008 - Zone modelling is not dead with Colleen Wade

07/07/21 • 53 min

Zone modelling is a technique introduced in 1970's and 80's that has changed fire science. In my personal opinion, along with oxygen calorimetry and the development of FDS it may have been the most impactful tool of fire science. This is why I think its shameful it does not receive the same recognition today.
With Colleen we go deep into the zone models, discussing the tool itself and the ways to adapt it to current needs. You will learn how zone models evolved, and what makes them really useful in the modern world. It is a technology of the past, but certainly one with a bright future.
*** A mandatory download ***
https://www.branz.co.nz/fire-safety-design/b-risk/
This is the zone model largely developed by Colleen, absolutely worth your time to try it out!
--- LinkedIn discussion thread ---
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6818412552368771072
--- Useful links ---
https://fireresearchgroup.com/ FRG is the company that Colleen works for, and it is a bunch of great experts solving issues of modern fire science. Excellent resources are available. Keep an eye on them.
Branzfire / B-Risk technical documentation covers the basics of zone modelling, available at: https://www.branz.co.nz/fire-safety-design/b-risk/
The same I can tell about the CFAST documentation, available here: https://pages.nist.gov/cfast/index.html
The paper that made Colleen pursue the career in fire! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0379711284900067?via%3Dihub
i was wrong in the interview, it is not the one about RSET (that was another by Leo Cooper in the same year, wow, what a brilliant mind he was!)

Thank you to the SFPE for recognizing me with the 2025 SFPE Fire Safety Engineering Award! Huge thanks to YOU for being a part of this, and big thanks to the OFR for supporting me over the years.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

Thank you to the SFPE for recognizing me with the 2025 SFPE Fire Safety Engineering Award! Huge thanks to YOU for being a part of this, and big thanks to the OFR for supporting me over the years.

----
The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

Previous Episode

007 - AI in smart firefighting and the future of FSE PBD with Xinyan Huang

Everyone is talking about AI, but how can we really use it in fire safety engineering and firefighting? Prof Xinyan Huang of HK PolyU will explain his research in this field, and we can consider it as a time travel to the future. We touch on the ideas of AI and machine learning, and what does it really do (and what it does not do). We also investigate Xinyan's most recent research where AI was successfully applied to investigate the location of a fire in a tunnel and predict the smoke layer height in an atrium. Both are impressive case studies, being the first step to a propper use of AI in FSE performance-based design!
--- LinkedIn discussion thread ---
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fire-science-show_007-ai-in-smart-firefighting-and-the-future-activity-6815873476340056064-UPY3
--- Useful links ---
HK PolyU Fire lab site: https://www.firelabxy.com/
Smart firefighting concept: https://www.firelabxy.com/smart-firefighting
Paper on detecting the fires in tunnels with AI : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10694-020-00985-z
Paper on smoke control design in atria with AI:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710221003867?via%3Dihub
*** A must read ***
"Mechanistically Informed Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Fire Engineering and Sciences" by MZ Naser
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10694-020-01069-8

Thank you to the SFPE for recognizing me with the 2025 SFPE Fire Safety Engineering Award! Huge thanks to YOU for being a part of this, and big thanks to the OFR for supporting me over the years.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

Next Episode

009 - Cognitive biases and decision making in evacuation with Michael Kinsey

Why do we take certain decisions during an evacuation process? How do we choose the evacuation route? These are often affected by cognitive biases, which is the main theme of today's episode. With Dr Michael Kinsey we will discuss how biases can be used to understand known behaviours and model human behaviour in a more realistic way. A lot of focus is placed on the evacuation modelling, and how the decision-making processes are implemented in the computer models... And in the end, we talk a bit about biases in engineering and evacuation of tall buildings - after all, Michael lives and works in Shanghai.
Connect with Michael at https://twitter.com/DrMichaelKinsey
--- Linkedin Discussion Thread ---
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6821332317399760896
--- Useful links ---
The paper on cognitive biases, which was the theme of this episode: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-018-0708-0
Mike's lecture on cognitive biases: https://www.oasys-software.com/news/research-cognitive-biases-within-decision-making-during-fire-evacuations/
Mike's keynote on cognitive biases at FEMTC 2020: https://www.femtc.com/events/2020/d1-02-kinsey/
PhD on the dynamic signage mentioned in the episode: https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/8080/
Recent papers of Fire Safety Engineering Group at Greenwich University:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0379711221001454
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/authShare/S0379711221001454/20210708T123300Z/1?md5=35a030d79a5c6c6f396effad3e921a2e&dgcid=author (free download till 27.08.2021)
Learning how to learn course that was briefly mentioned by myself: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

Thank you to the SFPE for recognizing me with the 2025 SFPE Fire Safety Engineering Award! Huge thanks to YOU for being a part of this, and big thanks to the OFR for supporting me over the years.

----
The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.