Carl Baldassarra is a principal and manager of the fire protection practice at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Northbrook, Ill. He is a nationally recognized expert in fire protection engineering and related services for a wide range of facilities and systems. A licensed engineer in several states, Baldassarra has served on many NFPA and ICC technical committees, including NFPA 1, NFPA 13 and NFPA 101. He is a past president of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and a former member of its board of directors.