FPE Welcome Center Opens

The new FM Global Welcome Center in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering is now fully operational. The center, in the department's space on the third floor of the J.M. Patterson Building, provides a comfortable environment for prospective students, visitors and members of the department.

The Welcome Center was made possible through a $135,000 gift from FM Global.

The gift from FM Global is also being used towards the construction and equipment of a new FM Global Fire Phenomena Laboratory. The laboratory, currently under construction in the J.M. Patterson Building and scheduled to open during the summer of 2008, will provide state-of-the-art facilities to support technical excellence in research and education.

The 1000-square-foot laboratory will offer a unique and controlled environment for conducting sophisticated laboratory-scale fire experiments. Thislaboratory will house a salt-water facility for exploring fire-induced flows, a 6x12-foot vibration-isolated optical breadboard for studying detailed flame characteristics, and modular workspaces for a variety of bench-scale experiments.

FM Global is also sponsoring individual research projects with Professors André Marshall and Arnaud Trouvé.

Published December 13, 2007