News Archive

  • Article highlighting our fire research featured in Knowable Magazine (3/22/2019) - A new article by Alexandra Witze entitled “Firenadoes and drifting embers: The secrets of extreme wildfires” was recently published in Knowable Magazine. We’re really excited about this article as it does a great job of describing the type of research we do in the lab, how it impacts modeling fire behavior, and future directions in...
  • Three new articles accepted in Combustion and Flame (3/21/2019) - Three articles from the group were recently accepted in Combustion and Flame. Two address the blue whirl, further investigating its structure and the conditions under which it forms, and one looks at downstream heating from wind-blown flames. The first article by Ram on the blue whirl is available at the link below, while the other...
  • Postdoctoral Scholar Position Available (2/18/2019) - Location Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA Position Description The University of Maryland, College Park is recruiting one postdoctoral scholar to work on a project exploring the behavior of fire whirls. The postdoctoral scholar position is an immediate need, so preference will be given to candidates available in March-June...
  • New paper published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute: Flame spread and burning rates through vertical arrays of wooden dowels (9/20/2018) - Flame spread and burning rates through vertical arrays of wooden dowels   Abstract Fuel loads in real-world fire scenarios often feature discrete elements, discontinuities, or inhomogeneities; however, most models for flame spread only assume a continuous, homogeneous fuel. Because discrete fuels represent a realistic scenario not yet well-modeled, it is of interest to find simple...
  • New Article Published in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (12/3/2017) - Our new article “Boundary layer instabilities in mixed convection and diffusion flames with an unheated starting length” was recently published in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. For a limited time access is FREE via the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1W5n144xZwqOY Abstract The following study examines the role of streaklike coherent structures in mixed convection...
  • New Article on “Fire Whirls” published in the Annual Reviews of Fluid Mechanics (10/11/2017) - Fire Whirls Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics Vol. 50:- (Volume publication date January 2018)  Review in Advance first posted online on October 2, 2017. (Changes may still occur before final publication.)  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-fluid-122316-045209 Pre-Print PDF (Note journal version has some updates) Ali Tohidi,1 Michael J. Gollner,1 and Huahua Xiao2 1Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park,...
  • Four new papers published in Fire Safety Journal to be presented at IAFSS! (5/25/2017) - Four new articles have been published in the Fire Safety Journal to be presented at the International Association of Fire Safety Science symposium this June in Lund, Sweden. The papers and authors are listed below. We’re excited to present soon and will post our photos from the symposium in Sweden!   The effect of flow...
  • Visiting IMFSE Student Cui Wuquan successfully defends MS Thesis! (5/23/2017) - Congratulations to Cui Wuquan who came to UMD from the International Masters in Fire Safety Engineering program in Europe who successfully defended his MS thesis on smoke transport in double-skinned facades!
  • Postdoctoral Scholar Ali Tohidi’s Article in Fire Safety Journal highlighted by Editors (5/23/2017) - Editor’s Featured Article for June 2017. Congratulations to Ali Tohidi and Nigel Berkely Kaye on their paper below:  Comprehensive wind tunnel experiments of lofting and downwind transport of non-combusting rod-like model firebrands during firebrand shower scenarios Ali continues to work on the study of firebrands, fire spread and fire whirls at the University of Maryland...
  • Postdoctoral Scholar Ali Tohidi Receives IAFSS Best Thesis Award (5/23/2017) - Ali Tohidi, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, has recently been honored with the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) 2017 Best Thesis Award for the Americas. Tohidi, who joined FPE after completing his PhD at Clemsen University in 2016, is one of three applicants and the only one in the Americas,...
  • FPE PhD Candidate Sriram Bharath Wins 3rd Place in 2017 Dean’s Master’s Research Competition (5/23/2017) - FPE PhD Candidate Sriram Bharath Wins 3rd Place in 2017 Dean’s Master’s Research Competition Sriram Bharath, who will in the fall semester be a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, focusing on Fire Protection Engineering (FPE), has received third place in the 2017 Dean’s Master’s Research Competition from the UMD Clark School of...
  • New paper published in Combustion and Flame: An investigation of coherent structures in laminar boundary layer flames (4/3/2017) -   An investigation of coherent structures in laminar boundary layer flames Miller, C.H., Tang, W., Finney, M.A., McAllister, S.S., Forthofer, J.M., Gollner, M.J., Combustion and Flame, 181, 123-135   Observations of coherent structures in boundary layer flames, particularly wildland fires, motivated an investigation on instabilities in a boundary layer flame. This experimental study examined streaklike...
  • Flame Spread Papers from the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute Now Available (3/6/2017) - Three papers from our group on flame spread published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute are now fully indexed and available online. Two have pre-prints available, the other please contact me for access. Sample Width Effects on Horizontal Flame Spread Over a Thin PMMA Surface Jiang, L., Miller, C.H., Gollner, M.J., Sun, J., Proceedings of...
  • Gollner to Receive Proulx Early Career Award at 2017 IAFSS Symposium (2/22/2017) - FPE Assistant Professor, Michael Gollner, is set to receive the International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) Early Career Proulx Award for his major scientific contributions to the understanding of flame spread, wildland wildland-urban interface fire spread, and fire whirls. “Michael is a rising star of the fire science community, an innovative engineer with great vision of...
  • Congratulations to Huahua Xiao for his Best Poster Award (11/19/2016) - Congratulations to Huahau Xiao from Aerospace Engineering for winning a best poster award at the Burgers Symposium on Fluid Mechanics at the University of Maryland. The poster was “Blue whirl – reacting vortex phenomenon?” by Huahua Xiao, Michael Gollner and Elaine Oran. Well done, Huahua!
  • PhD Student Positions Available at the University of Maryland (11/1/2016) - The University of Maryland, College Park is recruiting one or more PhD students to work in combustion and fire research starting in the summer or fall semester, 2017. Several projects related to the physics of wildland fires including ignition, spread, instabilities and fire whirls are ongoing, primarily experimental. Strong experimental and/or analytical skills are desired...
  • New Article Published: A Survey of Transient Fire Load on Passenger Ferry Vessels (11/1/2016) - We recently published a new article in Fire Technology: A Survey of Transient Fire Load on Passenger Ferry Vessels by Brian M. Hall and Michael J. Gollner. Read the article here: A Survey of Transient Fire Load on Passenger Ferry Vessels Hall, B.M. and Gollner, M.J.,  Fire Technology, DOI: 10.1007/s10694-016-0629-8 Abstract Aluminum ferries in the United States are unique in that they have...
  • Welcoming Dr. Ali Tohidi to our group! (8/22/2016) - We are very happy to welcome Dr. Ali Tohidi, who joined our group last month as a Postdoctoral Scholar. Dr. Tohidi brings with him a wealth of experience on the transport of firebrands and fundamental fluid mechanics. Ali will be working with Michael and the rest of the group on the generation, transport and ignition...
  • New Discovery, Blue Whirl published in PNAS (8/22/2016) - Fire tornados, or ‘fire whirls,’ pose a powerful and essentially uncontrollable threat to life, property, and the surrounding environment in large urban and wildland fires. But now, a team of researchers in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland (UMD) say their discovery of a type of fire tornado they...
  • New paper published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute: “Steady and transient pyrolysis of a non-charring solid fuel under forced flow” (7/21/2016) - Read it here: doi:10.1016/j.proci.2016.07.043 Abstract In previous work, the Reynolds analogy was used to develop a theoretical expression that allowed for the estimation of local mass burning rates in steady laminar boundary layer diffusion flames established over liquid and solid fuels. This technique was used to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for pyrolysis of both solid and...
  • New Article Published in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute: “Local flame attachment and heat fluxes in wind-driven line fires” (6/23/2016) - We recently published a new paper: “Local flame attachment and heat fluxes in wind-driven line fires” in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute. Wei Tang, PhD student was the lead author. You can read it here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1540748916301225 A detailed experimental investigation of turbulent diffusion flames under forced flow was conducted to study local heat fluxes...
  • Wildfire project awarded 2016 NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation Medal (6/23/2016) - Each year, the Fire Protection Research Foundation recognizes a project that best expresses the safety mission, commitment to overcome technical challenges and collaborative execution approach that is the hallmark of Foundation projects with the Fire Protection Research Foundation Medal. NFPA is proud to announce the project, “Pathways for Building Fire Spread at the Wildland-Urban Interface”...
  • Resources for Designing WUI Communities (6/14/2016) - We have posted several resources from our presentation today at the NFPA Conference. They can be read here or downloaded via PDF. A copy of the final presentation will also be posted soon. Resources for Designing WUI Communities (PDF) Presentation from NFPA 2016 (PDF) Resources for Designing WUI Communities Fire Modeling BEHAVE Plus: https://www.frames.gov/partner-sites/behaveplus/software-manuals/ A...
  • Two new papers on how fires spread in the WUI published in Fire Technology! (5/20/2016) - How do fires spread into and within wildland-urban interface communities? Two new reviews published in Fire Technology have investigated this topic, breaking down the mechanisms which cause ignition of homes and communities. While radiative heat fluxes and local flame contact contribute to ignition in the WUI, firebrands are a dominant mechanism that is also poorly understood...
  • New paper published on Pathways for Building Fire Spread in the Wildland Urban Interface Part I: Exposure Conditions (4/14/2016) - Our recent paper was just published online in Fire Technology: Review of Pathways for Building Fire Spread in the Wildland Urban Interface Part I: Exposure Conditions Sara E. Caton, Raquel S. P. Hakes, Daniel J. Gorham, Aixi Zhou, Michael J. Gollner Abstract While the wildland–urban interface (WUI) is not a new concept, fires in WUI communities have rapidly expanded in frequency and severity over the past...
  • Prof. Gollner receives NSF CAREER Award (2/13/2016) - Michael Gollner is the recipient of a 2016 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for “Understanding the Mechanisms of Wildland Fire Spread.” The project’s main objective is to understand the previously-unexplored role of intermittent heating that is driven by reacting-flow instabilities on wildland fire spread, in the hope that this knowledge may lead...
  • PhD Student Colin Miller Awarded Green Fellowship for Collaborative Research on the Environment  (1/15/2016) -   Mechanical Engineering PhD student Colin Miller, advised by Professor Michael Gollner in Fire Protection Engineering and Geographical Sciences PhD student Kristofer Lasko were recently selected to receive the ‘Green Fellowship for Collaborative Research on the Environment’ awarded by the University of Maryland’s Council on the Environment. Their proposal entitled, “A bottom-up approach to characterize...
  • PhD Student Colin Miller accepted into UMD Future Faculty Program (12/8/2015) - Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student Colin Miller, advised by Professor Michael Gollner in Fire Protection Engineering was recently accepted into the Future Faculty Program! The A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Future Faculty Program prepares doctoral students for career-long success in the academic world as mentors and researchers. Participants build skills in areas such as technical and grant...
  • Wildland Fire Course Lab Day – Fire Spread (11/14/2015) - Last week Dr. Gollner’s course, Wildland Fires: Science and Applications got to spend the day in the lab studying how the rate of spread is affected by fuel loading and wind. We used excelsior, just shaved Aspen wood to simulate different fuel loading by changing the density and compaction of the fuel. We found spread...
  • New Article on WUI Fire Spread Published in SFPE Emerging Trends (8/31/2015) - Prof. Gollner recently published a short article on Pathways for Building Fire Spread in the Wildland Urban Interface in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers’ Emerging Trends Newsletter. The article covers some of the recent work from the group, with contributions by undergraduates Sara Caton, Kyle Kohler and Raquel Hakes as well as opinions on where research in...
  • New JFSP Research Grant on Ember Generation with UNC Charlotte, IBHS and UT Austin (8/13/2015) - Sponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), the $420,000 “Fire Ember Production from Wildland and Structural Fuels” project will bring together researchers from seven institutions. UNC Charlotte’s portion of the project is $219,000 for laboratory testing research and the University of Maryland is assisting with interpretation and analysis of data. “This is a major...
  • New Paper Published on Upward Flame Spread over Discrete Fuels (8/12/2015) - A new paper was published by Colin Miller and Prof. Gollner on Upward Flame Spread over Discrete Fuels in the Fire Safety Journal. By using slices of PMMA we were able to vary the amount of fuel covering a wall while a flame spread upward. We found that when the fuel coverage reduces somewhat, there...
  • New Paper in AIAA Journal Published: Local Burning Rates and Heat Flux for Forced Flow Boundary-Layer Diffusion Flames (8/2/2015) - Building on our previous work with buoyant flows, this new paper details measurements of heat fluxes and local burning rates over liquid fuel wicks under forced flow. These laminar flames are interesting from a theoretical viewpoint, where the classical Emmons’ solution typically describes them well. The influence of buoyancy, described by the Richardson Number, can...
  • Congratulations to Ajay V. Singh, PhD! (7/20/2015) - Congratulations to Ajay V. Singh, the newest PhD from UMD! He successfully defended his Thesis “A Fundamental Study of Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames” on July 20, 2015. A recording of the defense was made and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCBp_sVGJSk We are very proud of Ajay but sad to see him go. He will start as a postdoctoral...
  • Ajay Singh will defend his PhD Dissertation “A Fundamental Study of Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames” Monday, July 20 (7/14/2015) - Dissertation Defense–A Fundamental Study of Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames Title: A Fundamental Study of Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames Student: Ajay Vikram Singh Date: July 20, 2015 Time: 2:00 pm Location : J.M. Patterson Building 3rd floor Fire Protection Engineering Conference Room Advisory Committee: Assistant Professor Michael Gollner, Chair Associate Professor Christopher Cadou, Dean’s Representative Associate...
  • 5 presentations given at the 9th US National Combustion Meeting in Cincinnati, OH! (5/24/2015) - At the 9th US National Combustion Meeting our group came out to give a number of great presentations. Pietro, Wei, Ajay and Colin each gave a presentation, with Colin presenting 2 research works.  The presented works were: A.V. Singh, M.J. Gollner, Boundary Layer Combustion Under Forced Flow, 9th U. S. National Combustion Meeting, May 17-20,...
  • Singh Among Top 2% of UMD Graduate Assistants (5/7/2015) - Department of Mechanical Engineering (ENME) Ph.D. student Ajay Singh, advised by Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) assistant professor Michael Gollner, has received a 2015 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award from the University of Maryland Graduate School. According to the Graduate School’s web site, “Approximately 4,000 UMD graduate students also serve the campus as administrative, research,...
  • New WUI Ignition Pathways Report and Webinar (4/13/2015) - A new report “Pathways for Building Fire Spread at the Wildland Urban Interface” was recently published to the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation Website, which also sponsored the project. A webinar was also hosted by the NFPA on Tues., April 21, 2015, 12:30-2:00PM (EDT) covering highlights from the report. You can view the slides from the presentation...
  • Singh Receives Northrop Grumman Graduate Fellowship (3/15/2015) - Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate student Ajay Singh received the Northrop Grumman Graduate Fellowship in Engineering Education for the 2014-2015 academic year. The fellowship is awarded to engineering students pursuing their doctoral degree who are committed to a teaching career in engineering education. Singh is currently a fifth year doctoral candidate in the department, as...
  • New Article Published in Combustion and Flame (2/23/2015) - Our paper on Estimation of local mass burning rates for steady laminar boundary layer diffusion flames was recently published in Combustion and Flame. This is an extension of our previous work by Ajay Singh and Michael Gollner on estimating local mass fluxes which recently won the Distinguished Paper Award at the 35th International Symposium on Combustion...
  • Distinguished Paper Selection at 35th International Symposium on Combustion (2/2/2015) - Ajay Singh, a Research Assistant in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering and PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering and his Adviser, Assistant Professor Michael Gollner recently had their manuscript, “Estimation of local mass burning rates for steady laminar boundary layer diffusion flames” selected as a distinguished paper for the 35th International Symposium on Combustion in the Fire Research Colloquium....
  • WIFIRE Wins 3 HPCwire Awards at Int’l High Performance Computing Conference (1/17/2015) - WIFIRE, the wildfire modeling system whose design team includes University of Maryland Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) professors Michael Gollner and Arnaud Trouvé, received three of HPCwire’s annualReaders’ and Editors’ Choice Awards at the 2014 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis. Each year, HPCwire, which reports on the international high...
  • Congratulations to Brian Cohen, our Newest M.S. Graduate! (10/11/2014) - Congratulations to Brian Cohen, who successfully defended his M.S. thesis last week. His project on fire whirls was amazing to watch.  Thank you very much to committee members Prof. Jim Milke and Prof. Elaine Oran.  Congratulations again to Brian and best of luck on his new career at Arup in New York City!
  • Congratulations to Dan, Colin and Zhao who successfully defended their M.S. Theses! (8/22/2014) - Congratulations to the 3 newest M.S. graduates from the group, Daniel Gorham, Colin Miller and Zhao Zhao! They all had excellent presentations and successfully defended their theses. Colin will be continuing on in the group to pursue a Ph.D. studying wildland fire, Dan will be taking up a post soon at the National Fire Protection Association...
  • Invited Talk by Xinyan Huang, Imperial Haze Lab, on Smoldering Wildfires! (8/22/2014) - We were happy to host Xinyan Huang, from Dr. Guillermo Rein’s Haze Lab at Imperial College, London this week who presented some exciting new research on Smoldering Wildfires!   Smoldering Wildland Fires: Ignition, Spread and Extinction Xinyan Huang Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London 11:00 AM Wednesday, August 20th 3106 JM Patterson Building Fire...
  • Read our NFPA FPRF Report “Literature Review on Hybrid Fire Suppression Systems” (7/21/2014) - The objective of this project was to provide background information on hybrid fire suppression systems so that it can be ultimately determined where these systems should best be addressed within NFPA documents. LITERATURE REVIEW ON HYBRID FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS Fire Protection Research Foundation report: “Literature Review on Hybrid Fire Suppression Systems” (PDF, 158 KB) Author: Peter Raia, Michael...
  • New Paper Published on “Estimation of local mass burning rates for steady laminar boundary layer diffusion flames” (6/7/2014) - A new paper has been published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute: “Estimation of local mass burning rates for steady laminar boundary layer diffusion flames” Ajay V. Singh and Michael J. Gollner Abstract A thorough numerical and experimental investigation of laminar boundary-layer diffusion flames established over the surface of a condensed fuel is presented. By extension...
  • New Paper Published on the Burning of Flat Wicks at Various Orientations (5/20/2014) - Burning on Flat Wicks at Various Orientations (PDF Pre-print) Zhang, Y., Bustamante, M.J., Gollner, M.J., Sunderland, P.B., Quintiere, J.G., Journal of Fire Sciences, In Press  
  • New Article on “The Flammability of a Storage Commodity” in Fire Protection Engineering Magazine (5/3/2014) - The article, appearing in the April 1, 2014 issue of Fire Protection Engineering Magazine, the official magazine of the SFPE highlighted previous work funded by the SFPE Research Foundation. You can find the article here: http://magazine.sfpe.org/content/flammability-storage-commodity
  • Prof. Gollner to Present Wildfire Modeling at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Monday (4/24/2014) - As part of NASA’s Safety Awareness Campaign and Engineering Colloquium, Prof. Michael Gollner will present a talk on Modeling Wildfires: Past, Present and Future. Date & Time:  Monday, April 28, 3:30 PM Place:  Goddard Space Flight Center, Building 3 Auditorium http://sma.gsfc.nasa.gov/sac/index.php/2013-02-28-15-11-08/2014-speakers/11-2014-speakers/85-michael-j-gollner Abstract: In 2012, over 4.3 million acres of wildland burned in the United States,...
  • Watch FPE Professor Michael Gollner Explain Fire Tornadoes and Wildfire Research (4/23/2014) - FPE News Story Watch FPE Professor Michael Gollner Explain Fire Tornadoes and Wildfire Research A lab-created fire tornado.   University of Maryland assistant professor Michael Gollner(Department of Fire Protection Engineering) explained–and demonstrated–the phenomenon known as a fire tornado in an episode of Daily Planet, airing on the Discovery Channel in Canada. The episode was part of the...
  • Wildfire Research and a Fire Tornado Appearing 4/16 on Discovery Channel in Canada, 4/23 on Science Channel in U.S! (4/15/2014) - University of Maryland assistant professor Michael Gollner (Department of Fire Protection Engineering) will explain–and demonstrate–the phenomenon known as a fire tornado in a forthcoming episode of Daily Planet, airing on the Discovery Channel in Canada and on the Science Channel in the U.S.   Gollner will discuss wildfire spread research at the University of Maryland, including studies of...
  • Congratulations to Brian Hall on Successfully Defending his MS Thesis! (4/15/2014) - Brian Hall, an MS student in Fire Protection Engineering successfully defended  his thesis  on April 9th! Title: Transient Fire Loads on Aluminum Ferries Committee: Professor Michael J. Gollner, Committee Chair Professor James Milke Professor Stanislav Stoliarov Abstract: The transient fire load aboard aluminum passenger ferries is studied to determine the contribution that baggage has on increasing the...
  • Tracking the Long-Term Cost of Wildfire Emissions (3/17/2014) - When we see reports of a wildfire on TV, we see the immediate effects and aftermath: trees and meadows burning, homes threatened or destroyed, and people in danger. What we may not think about is what happens long after the fire is out: What happened to the particles and gases generated by the fire that...
  • Former Student Mario Zuniga of Chula Vista Selected for Peace Corps Education Assignment in Cameroon (2/2/2014) - Mario worked on fire spread research with Dr. Gollner at UC San Diego as an undergraduate McNair Fellow. Congratulations and best wishes on your new adventure, Mario! Read the full article, here: http://nextpcvs.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/mario-zuniga-of-chula-vista-selected-for-peace-corps-education-assignment-in-cameroon/ Peace Corps Volunteer Profile: Name: Mario Zuniga Age: 23 Hometown: San Diego, Calif. Current City: Chula Vista, Calif. Alma Mater: University of California,...
  • New Wildland Fire Course to be offered in Fall, 2014 (12/18/2013) - A new course, “Wildland Fires: Science and Applications” will be taught for the first time in Fall, 2014 here at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering by Prof. Michael Gollner. This course will present an introduction to the global problem of wildland fires with an overview of the...
  • PhD Student, Ajay Singh named Future Faculty Fellow at UMD (12/10/2013) - Congratulations to Ajay Singh who has been named a Future Faculty Fellow at the University of Maryland. This program is designed to help prepare graduates for future faculty careers after graduation. More information is available here: http://www.eng.umd.edu/academics/future-faculty. Ajay is currently a PhD student in the Gollner Fire Lab researching diffusion flames.
  • Prof. Gollner and Trouve awarded Collaborative Grant with UCSD on Real-time Wildland Fire Modeling (9/25/2013) - The University of California at San Diego (UCSD) is awarded a grant to build an end-to-end cyberinfrastructure (CI), called WIFIRE, for real-time and data-driven simulation, prediction and visualization of wildfire behavior. San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and Calit2’s Qualcomm Institute will build this integrated CI system for supporting social-ecological resilience to the changing fire ecology...
  • Prof. Gollner and Marshall receive Department of Homeland Security Grant on Green Buildings (9/25/2013) - The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a collaborative grant on the “Quantification of Green Building Features on Firefighter Safety” to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Maryland, College Park and others. This research effort will address needs identified by the National Association of State Fire Marshals, the Fire Protection Research Foundation and the National Fire...
  • UMD/USFS Collaborative Project Featured in the New York Times (9/25/2013) - With all the devastating wildland fires igniting around the nation, everyone has been asking what can be done to combat them? A recent article in the New York Times, “Into the Wildfire”  features work undertaken in a collaboration between the US Forest Service’s Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory and Prof. Michael Gollner’s research group at the University...
  • Two new papers published on the inclined plate problem in JFM and the Journal of Fire Sciences (9/3/2013) - Two new publications were recently published, both focused on studying inclined flames. On the heat transferred to the air surrounding a semi-infinite inclined hot plate (Final PDF) Gollner, M. J., Sanchez, A. L., and Williams, F. A., Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 732, 2013, pp. 304-315. Burning on Flat Wicks at Various Orientations (PDF Pre-print) Zhang, Y., Bustamante, M.J., Gollner, M.J.,...
  • Western Wildfires and Climate Change (7/25/2013) - Interesting info graphic from the Union of Concerned Scientists helps to highlight the importance of understanding and controlling these large conflagrations. Infographic: Western Wildfires and Climate Change Rising temperatures are increasing wildfire risk throughout the Western U.S. DOWNLOAD: Infographic: Western Wildfires and Climate Change | Infographic: Western Wildfires and Climate Change — Panel 1 | Infographic: Western Wildfires and Climate...
  • Colin Miller Wins the 2013 John L. Bryan GRA Award (6/30/2013) - Colin Miller, a Spring 2013 FPE/BS graduate and a new FPE/MS student, has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 John L. Bryan GRA Award. The John L. Bryan Chair endowment provides support for one Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) every year. Based on a newly revised, more formal selection process, the support is provided to...
  • Formal Proceedings of NFPA Sustainable Buildings Symposium Released (5/31/2013) - The formal proceedings of the symposium that was hosted by NFPA and the Fire Protection Research Foundation in November, “Fire Safety Design and Sustainable Buildings: Challenges and Opportunities,” has been released. It was co-authored by: Michael Gollner, Amanda Kimball and Tracy Vecchiarelli. Foundation_Sustainable_Building_Design_Symposium_Proceedings – Final  
  • Maryland Day Fire Tornado (4/30/2013) - Maryland day was a great success, with many visitors touring the laboratory to see what Fire Protection Engineering is all about. The main feature was our fire tornado, created in a room with 4 specially-located openings which induced a “whirl” when the hood was turned on. See below for photos of our students fully “testing”...
  • Upcoming Conferences (4/26/2013) - We’re on the road over the next few months! We’re going to have presentations at several conferences: FM Global Open Source CFD Fire Modeling Workshop 2013 (May 2-3, Mass.) An Experimental Model of Upward Flame Spread through Porous Fuels Michael Gollner 8th US National Combustion Meeting (May 20-22, Utah) Flame spread through arrays of wooden...
  • UMD Fire Protection Engineering Students and Faculty Visit MFRI (4/26/2013) - Some students and faculty from the Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) at the University of Maryland, College Park  (UMD) were able to visit the Maryland Fire Research Institute (MFRI) where they were able to experience hands-on firefighter training. Participants donned full firefighting gear and breathing apparatus and were able to go  inside an enclosure fire,...
  • Another Major High Rise Fire, this time in Russia (4/13/2013) - “Fire engulfs unoccupied high-rise in Russia” Luckily no one was hurt, but this is yet another major high-rise fire… this time on an unoccupied building in Chechnya, apparently the tallest building in the city. No cause has been reported yet. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/04/03/fire-high-rise-russia/2049965/
  • Michael gives invited talk at Missoula Fire Sciences Lab (3/9/2013) - Michael recently gave an invited talk at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab on Januray 10, 2013. They’ve posted the talk online, which you can view here: http://videos.firelab.org/ffs/2012-13Seminar/011013Seminar/011013Seminar.html It was an amazing trip – they’re doing some great research on wildfires and I encourage anyone interested to checkout firelab.org to check out all of the amazing things...
  • JLT Tower Fire Jumeirah Lakes Tower (JLT), High-rise Fire spread due to Flammable Siding (11/21/2012) - “A 34-storey mixed residential and business tower in Dubai is engulfed in flames in the early hours of Sunday. The company that owns the development, Tamweel, has released a statement saying the fire in the mixed-use building was contained with help from the Dubai Civil Defence” – The Guardian [Nov. 18, 2012] As a result...
  • Jeanette Cobian is awarded the Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship 2012-2014 (8/25/2012) - Congratulations to  Jeanette Cobian, a former UCSD undergraduate and participate in the CAMP program, for being awarded the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Fellowship. She will be pursuing a Masters program in Mechanical Engineering at Cal State Los Angeles starting this Fall and will be part of the California State University LSAMP Alliance BD Cohort...
  • Dr. Michael Gollner to Join FPE Faculty at the University of Maryland (8/25/2012) - Here is a re-post from the department’s homepage: The Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Gollner will join the department this fall as a new Assistant Professor. Michael Gollner recently graduated from the University of California, San...
  • PhD Dissertation Published: “Studies on Upward Flame Spread” (6/6/2012) - My PhD Dissertation, “Studies on Upward Flame Spread” has been published and is now available online. Studies on Upward Flame Spread Abstract of the Dissertation: Experimental techniques have been used to investigate three upward flame spread phenomena of particular importance for fire safety applications. First, rates of upward flame spread during early-stage burning were observed...
  • Pre-Print of Symposium Paper now Available (5/2/2012) - A pre-print of our symposium paper, “Experimental Study of Upward Flame Spread and Burning of anInclined Fuel Surface,” accepted to the 34th International Symposium of the Combustion Institute has now been posted online and can be downloaded here: http://maeresearch.ucsd.edu/~mgollner/publications/2012_inclined_symposium.pdf Abstract: A thermally thick slab of polymethyl methacrylate was used to study the effects of the inclination angle of...
  • Paper Accepted to 34th International Symposium on Combustion (4/14/2012) - Our paper, an Experimental Study of Upward Flame Spread and Burning of anInclined Fuel Surface has been accepted to the 34th International Symposium on Combustion! The conference will be held this summer in Warsaw, Poland.Paper by: M.J. Gollner, X. Huang, J. Cobian, A.S. Rangwala and F.A. WilliamsABSTRACT:A thermally thick slab of polymethyl methacrylate was used to study the effects...
  • Watch Richard Feynman’s Fun to Imagine: Fire (4/14/2012) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITpDrdtGAmo Great video if you have not seen it before! We should all remember to be excited and curious about the world – and our research!
  • How Do You Fight Fire in Space? Experiments Provide Some Answers (2/3/2012) - Prof. Williams research was featured recently in the UCSD News: LINK. Read about it below: Research on the International Space Station also aims for a better understanding of fuel combustion here on Earth Color image of a burning droplet Photo: NASA/Glenn Research Center Improving fire-fighting techniques in space and getting a better understanding of fuel combustion...
  • New Paper on the Burning Behavior of Vertical Matchstick Arrays Available (12/22/2011) - Our paper on the Burning Behavior of Vertical Matchstick Arrays, by Michael Gollner, Yanxuan Xie, Minkyu Lee, Yuji Nakamura and Ali Rangwala was recently accepted for publication to the journal Combustion Science and Technology. A pre-print version of the article has been posted here: http://maeresearch.ucsd.edu/~mgollner/publications/2011_matchstick_cst.pdf Abstract  Vertical arrays of horizontally protruding wood matchsticks, 0.25 cm in...
  • Mario and Jeanette present their research at the UCSD Summer Research Conference (10/5/2011) - Jeanette Cobian, a UCSD undergraduate in the UCSD California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) in Science, Engineering and Mathematics program and Mario Zuniga in the McNair Scholars Program presented their summer research on flame spread and development of a visual flame analysis program. Congratulations on a great presentation and research in the combustion laboratory at UCSD over the...
  • New Grad Students Presentation (9/16/2011) - Here is a copy of my presentation for new graduate students in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCSD. Good luck to new students this year! New UCSD MAE grad students 2011 View more presentations from Michael Gollner.
  • The Perfect Firestorm: Interesting Audubon Magazine Feature Article (9/16/2011) - The Perfect FirestormWelcome to the new era of “megafires,” which rage with such intensity that no human force can put them out. Their main causes, climate change and fire suppression, are fueling a heated debate about how to stop them.By Daniel Glick/Photograph by Larry Schwarm http://audubonmagazine.org/features1107/GlobalWarming.html#.TnH2RNBbMW0.facebook
  • Best Poster and Best Fire Science Image Awards at the 10th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science! (6/30/2011) - The 10th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science was held at the University of Maryland, College Park this past week and brought together an impressive group of scientists and engineers working on today’s fire science problems. Before I go on about the conference, a moment of sharing the exciting news that we have won both...
  • Best Poster and Best Fire Science Image Awards at the 10th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science! (6/30/2011) - The 10th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science was held at the University of Maryland, College Park this past week and brought together an impressive group of scientists and engineers working on today’s fire science problems. Before I go on about the conference, a moment of sharing the exciting news that we have won both...
  • Part II of Paper on Commodity Classification Published in the Fire Safety Journal (6/17/2011) - Part II of our paper, “Warehouse commodity classification from fundamental principles. Part II: Flame heights and flame spread”, has recently been published in the Fire Safety Journal. The image at the right shows a research approach to the warehouse fire problem. The two smaller scales studied in this work are shown by the dashed box....
  • Commodity Classification Paper Recently Published in the Fire Safety Journal (4/28/2011) - The paper, “Warehouse commodity classification from fundamental principles. Part I: Commodity & burning rates” was recently published in the Fire Safety Journal. Check it out here This paper sets a personal record for length of time from submittal to acceptance and posting. It was submitted in September, 2009 and became available online in April, 2011....
  • “Fan of Fire” Image Wins 3rd Place at the 2011 Joint Meeting of the Combustion Institute (4/28/2011) - Our entry into the Combustion Art contest, “Fan of Fire”, won 3rd place! Take a look at the image and abstract below, or go to the announcement: http://www.cssci.org/ Third Place — “Fan of Fire – Surface Inclination Effects on Upward Flame Spread”“This “fan of fire” visually displays the effect gravity has on upward flame spread...
  • Research on Combustion of Cardboard Featured by UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering (2/4/2011) - Work by Gollner, Williams and Rangwala was recently featured by the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. The work, assessing the upward flame spread characteristics of corrugated cardboard was recently published in the journal Combustion and Flame. http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=1041 San Diego, CA, February 2, 2011–Imagine this: Firefighters enter a several football...
  • Paper on Upward Flame Spread Over Corrugated Cardboard Published in Combustion and Flame (1/18/2011) - Our recent work on flame spread over corrugated cardboard, with applications related to warehouses has been published in the journal Combustion and Flame. Check out the article and abstract below: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2010.12.005 Upward flame spread over corrugated cardboardM.J. Gollner, F.A. Williams and A.S. Rangwala As part of a study of the combustion of boxes of commodities,...
  • Presentation on “Upward Flame Spread Over Corrugated Cardboard” at the 2010 Society of Fire Protection Engineers Meetin (10/8/2010) -
  • Russian Wildfires Continue to Burn (8/6/2010) -
  • Research to be Presented at Interflam 2010 in Nottingham, UK (6/4/2010) - Our warehouse fire research will be presented at Interflam this summer:Nondimensional Commodity Classification and an Analysis of Upward SpreadMichael Gollner, F Williams, Univ of California, K Overholt, A Rangwala, Worcester Polytechnic Univ and J Perricone, Creative FPE Solutions, Inc. If you are planning on attending please stop by for an interesting presentation. Another presentation on...
  • UC San Diego Students, Area Attorneys and Financial Analysts Win Sustainability Award (6/4/2010) - http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/awards/05-26SustainabilityAward.asp UC San Diego, a national leader in sustainability education, research and campus operations, has recognized a collaborative team of students, legal and bond underwriting experts in its 2010 Sustainability Awards. The seemingly unlikely team played a key role in enabling the San Diego region to win $154 million in low-interest Clean Renewable Energy Bonds...
  • SFPE Educational and Scientific Foundation Research Grant Awarded! (3/15/2010) - Professor Forman A. Williams (PI) and Michael Gollner (Co-PI) just received offical notification that our research grant request has been approved by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers Educational & Scientific Foundation Board of Governors. The amount requested was approximately $25,000, and the funds will be used to continue research on a fundamental approach towards...
  • Research Foundation workshop summarizes new approaches for high challenge warehouses (2/23/2010) - At this workshop we presented our concept for future research efforts to understand the physics occurring in large warehouse fires to accurately classify the fire hazards of warehouse commodities. An important comment from Jonathan Perricone: This workshop has produced several elaborate ideas covering just about every fire protection tool available today. The next step in...
  • Presentation of High Challenge Warehouse Research Proposal at SupDet 2010 in Orlando, FL (2/23/2010) - This past week at the NFPA Research Foundation’s Suppression and Detection workshop in Orlando, Fl I presented our consortium’s concept charting an outline of future research http://nfpa.typepad.com/researchfoundation/2010/02/morning-workshop-summarizes-new-approaches-for-high-challenge-warehouses.html
  • Masters Thesis (2/9/2010) - My masters thesis, entitled “A Fundamental Approach For Commodity Classification” was presented and has been accepted by the University for publication. You can check out a pre-print copy on my publications page: http://maeresearch.ucsd.edu/~mgollner/publications.html Abstract: Experimental tests were conducted on a single cartoned, unexpanded Group A plastic commodity to evaluate an approach to commodity classification in...
  • Smokey Bear Now Studies Computer Science (2/9/2010) - Interesting article on some computer applications and how they have been used for wildfires, and the lack of funding to continue the research effort in this field. Understanding wildfire behavior and predicting its spread … http://www.miller-mccune.com/science-environment/smokey-bear-now-studies-computer-science-8272/ The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the...
  • $154.6 Million in Solar Panel Funding Awarded (12/5/2009) - Under the guidance of environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl, a group of Jacobs School graduate students, including Michael Gollner and Karl Olney helped schools and other San Diego public institutions win more than $154 M in bonds for installing rooftop solar. We used a national renewable energy laboratory model to calculate solar potential to assist...