Master of Engineering in Fire Protection Engineering
College Park, USA
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
15 Dec 2024
EARLIEST START DATE
01 Jan 2025
TUITION FEES
USD 45,000 / per course
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning, On-Campus
Introduction
Fire protection engineers are among the most sought-after professionals in the industry. Performance building codes and the international trend towards performance-based fire safety analysis and design approaches in construction have increased the demand for fire protection engineers. The University of Maryland’s fire protection engineering degree programs represent the Department of Fire Protection Engineering’s commitment to preparing engineers for the challenges of this rapidly growing field.
Courses are taught by the university’s foremost experts in fire protection engineering as well as international experts from business and industry. Established in 1956, the Fire Protection Engineering Department is one of only a few graduate fire protection engineering degree programs in the US. Our programs in Fire Protection Engineering are geared toward working engineering professionals and are offered both on campus and online.
Students taking courses on campus for the Master of Engineering degree work with an advisor to identify a course of study based on the student’s professional interests. Fire protection engineering courses are available to explore basic processes of fire behavior, prediction of fire development, the combustion of materials and furnishings, the effects of fire on structures and the environment, smoke management, evacuation, tenability analysis, and the law. Courses may also be approved by other engineering departments or technical areas, e.g. mathematics.
In addition to the general rules of the Graduate School, certain special degree requirements are set out in departmental requirements. The degree requirement is to complete ten approved courses, including a minimum of six fire protection engineering courses.
Admissions
Curriculum
Degree Requirements
Master of Engineering: 30 Credits or 10 Courses
Students taking courses on campus for the Master of Engineering Degree work with an advisor to identify a course of study based on the student’s professional interests. Fire protection engineering courses are available to explore basic processes of fire behavior, prediction of fire development, the combustion of materials and furnishings, the effects of fire on structures and the environment, smoke management, evacuation, tenability analysis, and the law. Courses may also be approved by other engineering departments or technical areas, e.g. mathematics. No thesis is required for the degree.
Graduate Certificate in Engineering: 12 Credits or 4 Courses
Four courses are required for the Graduate Certificate in Engineering. The requirements for the four courses are:
- All courses must be fire protection engineering courses.
- One of the courses must be ENFP 651.
- The three remaining courses can be from any other ENFP 600-level courses.
The student should consult with their advisor before registering.
Courses
ENFP410 Special Hazard Suppression Systems (3 Credits) | Core
Analysis of application and theory of fire suppression systems. The key elements of fire suppression systems will be discussed along with how they interact for effective fire suppression design. Physical mechanisms for a variety of fire suppression approaches will be discussed including hose streams, sprinklers, water mist, foam, clean agents, and chemical agents.
ENFP415 Fire Dynamics (3 Credits) | Core
Introduction to premixed and diffusion flames; ignition, flame spread and rate of burning; fire plumes; flame radiation.
Prerequisite: ENFP312. Restriction: Permission of ENGR-Fire Protection Engineering department.
ENFP425 Enclosure Fire Modeling (3 Credits) | Core
An introduction to the elements of enclosure fires through the development of fire modeling algorithms and the application of computer-based fire modeling techniques. Numerical techniques, including curve-fitting, root-finding, integration, and the solution of ordinary differential equations, are developed in the context of enclosure fire modeling applications. Math software packages, including primarily spreadsheet programs, are used to address and solve a variety of enclosure fire problems.
Prerequisites: ENES232 and ENFP300. Restriction: Must be in Engineering: Fire Protection program; and Senior standing; and permission of ENGR-Fire Protection Engineering department.
ENFP426 Computational Methods in Fire Protection (3 Credits) | Core
An introduction to computer-based fire modeling: zone modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); documentation of input data, validation, and verification tests.
ENFP601 Introduction to Fire Protection Engineering (3 Credits) | Core
The basic concepts of life safety, water-based fire protection systems, building construction, codes, and standards along with tenability, fire behavior, and human behavior are introduced along with traditional and performance-based approaches for analyzing the human response to fire. Students learn to analyze the egress systems and design basic water-based fire suppression systems.
ENFP613 Advanced Life Safety Analysis (3 Credits) | Core
Fractional effective dose (FED) methods for predicting time to incapacitation and death of fires for use in fire safety engineering calculations. Physiology and toxicology of fire effluent components, decomposition chemistry of common materials, standard experimental approaches. Predictive models of material production rates. People movement characteristics related to building evacuation. Formulation and application of evacuation models. Human behavior factors affect the response of people to fire situations. Textbook: Philip DiNenno (Editor-in-Chief), The SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering (4th edition), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2008
Prerequisite: Permission of ENGR-Fire Protection Engineering department.
ENFP620 Fire Dynamics Laboratory (3 Credits) | Core
Laboratory experiments are designed to illustrate fire phenomena and test theoretical models. Diffusion flames, ignition, and flame spread on solids, liquid pool fires, wood crib fires, fire plumes, and compartment fires.
One hour of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Recommended: ENFP415.
ENFP621 Analytical Procedures of Structural Fire Protection (3 Credits) | Core
Analysis procedures for structural components of wood, steel, concrete, and composites. Structural capabilities, modifications under fire-induced exposures. Calculations, computer models for predicting fire resistance ratings of structural components.
Prerequisite: ENFP405 and ENFP312.
ENFP626 Computational Fire Modeling (3 Credits) | Elective
Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based fire modeling; governing equations of turbulent reacting flows; numerical approaches to the treatment of turbulence (DNS, LES, RANS); numerical methods for partial differential equations; physical modeling of enclosure fires (turbulence, combustion, thermal radiation, pyrolysis, suppression). Development of sample programs (Matlab) and use of current CFD-based fire models (FDS).
ENFP627 Smoke Detection and Management (3 Credits) | Core
Analysis of hazard smoke. Response analysis of smoke detectors based on characteristics of detectors and properties of smoke. Performance characteristics and limitations of smoke management systems. Capabilities and limitations of analytical design aids.
ENFP627 Smoke Detection and Management (3 Credits) | Elective
Analysis of hazard smoke. Response analysis of smoke detectors based on characteristics of detectors and properties of smoke. Performance characteristics and limitations of smoke management systems. Capabilities and limitations of analytical design aids.
ENFP651 Advanced Fire Dynamics (3 Credits) | Elective
A review of the basic chemistry and physics necessary to understanding fire dynamics; and of the physics of heat transfer and turbulent fluid flow will be given. The nature and structure of premixed and diffusion flames will be presented.
Credit is only granted for ENFP629A or ENFP651. Formerly: ENFP629A.
ENFP664 Industrial Fire Safety (3 Credits) | Elective
This class is designed to introduce students to the basics of process safety with a focus on the methods and techniques that may be utilized when evaluating the existing or proposed safety protection solutions in industrial facilities. An emphasis is placed on properly identifying the hazards that are present, the risk exposure, and how best to address the risk. The foundation is laid by presenting the necessary background information on industrial processes and integrating this information with applicable fire/explosion safety science.
Prerequisite: permission of department.
ENFP665 Fire and Explosion Investigations (3 Credits) | Elective
This course covers many advanced aspects of fire and explosion investigation and reconstruction. Information on field techniques, applicable standards, and best practices are presented with an emphasis on how advanced fire science and fire dynamics can be applied to forensic analysis. Experiments are performed and analyzed to demonstrate the concepts.
Prerequisite: permission of department.
ENFP671 Material Flammability (3 Credits) | Core
Introduction to the science and technology of polymeric materials. Standard methods for assessment of fire hazards associated with these materials are reviewed. Fundamental mechanisms defining polymer combustion in various scenarios are elucidated.
ENPM672 Fundamentals for Thermal Systems (3 Credits) | Elective
Included in this course is an introduction to thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. Emphasis is on gaining an understanding of the physical concepts through the solving of numerical problems associated with simple thermal fluid processes and cycles. Both ideal gases and multiphase fluids will be considered as the working fluids.
Prerequisite: Undergraduate engineering, physics, or chemistry degree.
ENPM808 Independent Study Project Course (3 Credits) | Elective
Rankings
Online Programs
#6 Online Graduate Engineering Programs - U.S. News and World Report Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs
U.S. Graduate Programs
#19 Graduate Engineering - U.S. News and World Report 2023 Best Engineering Graduate Programs
Specialties:
- #15 Aerospace Engineering
- #16 Electrical Engineering; #15 Computer Engineering
- #17 Mechanical Engineering
Entrepreneurship Rankings
- #7 Undergraduate Program
- #18 Graduate Program
Princeton Review's Top 50 Schools For Entrepreneurship Programs"
Program Tuition Fee
English Language Requirements
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