SFPE Foundation Awards Research Grant

January 13, 2023

The SFPE Foundation, a charitable organization focused on enhancing the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the social, natural, and built environments, announces the funding of research into integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for the design, verification, and maintenance of proper fire protection systems in buildings. The research will be led by principal investigator Stephen Roth, PE, president and chief technology officer at Carmelsoft.

The primary objective of the research is to identify opportunities to update and develop new fire protection engineering data repositories that are available to all interested parties, while also identifying interoperability requirements that will help more fire protection engineering software tools better integrate with BIM. In addition, the research aims to identify opportunities for improved toolsets and workflows that integrate with BIM, with the end goal of making it easier for all stakeholders to design, verify, and maintain proper fire safety systems in buildings. Findings of the study are expected to be presented at the SFPE Annual Conference & Expo in Washington D.C./Bethesda, in October 2023.

“A 2021 research project funded by the SFPE Foundation identified a sizable gap between the use of advanced building information models in the general design/engineering sector compared with those used by fire engineers,” stated Leslie Marshall, Ph.D., director, SFPE Foundation. “This new research project — along with ongoing Foundation programs and our Grand Challenges Initiative — aligns with the SFPE Research Roadmap and will benefit the global fire engineering community.”

Financing for SFPE Foundation-funded research is provided through the generous support of donors, including SFPE, SFPE chapters, SFPE members, governmental agencies, leading companies and organizations, and others. Demand for SFPE Foundation research funding support far exceeds available funds. The SFPE Foundation periodically invites research proposals through both open calls and specific requests for proposals.