10 February 2020

GAe Engineering, sponsors of the IMSFE Program, was present at this year’s Fire Engineering Day at Lund University in Sweden. Represented by Valentina Crimi and Kim Groves, the theme of the day was “Fires in Urban Settlements”, Valentina and Kim presented GAe’s current involvement in the Fire Prevention Strategies of Train Stations in Italy. 

While the morning’s presentations focused mostly on the data showing an increase of devastating fires around the world and related deaths, in terms of numbers and locations and their potential common factors, the afternoon branched into current fire strategies for multi-family residences and infrastructure.  

Valentina and Kim spoke about how train stations have changed over time in terms of services offered and train technology. They presented the Porta Susa Station in Turin as a case study and the challenges of meeting the functional expectations in grand buildings that are notable civic architectural icons and for which there are no legislative fire codes. 

The students were interested and actively participated in all the presentations, asking questions and commenting during the breaks.  The day finished with a provocative ethical discussion about the main topic of the day.