SOCOTEC Fire Engineering continues to collaborate with the University of Liverpool

The students from the University of Liverpool are Billy Slaughter, PhD Fire Safety Engineering candidate – researching an AI-powered fire safety design tool for improved Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling efficiency; Alex Burroughs, MEng Civil Engineering student – researching the ageing factor of cavity barriers; and Alistair Murtagh, MEng Mechanical Engineering student – researching the efficacy of open-state cavity barriers.

During their six-week internships, the three students have been working closely with a team of fire engineers, working on real-life fire engineering projects, developing new engineering tools, assisting with case studies, and participating in meetings with the team. This specifically included a training programme for a CFD programme developed by Billy, a fire safety strategy report developed by Alex, and a radiation assessment tool developed by Alistair.

Previously, SOCOTEC’s fire engineering experts have attended the University of Liverpool’s job fair, as well as further networking events, aimed at giving the university’s School of Engineering’s MEng students an opportunity to make critical industry contacts.

Going forwards, SOCOTEC is supporting Billy’s PhD research into fire safety design tools for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) – a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods and algorithms to analyse problems involving fluid flow and heat transfer. SOCOTEC is providing funding and technical assistance in fire engineering for the development of the machine-learning algorithm for CFD, as well as IT support. It is currently estimated that Billy will conclude his studies in Q3 of 2028.