A good reason to join the International Master of Science in Fire Safety Engineering is the robust network and industry relations. As we were gathering in front of the V-building in Lund University, we couldn’t help but be excited for the industry visit to one of IMFSE’s programme contributors, DBI – The Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology. Many of us have also never been to Denmark and so the industrial visit is an opportunity to visit Copenhagen. As we were crossing the Øresund Bridge, we see the Ferring Pharmaceuticals building looming ahead, one of DBI’s many interesting projects in and around Denmark.
DBI, The Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology, is one of Europe’s and Denmark’s leading institute for fire safety. Its services range from product development, fire testing, fire investigation to advanced services and research. DBI’s services are applicable in several stages, starting from design & development, construction, facility management, and after fire. One of DBI’s main objective is to unite the research field and the industry, by helping to move new technology to the market and be involved in the testing and standardization process. There, we were warmly welcomed with coffee and chitchat with Bjarne Husted, senior researcher and Thushadh Wijesekere, IMFSE alumnus.
The day was jam-packed with sessions with the Consultancy, Fire Investigations, Fire Testing, and Advanced Services and Research departments of DBI. As IMFSE students, we were wholly interested in these talks because these gave us a glimpse into the many possible career tracks that we can take up after graduation. The speakers highlighted the technical competencies in our master’s programme that can be very beneficial for work as a fire safety engineer. Among the many competencies are fire simulations, fire dynamics concepts, and risk assessment. DBI also presented some innovations that they are employing to keep up with new technology and the ever-changing demands of project execution and management. The remote inspection is certainly a novel idea to address the sudden shift of everything to online. This gives clients the chance to do remote consultancy. The digital twin represents a virtual model that reflects a real-life fire scenario. It gives the benefit of having a digital footprint of the system and increased digitization allows for easy access to the project site sans the cost of travelling, as well as getting information as quickly as possible before the project site is cleaned.
Aside from presenting us with the relevant departments in DBI where we can potentially work for in the future, DBI also gave us a tour of their fire testing facilities. The institute boasts of a façade test for testing out the integrity of façade materials and flame spread. The façade test equipment was gigantic; and it was the biggest testing apparatus that we’ve ever seen so far. We also got to see very familiar equipment that we have learned about and worked with in the master’s programme – cone calorimeter, room corner test, thermogravimetric analysis, and microcalorimeter.
The visit was closed by having lunch together in the DBI’s very own canteen. During the lunch, we sat together with Bjarne, Thushadh, and Dan Lauridsen, and they answered any of our questions regarding their experience working in DBI. We would like to thank DBI for the insightful visit, and we surely hope that one of our friends will end up working there!
IMFSE 