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News & Announcements
  • (9/26/24) - Ponnuthurai Gokulakrishnan of Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. has been elected as Associate Fellow of The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The award announcement can be found here:

https://www.aiaa.org/news/news/2024/09/23/aiaa-announces-its-class-of-2025-associate-fellows

  • (6/17/24) - Stephen Olenick, Michael Klassen, and Nasir Hussain of Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. have authored a Fire Protection Research Foundation report discussing the fire hazards of modern vehicles in parking structures including knowledge gaps in published experimentation and a proposed testing approach to fill those gaps has been released. It also includes a review of relevant fire codes and standards requirements, a discussion of a few relevant fire incidents, and information about the relevant characteristics of parking structures. You can download the report here:

 https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/research/fire-protection-research-foundation/projects-and-reports/modern-vehicle-hazards-in-parking-garages-vehicle-carriers

The authors thank the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation, the Project Technical Panel, and Project Sponsors for their support of this project. 

  • (8/4/23) - Richard Roby, President of Combustion Science & Engineering, recently appeared as a guest on the podcast The Fire Science Show to discuss forensic fire science. The episode can be found at the link below:

https://www.firescienceshow.com/109-forensic-fire-science-with-richard-roby/

  • (6/29/23) - Internally funded research at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. studied the open and closed cup flash and fire points of several types of alcoholic beverages with varying alcohol content. The findings of the research conducted by Eric J. Sudbrook, Nasir Hussain, Douglas J. Carpenter, and Stephen M. Olenick were recently published in the journal Fire Technology titled "Experimental Determination of Flash and Fire Points of Alcoholic Beverages." The paper can be found at the link below:

https://rdcu.be/dfCzx

  • (8/2/22) - Michael Klassen and Stephen Olenick, both with Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc., along with Haavard Boehmer (now with Banksia Fire & Resilience), have been awarded the SFPE Foundation Bono award for Engineering Communication, endowed by UL Research Institutes, in recognition of the advancement and application of professional fire protection engineering through their article, "Fire Hazard Analysis of Modern Vehicles in Parking Facilities," in the September 2021 issue of Fire Technology.  The research, which was undertaken at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. and funded by a Phase 1 award from the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) and the SFPE Foundation, explored the hazards associated with automobile parking facilities and how modern vehicle designs have changed the hazard. The award announcement can be found here:  

https://www.sfpe.org/newsroom/august022022

  • (5/3/22) - The paper "Fire Hazard Analysis of Modern Vehicles in Parking Facilities" by Haavard Boehmer, Michael Klassen, and Stephen Olenick in Fire Technology has been selected by the editors of the journal as having special significance. It has been added to the Editors' Choice Topical Collection for the best 15 papers of 2021 and is now available to download for free for the next 8 weeks. The research, which was undertaken at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. and funded by a Phase 1 award from the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), explored the hazards associated with automobile parking facilities and how modern vehicle designs have changed the hazard. A link to the paper can be found here:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-021-01113-1

  • (4/21/22)  - Sarp Hamamcioglu, Maclain M. Holton, Nasir Hussain, Michael S. Klassen and Stephen M. Olenick recently published a paper in the journal Fire Technology titled "Experimental Investigation of Acoustic
    Agglomeration and Sonic Soot Deposition on Smoke Alarms Incorporating Emerging Sounding Technologies" The paper can be found at the link below:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-022-01246-x

  • (10/12/21) - Stephen Olenick (with co-authors Mike Klassen and Haavard Boehmer) is presenting for the NFPA 125th Anniversary Conference Series in the "Global Trends and Research: Prepare Today for Tomorrow's Challenges" topic day.  His presentation is part of a track on the fire hazards of modern vehicles and parking garage fire safety. The presentation is based on a research project for the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation. His presentation will air live on 11/2/2021 and be available on-demand for a year after that.  More information on the conference series can be found here:

https://www.nfpa.org/Events/Events/Conference-Series

  • (10/12/21) - Mike Klassen (with co-authors Stephen Olenick and Haavard Boehmer) is presenting at the SFPE Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on 10/19/2021 on the fire hazards of modern vehicles, the effectiveness of current protection requirements in parking garages, and recommendations for future research to fill knowledge gaps. The presentation is based on a research project for the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation. More information on the conference can be found here: 

https://www.sfpe.org/events-education/conferences/annualconference

  • (7/6/21) - The paper "Thermally-Induced Failure of Smoke Alarms" by Geri Martin, Haavard Boehmer, and Stephen Olenick in Fire Technology has been selected by the editors of the journal as having special significance. It has been added to the Editors' Choice Topical Collection for the best 15 papers of 2020 and is now available to download for free for the next 8 weeks. The research, which was funded and undertaken at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc., explored the thermal conditions necessary to cause residential smoke alarms to begin to have a reduction in their sound output and then to ultimately completely fail to sound further during a fire. The                                                          announcement of the honor and a link to the paper can be found here:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               https://www.springer.com/journal/10694/updates/19267070?fbclid=IwAR1aa2ozpXMvGlYmwubo62XyTWq2eHz93RPEIpiNEtpQ4wMKwLmbISAkMXo

  • (4/5/21) - Ponnuthurai Gokulakrishnan, Casey Fuller, and Michael Klassen recently published a paper in the journal Fuel titled "Experimental and Modeling of Autoignition of Gaseous Hydrocarbon Fuels in the Presence of H2 and C2H4." The paper can be found at the link below, and the full text is free to access for the next 50 days:

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cs6%7E3iH4EPzD

  • (3/30/21) - Stephen Olenick, Principal Engineer at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. and chair of the NFPA 715 Fuel Gas Warning Equipment Technical Committee, recently participated in a NFPA webinar headlined by Dr. Scott Davis of Gexcon, US on a Fire Protection Research Foundation project regarding fuel gas dispersion and detection. Mr. Olenick described how the work contributed to the new NFPA 715 Standard for the Installation of Fuel Gases Detection and Warning Equipment.  You can find the webinar at: 

nfpa.org/webinars

  • (3/23/21) - Haavard Boehmer, Mike Klassen, and Stephen Olenick published a paper in Fire Technology discussing the fire hazards of modern vehicles, the effectiveness of current protection requirements, and recommendations for future research. The paper was based on the research project for the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation. For more information: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-021-01113-1 The full paper can be read online at: 

 

https://rdcu.be/chvEo

  • (12/1/20) - Stephen Olenick, Principal Engineer at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. and chair of the NFPA Fuel Gas Warning Equipment Technical Committee, was recently featured in a NFPA Journal article on the emerging threat of gas explosions and the new NFPA 715 standard to address gas detection. You can find the article and a related podcast here:

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/NFPA-Journal/2020/November-December-2020/Features/Gas

  • (10/14/20) - Stephen Olenick, Principal Engineer at Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. and chair of the NFPA Fuel Gas Warning Equipment Technical Committee, was recently featured in a NFPA podcast on the emerging threat of gas explosions and the new NFPA 715 standard to address gas detection. You can find the podcast here:

https://www.nfpa.org/podcasts

  • (10/13/20) - Stephen Olenick, Haavard Boehmer, and Michael Klassen of Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. have authored a paper in Fire Technology on their NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation project assessing the effect of a closed bedroom door on the detection and notification of residential fires. The paper can be found here: https://rdcu.be/b8qOh. More information on the project, including the final report, can be found on the Fire Protection Research Foundation's website:

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Detection-and-Signaling/Door-Messaging-Strategies-Implications-for-Detection-and-Notification

  • (7/27/20) - The final report has been published for the NFPA research foundation project “Modern Vehicle Hazards in Parking Structures and Vehicle Carriers”, authored by Haavard Boehmer, Michael Klassen and Stephen Olenick. The report documents the changes in vehicle and garage design and identifies the factors that most impact the fire development. Areas where current codes may be inadequate are presented and knowledge gaps and potential areas of research required to address the hazard are identified. A copy of the final report can be downloaded and read here:

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Building-and-Life-Safety/Modern-Vehicle-Hazards-in-Parking-Garages-Vehicle-Carriers

  • (6/10/20) - The full webinar "Modern Vehicle Hazards in Parking Structures and Vehicle Carriers" presented by Haavard Boehmer and Michael Klassen can be viewed here:

https://community.nfpa.org/community/nfpa-today/blog/2020/06/10/full-webinar-now-available-modern-vehicle-hazards-in-parking-structures-and-vehicle-carriers

  • (5/13/20) - Haavard Boehmer and Mike Klassen will present a webinar detailing the results of the latest NFPA Research foundation project on modern vehicle fire hazards. The webinar will give an overview of how the hazards of modern vehicles have changed, along with a review of the applicability of the existing fire protection requirements to these new hazards. More information and the link to register:

https://www.nfpa.org/Training-and-Events/By-type/Webinars/Modern-Vehicle-Hazards-in-Parking-Garages-and-Vehicle-Carriers

https://community.nfpa.org/community/nfpa-today/blog/2020/05/13/free-webinar-on-modern-vehicle-hazards-in-parking-garages-and-vehicle-carriers

  • (3/31/20) - Stephen Olenick, Haavard Boehmer, and Michael Klassen of Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. completed a project for the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation assessing the effect of a closed bedroom door on the detection and notification of residential fires.  Information on the project, including the final report, can be found on the Fire Protection Research Foundation's website:

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Detection-and-Signaling/Door-Messaging-Strategies-Implications-for-Detection-and-Notification
 

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