Recapping the 2026 WUI Fire Engineering Summit

Conference room with attendees and a speaker at a podium. — Fernando Raffan-Montoya moderating a panel at the 2026 WUI Fire Engineering Summit.

The 2026 Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Engineering Summit, organized by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Foundation, is the first fire engineering meeting dedicated specifically to the problem of WUI and urban fires. It brought together academics, industry, research organizations, local officials, first responders, and many other stakeholders to learn and collaborate on issues of mutual interest. The summit was co-hosted by the University of Maryland Department of Fire Protection Engineering and UL Fire Safety Research Institute, and was held in College Park, on August 10-12, 2026.

The program featured more than 35 speakers across over 20 presentations, keynote sessions, plenary panels, and nearly 60 research posters. Given the involvement of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, members of the faculty participated across many plenary sessions.

Plenary Panel #1 - Understanding the Impact of WUI Fires.

Moderator: Fernando Raffan-Montoya, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Kimiko Barrett, PhD, Alliance for Wildfire Resilience

Erica Fischer, PhD, Oregon State University

Christine Wiedinmyer, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

Plenary Panel #2 - How can engineers help drive better decision-making in WUI communities?

Moderator: Ann Jeffers, PhD, University of Michigan

Donna Settle, PE, PMSFPE, Gallagher

Ali Ashrafi, PhD, PE, CFEI, Thornton Tomasetti

Birgitte Messerschmidt, PSFPE, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Nathan Wittasek, PE, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH)

Plenary Panel #3 - WUI Education for Engineers.

Moderator: Daniel Gorham, PE, UL Research Institutes' Fire Safety Research Institute

Albert Simeoni, PhD, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Serdar Selamet PhD, Exponent & Stanford University

Fernando Raffan-Montoya, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Elsa Pastor, PhD, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Center for Technological Risk Studies (CERTEC)

Qianru Guo, PhD, PE, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH)

Plenary Panel #4 - WUI WG Module Updates.

Education: William Koffel, PE, Koffel Associates & University of Maryland, College Park

Policy: Erica Fischer, PhD, Oregon State University

Research: James Urban, PhD, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Closing Panel #5 - Creating the Infrastructure for WUI Fire Engineering Research and Collaboration.

Steve Kerber, PhD, UL Fire Safety Research Institute

Leslie Marshall, PhD, SFPE Foundation

Arnaud Trouvé, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Additionally, the department offered laboratory and facility tours to conference attendees. New to this year, a Student Pitch Competition with over $20,000 in grants were awarded to the winning teams, courtesy of support provided by the United Engineering Foundation and the SFPE Foundation. The department’s student participants, Adetola Ololade Nicole Koiki, and Andres Felipe Rivas Bolivar, both conducting their doctoral studies under Raffan-Montoya’s guidance, were named runner ups in the competition.

“WUI fires are often considered as a subcategory of wildland fires, but it is important to recognize that these problems are significantly different,” said Arnaud Trouvé, department chair. “It is now essential to coordinate efforts on the specific problem of WUI fires and the 2026 WUI Fire Engineering Summit is a great start that can inspire future efforts and collaborations.”

Published November 12, 2026