unique opportunity to be involved in a high profile research project and requires researchers of the highest calibre. For more information about the project visit the project web pages at http://www.wtc-evacuation.com

Three Human Behaviour researchers (one based at each of the three partner universities) are required to collect and collate the experiences of evacuees.

The posts are initially for one year, extendable to two years. The three researchers will be required to work in New York, USA for extended periods. The positions are expected to commence on 1 November 2005.

To obtain further particulars and an application form visit our website www.gre.ac.uk, email: Jobs@gre.ac.uk or write to the Personnel Office, University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Road, London, SE9 2UG quoting the job reference: 00261. Applications should be returned by 5 pm on 20 September 2005.


[Sept 2005] Evacuation Modelling Researcher Required for EPSRC funded World Trade Centre 9/11 Study. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The University of Greenwich, in collaboration with the University of Ulster and University of Liverpool will, with support from an EPSRC research grant, investigate the 9/11 evacuation of the World Trade Centre.

As part of this project a motivated researcher is required to undertake a range of computer based simulation studies of the WTC evacuation using the EXODUS software. The model predictions will be evaluated using factual evidence of the actual evacuation. Based on this information the major components required to enhance current building evacuation models will be identified laying the basis for the next generation of evacuation algorithms.

This research post is based in FSEG of the University of Greenwich and will initially be for one year, extendable to two years. The position is expected to commence by 1st November 2005.

To obtain further particulars and an application form visit our website www.gre.ac.uk, email: Jobs@gre.ac.uk or write to the Personnel Office, University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Road, London, SE9 2UG quoting the job reference 00260. Applications should be returned by 5 pm on 20 September 2005.
 

[July 2004] EPSRC funded Doctoral Student in Marine Evacuation Simulation. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, in collaboration with the Design Research Centre of the Dept of Mechanical Engineering University College London with financial support from the UK EPSRC will commence a research project concerned with marine based evacuation analysis. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:

The overall aim of this multidisciplinary research is to integrate the leading technologies of Personnel Simulation (maritimeEXODUS developed by FSEG UoG) and Ship Configurational Design (SURFCON developed by UCL) to enhance the guidance to and affect the preliminary design determination to the benefit of all parties in the design, regulation, construction and operation of ships in regard to personnel movement onboard ships for a range of evolutions, including escape, damage control and storing.  As part of this research, the doctoral student will develop interfacing software to link the two products and more importantly develop the concept and implementation of suitable Human Performance Metrics (HPM).  These will essentially be the human dynamics criteria by which the suitability of the vessel layout will be evaluated for fitness of purpose.
 

THE CANDIDATE:

The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++.  Knowledge of evacuation and fire safety engineering would be considered an advantage.

THE POSITION:

The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich.  Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2004. The successful candidate must satisfy the EPSRC eligibility requirements as they will be awarded an EPSRC bursary.

FSEG:  

The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world.  The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers.  Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (referring to Marine Evacuation Modelling position) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.

Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
WEB: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/positions.html

 

 [June 2004] 4 Behavioural Researchers Required for EPSRC funded World Trade Centre 9/11 Study. [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, FIRESERT of the University of Ulster and the University of Liverpool, with financial support from the UK EPSRC will undertake behavioural research into the WORLD TRADE CENTRE evacuation of 11 Sept 2001.  To assist in this research project the three universities are seeking to appoint 4 behavioural Scientists. For further details click here.
 

 [July 2003] Doctoral Student in CFD based Fire Simulation [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, with financial support from Borealis have commenced a research project concerned with the simulation of combustion and the generation of toxic gases. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

THE PROJECT:

As part of this research, the doctoral student will develop theoretical models to describe the generation of toxic gases resulting from the combustion of common building materials.  These models will be based on existing models already under development at FSEG.  The student will also be involved in the design of targeted experiments used to generate data for the models and for model validation. The developed models will be imbedded in the general CFD fire simulation software SMARTFIRE.

THE CANDIDATE:

The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++.  Knowledge of Fire Engineering would be considered an advantage.

 THE POSITION:

The successful candidate will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich.  Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to September 2003. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

 FSEG:  

The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world.  The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers.  Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (refering to Combustion Modelling postion)to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.

Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
WEB: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/positions.html

[November 2002] Lloyds Register Research Fellow [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is pleased to announce the establishment of a new position within FSEG funded by Lloyds Register to be known as the Lloyds Register Research Fellow (LRRF).   FSEG is looking to recruit an engineer/scientist with experience of evacuation modelling and/or CFD based fire modelling to fill this position.

THE POSITION:
This position involves the practical application of fire engineering analysis techniques to assess ship design for fire safety.  This will primarily involve the application of CFD based fire models such as SMARTFIRE, CFX, PHOENICS, etc and complex evacuation models such as maritimeEXODUS to passenger ship configurations.  The successful candidate will form part of a team comprising FSEG and Lloyds engineers with the successful candidate being expected to take a lead role in implementing the analysis tools.   The position is initially for a period of 12 months with the possibility of extension beyond this period. The successful candidate will also be given the opportunity to enrol in a relevant higher degree offered by the University.

THE CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. fire, marine or general engineering, naval architecture, mathematics, etc).  Experience of CFD based fire modelling or complex evacuation modelling is essential.  Experience of fire engineering is considered an advantage.  Experience of the maritime industry is desirable but not essential.

The successful candidate will be based in FSEG at the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich (see http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details).  Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place by February 2003.

Further details and applications (stating LRRF) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K. 

Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
WEB: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/positions.html

[October 2002] The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich have two opportunities for suitably qualified graduates wishing to undertake challenging research leading to Doctoral Degrees in the areas of human behaviour and evacuation simulation (position 1) or water mist systems and fire simulation (position 2). 

 Position (1) : Doctoral Student in Evacuation Simulation  [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, with financial support from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, is embarking on a research study into the impact of external influences - such as signage systems - on evacuation behaviour. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

 THE PROJECT:

As part of this research, the doctoral student will develop theoretical models to describe the impact of external stimuli on evacuation behaviour. These models will be derived from extensive research into the available literature as well as from targeted experimental trials. The student will be involved in the design and implementation of the experimental trials as well as the analysis of the generated data.  Based on this information, the student will develop novel behavioural sub-models capable of predicting the behaviour and implement these within an existing evacuation model framework. This will enable the student to test their models within a more comprehensive computational environment.

 THE CANDIDATE:

The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, psychology, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++.  Knowledge of Fire Engineering would be considered an advantage.

 Position (2): Doctoral Student in CFD based Fire Simulation  [POSITION NOW FILLED]

The Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich, with financial support from the Environmental Safety and Health Technology Development Centre of Taiwan, have commenced a research project concerned with the simulation of water mist suppression systems. FSEG wish to recruit a PhD student who will undertake this research over the next three years.

 THE PROJECT:

As part of this research, the doctoral student will develop theoretical models to describe the impact of water mist systems on the suppression of fire in large industrial and commercial premises. These models will be derived from extensive research into the available literature.  The student will also be involved in the design of targeted experimental trials used to validate the models. The developed models will be imbedded in the general CFD fire simulation software SMARTFIRE.

 THE CANDIDATE:

The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. engineering, mathematics, etc) and be familiar with computer programming, preferably in C++.  Knowledge of Fire Engineering would be considered an advantage.

 BOTH POSITIONS:

The successful candidates will be based in the Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich, which is situated at its historic Old Royal Naval College campus in the heart of Greenwich.  Starting dates are flexible however, it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be in place prior to February 2003. The successful candidate will be awarded a University Bursary which is a tax free stipend.

 FSEG:  

The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich is one of Europe's leading centres of excellence concerned with Computational Fire Engineering. It is also one of the largest university based groups dedicated to the modelling of fire and evacuation in the world.  The award winning team of specialists that make up FSEG consist of fire engineers, mathematicians, behavioural psychologists, and software engineers.  Visit our web site at http://fseg.gre.ac.uk for details.

Further details and applications (stating position 1 or position 2) to:

Mrs Francoise Barkshire:
FSEG
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
30 Park Row
Greenwich SE10 9LS
U.K.

Phone: +44 (0)20 8331 8706
Email: f.barkshire@gre.ac.uk
WEB: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/positions.html

[July 2002] LEVERHULME Trust Fellowship [POSITION NOW FILLED]

Short Term Research Visiting Fellowship in Fire Field Modelling

The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich has been awarded a short term research visiting fellowship.  The fellowship will run for 10 months with a preferred start date in the period August-December 2002.  The fellowship is open to Non-UK citizens who permanently reside in any country other than the UK.  Candidates must hold a PhD and return to their normal place of residence on completion of the fellowship.

The candidate will be working with the SMARTFIRE development team in the general area of Computational Fluid Dynamics based fire field modelling with a focus on the modelling of combustion.  The candidate should be familiar with C++ programming language and is expected to have some limited involvement in fire related teaching activities.

Preferred Start Date  :         August - December 2002

Duration                      :         10 months

Grant                          :          The grant available to the successful candidate is the equivalent of £1,500 per month plus £200 per month London allowance plus £330 per month spouse/partner allowance. Contribution to travel costs (return economy airfares) available.

Conditions                  :           Candidates must hold a PhD.

Please forward CV with references to Prof Ed Galea at e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk