SFPE WPI Blog

2009 Student Activities Fair

2009-08-11T10:56:00.000-04:00

The SFPE WPI Student Chapter will have a table at the WPI 2009 Student Activities Fair. If you ever wondered about what goes on in the fire laboratory in Higgins Labs or who exactly those fire protection students are and what they burn, here is your chance!

Come visit the Society of Fire Protection Engineers WPI Student Chapter table on Wednesday, August 26, 2009, from 3:00 - 5:00 pm on the Quad!

We'll have our fire whilrler, fire videos, and information on how to join the SFPE WPI Student Chapter. Membership is free and open to ANY student from ANY major who is interested in learning more about the fire protection engineering field and joining our active student community.

See you there!

President's Welcome for 2009

2009-08-10T10:15:00.004-04:00

Presidents Welcome:

Hello and welcome to the blog for the student chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) here in Worcester, Massachusetts. We are a group of students interested in the study of fire and fire safety. For many years, SFPE WPI has provided a place for such students to come together to collaborate and share knowledge. Since the Fire Protection Engineering program at WPI is currently only at the graduate level, the student chapter includes people from numerous backgrounds including mechanical, chemical, electrical, civil, aerospace, and many other undergraduate degrees. Students in the chapter work on problems ranging from material property research to numerical simulations of fire to velocity measurement techniques in hostile fire environments.

The chapter meets once a month to discuss trips, recent issues, and view presentations from various speakers in the industry. Typically, we go on a few field trips per year such as visiting Factory Mutual’s Research Campus or Tyco’s testing facilities. If you are interested in joining the SFPE WPI Student Chapter (there is no fee!), you can view this page for a registration form, and bring it to any of our meetings. If you would like other information that our site does not provide, feel free to contact me or one of the other officers in the chapter and we will be happy to help.

Sincerely,

Kristopher Overholt
FPE M.S. Student

SFPE WPI gets a much needed break: Movie Night

2008-10-22T21:55:00.002-04:00

To celebrate the survival of midterms, SFPE WPI will be hosting a movie night on Sunday, Oct. 26th in Higgins Labs 114 at 7 pm. We will be watching "Real Genius", an early Val Kilmer movie that is close to my heart. A short plot summary is below:

Mitch is one of the youngest students ever accepted to a university known for its programs for geniuses. He's partnered up with his roommate, science club legend Chris Knight, on a project to develop a high-powered laser. Together with their hyper-kinetic friends, they employ their intellects in the pursuit of bigger blasts, practical jokes, and a deeper understanding of what real genius is. When their final, functional laser is stolen by their teacher for a military weapon, they decide to get even.

Popcorn will be provided, bring your own bunny slippers and laser goggles...

Best,
Scott Rockwell
WPI SFPE student chapter president

SFPE WPI Chapter October Meeting Notes

2008-10-09T16:18:00.002-04:00

All:

Here are some highlights from the SFPE WPI Student Chapter meeting that was held on October 8, 2008. Thanks to everyone who attended!

NEW MAILING LIST FOR SFPE WPI MEMBERS

We have created a new mailing list (a Google discussion group) which will promote discussion between members, archive all of our discussion topics, and serve as a public gateway for people interested in SFPE WPI or the FPE department. We hope that this will be a big step in getting members/students involved and attracting new members and students!

To join the SFPE WPI Discussion Group, just send an email message containing anything to sfpewpi-subscribe@googlegroups.com. Or visit the Group Discussion page at: http://groups.google.com/group/sfpewpi.

FLAGG STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FIRE PREVENTION ACTIVITY DAY

9 SFPE WPI members and students visited Flagg Street Elementary School on Tuesday, October 7th in the morning hours to teach the 2nd graders about the importance of fire safety with games, a relay race, and a visit from the Worcester Fire Engine Co. #9. There were 75 kids present and they sharpened their young FPE skills by practicing crawling low to stay away from smoke, making mock 911 calls to prepare for an emergency, and seeing a firefighter from WFD dress up in full bunker gear. The event was a great success and the WFD and staff at Flagg Elementary gave their thanks to everyone who helped out; and many thanks to Tracy Golinveaux for organizing the successful and fun morning!

Look for pictures soon on the SFPE WPI website pictures section.

SFPE NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER MEETING

3 SFPE WPI students attended the New England chapter meeting on Monday, October 6th to meet and greet with FPE professionals from numerous companies and attend the talk on Campus Fire Safety. At the meeting, Robert Accosta attended and was presented with a $3,000 FPE scholarship award! SFPE WPI congratulates Robert on his achievement and hard work.

If you are interested in attending the SFPE New England Chapter monthly meetings, let an officer know and we will try to organize a carpool down to the meeting. It's a great way to network, learn about current topics in FPE, and get a good meal at the same time!

UPCOMING FM GLOBAL TOUR

There will be a trip to FM global on the 19th of November. Please contact any officer if you are interested in attending. The tour will be of the FM Global research campus.

SFPE WPI Apparel

Polo shirts should be in next week - contact Robert Accosta (raccosta@wpi.edu) for more info (or if you haven't yet paid!)

Also, we will be placing an order for more tshirts and hoodies (see the design and pricing here) within the coming weeks.

Fill out this form if you would like to place an order for a shirt or hoodie.

SFPE COOKOUT

We are planning to have a Society cookout in the next few weeks, possibly at Green Hill Park. Stay tuned for more information about it and we hope to see you there!

FUNDRAISING IDEAS

The meeting attendees discussed possible fundraising ideas to do around campus. Some of the ideas were a movie on campus, fire extinguisher classes, or fire demonstrations if possible. If you have any ideas or contacts that could help in this area, let me or any SFPE WPI officer know!

FUTURE PRESENTERS/TRIPS

Spring 2009 - Ierardi - R.W. Sullivan
Spring 2009 - Fenwall - Trip to Combustion Research Center

If you know anyone that would like to speak to the FPE students or that could host an interesting field trip, let us know!

EXPANDING SFPE WPI'S PRESENCE

SFPE Officers and Members are hard at work trying to get SFPE WPI and the FPE department at WPI more known and publicized. Some of the planned ideas will be online, some offline, but both will serve to get local engineering students, high school students, and engineers interested in the FPE program at WPI. Things being worked on include: an online Google Group and blog to publicize our already very active SFPE WPI Society, high school presentations about fire protection, and promotion to local colleges at career fairs and state-wide career fairs.

As you can see, a lot is going on in the SFPE WPI student chapter, and we always welcome any participation or ideas from anyone!

--
Kristopher James Overholt
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Fire Protection Engineering M.S. Student
Secretary, SFPE WPI Student Chapter