SOCOTEC Partners with University of Liverpool Student to Advance Fire Safety Science

Sponsored by OFR Consultants, the £1,000 prize recognises Alex's outstanding research into the long-term performance of open-state cavity barriers (OSCBs), work which has been conducted in close collaboration with SOCOTEC's fire engineering team.

Alex's thesis investigates how OSCBs behave as they age, supported by intermediate-scale experiments. His primary findings reveal that aged OSCBs perform inconsistently, increasing the probability of failure within a building's overall fire safety strategy. As the UK's built stock continues to age, these findings carry significant implications for passive fire protection and regulatory compliance.

The research has been shaped in partnership with SOCOTEC’s Fire Engineering team, namely Sarath Gopi, Dheeraj Karyaparambil, and Hamed Zoghi, alongside academic supervisors Dr Xu Dai, Morvarid Koohkherzi, and William Slaughter at the University of Liverpool.

Building on his award-winning work, Alex will join SOCOTEC for a six-week summer internship, applying his knowledge within a commercial setting. He will be joined by two fellow University of Liverpool students, further strengthening SOCOTEC's relationship with the institution and its commitment to developing the next generation of fire engineering professionals.