About Fire Engineering
What is Fire Engineering?
It is the art and science of designing buildings and facilities for life safety and property protection in the event of an unwanted fire.
Fire Engineering includes understanding the behaviour of fires and smoke, the behaviour of people exposed to fires and the performance of burning buildings, as well as the impact of fire protection systems including detection, alarm and sprinkler systems.
Fire Engineering has become a growth industry in New Zealand since the 1991 introduction of the Building Act which allows assessment of building fire safety by rational engineering methods. The New Zealand "performance-based-code" is one of the most advanced in the world.
Click here to view videos and interviews on fire engineering research
Postgraduate Programme
A full-time MEFE degree is a 15-20 month programme, starting in February. It requires six courses and a research report. The entry requirement is a generally a B.E. degree in Chemical, Civil, Mechanical or Electrical engineering. 7 to 12 students graduate from the MEFE programme each year.
The postgradute programme may be persued at a part-time level. Part-time students normally begin their studies in the PGCert in Fire Engineering and can later upgrade to the MEFE once transfer requirements have been met. For more information about the part-time programme contact any of the fire engineering staff or Louise Barton.
Staff
We have 3 full-time staff members
- Andy Buchanan, Professor of Timber Design
- Charley Fleischmann Associate Professor in Fire Engineering
- Mike Spearpoint, Senior Lecturer in Structures and Fire
- Tony Abu, New Zealand Fire Service Commission Lecturer
Other staff from civil, mechanical and chemical engineering also contribute to various courses and research projects.