Fires, Dreams, and Learning: My IMFSE Journey

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “How did I get here? What led me to this moment?” I’ve had several of these introspective moments, especially when I embarked on my master’s degree journey in IMFSE. It all began when a girl from a small country like Bangladesh left her home to chase her dreams. I vividly remember every step of that journey, as it marked my first time traveling abroad and taking on the responsibility of managing everything on my own. IMFSE, for me, isn’t just a master’s program; it’s a life-changing experience filled with struggles, lessons, and growth.

I hail from a country where using emergency doors during emergencies can be challenging, fire hydrants sometimes lack water connections, and many people are unsure about what to do in a fire emergency. Transitioning from this context to a dedicated fire safety-related master’s program was a significant challenge. My background was in Building Engineering and Construction Management, where I learned about building construction but had little exposure to building safety during fire emergencies.

Before leaving my homeland, I was filled with excitement. I couldn’t help but daydream about the beauty of Scotland and the prestigious University of Edinburgh. However, reality hit me hard in the first week of IMFSE classes. Understanding what the professors were saying was a struggle and my two-week delay due to a visa issue added to the difficulties. At times, I questioned if I had made the right decision, wondering if this program was truly suited for me. It was during these uncertain times that my friend Amina offered me a reassuring reminder, “You are here just because you deserve to be here.” Her simple yet profound support acted as a powerful tonic. I persevered and soon came to the realization that choosing this path was indeed the best decision of my life.

The initial weeks were challenging as I found myself studying alongside peers who already possessed extensive knowledge of fire safety engineering. Some had their own companies, and others had substantial work experience. I compared myself to them and worried that I might not measure up. However, I reminded myself that I came here to learn, and my knowledge would grow significantly over some time. Now, just a year later, I can confidently say that I know far more than I did before. One thing that became clear is that this program is suitable for individuals from various backgrounds. We had students from electrical, mechanical, chemical, safety, civil engineering, and architecture backgrounds. Some were fresh graduates, while others had years of experience. When we started, we all had specific strengths and weaknesses, but now, we stand on equal ground, having gained a wealth of knowledge from this program.

Over the past year, I’ve undergone a profound transformation. The two semesters I spent at the University of Edinburgh and Lund University, guided by some inspiring professors, have been nothing short of amazing. This opportunity, I must say, has allowed me to delve into self-discovery. Today, I find myself a more confident, enthusiastic, and independent individual than I was just one year ago. During the summer break, when I had the chance to return to my home country, I made a sensible decision to explore the field of fire safety and gain professional experience through an internship at FRISSBE. This journey was both enjoyable and enlightening, and I look forward to sharing more about my summer adventures soon.

IMFSE has been instrumental in helping me understand the critical importance of fire engineering. Prior to this program, fire was merely a physical phenomenon extinguished with water. Now, I comprehend that a small candle flame can escalate into a massive fire. Whenever I see a building, I instinctively consider its evacuation plan and ponder how people behave in a fire. These were not common thoughts for me before, but now I recognize their significance.

In essence, this exceptional program is accessible to all backgrounds, and it unravels the mysteries of fire engineering visually. The curriculum, combining theory and practical components, is designed in such a way that every student can relate it to their background. It doesn’t change your background; instead, it enriches your career. A year into the program, I noticed a significant shift in my perspective. I began to approach building construction with a heightened focus on fire safety and its intricacies.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who supported me on this journey.

Thank You 😊

Every year, this program produces remarkable fire engineers while also welcoming a new batch of hopeful students. If you're reading this and feel that you could be the next person to benefit from this fantastic program and add value to your engineering career, consider applying for the IMFSE 2024 cohort. 🔥 Applications for the IMFSE 2024 cohort are now open! 🔥 CLICK HERE TO KNOW MORE 🔥

Fateful Nights

People often say it only takes one night for luck to change around, for life to take a fateful turn to open streams to set it all in motion. I had been searching for that night till the night occurred. Nights for me have always been tricky, the moment I hit my head on the pillow, begins the train of thoughts circling down to every station it possibly can until I jump out of bed and feed the monster something of its desire. So, that night, I was embarking on another daring adventure of scouring my phone to decide what to eat to calm the devil down.

Suddenly, a notification popped up, and all I could focus on was IMFSE written in all caps.

I remember when I first decided to prepare for a master’s programme. The thought of leaving my first job to further my skills in my craft was a daunting decision to take. I figured I could always learn on the go by using challenges at my job to upskill myself. The pay was a much nicer add-on as well. However, throughout this time, there was a strong sense of delving deep into the ideas and concepts of fire engineering. I wanted to truly understand the beautiful intricacies and nuances that go into the decision-making process of creating a safe place for humans, not merely the facade of things, one sees while walking past those buildings.

So, I began to explore the opportunities out in the world that would intertwine my love of engineering and travel. As fate would have it, I landed on IMFSE’s website. The thought that I could go on to study in top universities, exploring the culture and warmth of different countries, felt unreal. It was something of a jest, one says, after watching a movie stuffed with romances of travel and here it was, an opportunity for me to get to experience it all, that too with a full scholarship, must only be a dream!

With my decision to apply came a voyage of documentation. Sometimes, I think that despite all the globalization and technological advances, humans have made paperwork more complex. The chain of emails going back and forth just to obtain all the necessary documents has certainly honed my email writing skills. Perseverance was the key throughout this process, and I persisted. I must give credit to IMFSE and Ghent University; filling out the application was a breeze. 

Then I got the email for the interview process and things became very real, very fast. I dug out the notes from my bachelor’s while basking in the rays of anxiety and self-doubt to brush up on my fundamental understandings and theories. I marked my calendar with the fateful day to keep the urgency ever-present and to remember to appear, sharp as a tack, on the interview day. On D-day, I prepared myself a hearty breakfast while checking up on the setup for a smooth process. During the interview, I had an enjoyable conversation with Prof. Eulalia Planas on the facets of fire, my undergraduate milestones, and the wisdom of living away from home. She put me at ease instantly with a smile and a pleasantly polite attitude. Once I completed the process, began the treacherous waiting. I pushed myself to get busy with the tasks and responsibilities at hand, to not overthink on nights and to be happy that, come what may, it was a journey worth undertaking. 

And on one of those nights, came the mail of selection. I mustered up the courage and opened it to find that I had received the full Erasmus+ scholarship to attend IMFSE in the batch of 2023-2025. I instantly did what anyone would do, I checked my email on all the devices it was logged and inspected it for all its worth until my brain aligned with my heart to believe it was all legitimate. I called up my family with soaring happiness to tell them of the news, woke up my flat mates and celebrated with pizzas all night. 

When the adrenaline of selection settled down, came a fear of the unknown. The process of visa and housing to live at a place I have seen till now only on screens. Once again, I’m writing this at night, reminiscing on it all and spending time with my loved ones. While I’m still having battles with fear and overthinking but, if anything, I have learned this year that more often than not, the fateful nights always have the backing of countless days filled with determination and discipline to have them in the first place.

Now since I’m here, I look forward to meet the different humans of Fire Safety Engineering to collect ideas, and discussions and share the memories and fears for my most important design, LIFE.

Thank you, Sameed

Apprehensions, weird buildings, and an appreciation.

Hello there!

This is Obi-Wan, and this is my first blog. So here goes nothing.

Before starting my IMFSE journey, I was a typical “Sarkari Babu”—this is a colloquial term used to describe officials working for the government. I was basically responsible for managing the safety of a sour gas process complex located in the middle of the Arabian Sea, and it was quite a transition for me, who was familiar with the process industry, into the built environment. I carried a lot of apprehension as I started my semester in Edinburgh and it is often true that we fear the unknown

“Dr. Angus I don’t have a structural engineering background. How hard is this course going to be for me?”

This was the first question that I asked Dr. Angus Law after he introduced his course “Structural Design for Fire”, having worked the last 5 years in operational safety and fire protection, plus my undergraduate degree in safety and fire engineering had no major structural subjects in the curriculum. My apprehension grew even more when I realised IMFSE was sharing this course with SAFE (structural and fire safety engineering) and third-semester IMFSE students. At this point, I started to freak out, realising that most of these students have structural engineering backgrounds and some even have advanced structural engineering degrees.

Dr. Law basically told me that it wouldn’t be a cakewalk for me, but at the same time, he stressed that the course is designed not to test our structural engineering skills, and he was absolutely right because right after the exam results were declared and we received the exam statistics, I realised that I was in the extreme right corner of the bell curve, so this is for the Semester 1 guys- don’t be alarmed or tensed if a particular subject is not something that is familiar to you; you are all in good hands because, just remember what Dumbledore said: “Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it,” and its often true that

“There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.“

The subjects at Edinburgh instigated a newfound interest in me, appreciating those “weird buildings”. For a larger period of my life, I was ignorant about architecture and often wondered about the troubles that designers have gone through to produce something that looks beautiful but serves no practical purpose (no disrespect). A special friend of mine helped me change my perspective by teaching me to value even the most abstract of designs, and as my time in IMFSE went on, I grew fascinated by the unique engineering challenges that these designs pose as well as the fact that fire protection challenges in the build environment can be exciting as architects become more creative, whereas this was typically not the case in the process industry. Now my brain is slowly wired to think stuff like, “Oh, how would the fire behave travelling along this structure?” or “Making guestimates on evacuation time?” and, of course, looking for affordances and emergency exits every time I enter a building.

Weirdly beautiful

A beautifully weird or is it weirdly beautiful building?

The first time I heard about this building was during the introductory lectures on structural design for fire (pardon my ignorance because I was used to the process industry). This building was also highlighted in the SDF course module “Keeping it Cool.”, At that moment, I was not able to appreciate the issue with this building since I was not very familiar with it or, in general, the built environment. As the course progressed, the fire dynamics lectures by Dr. Ricky Carvel introduced us to the legend Dr. Margaret Law, her research, and her contributions in designing this structure.

The mobility of the IMFSE programme enabled me to roam around Europe for a bit (of course the programme comes first before the excursions 🙃). So while backpacking through Italy during the Easter break, Farith Hinojosa Coca (my brother from another mother and fellow IMFSE enjoyer :v ) and I ended up in Paris on our way back to Lund. Hence, we decided to take a look at this structure; seeing her in all its glory really shifts the perspective, especially going back to the 1970s, when the engineers worked with a fraction of the resources that we have at our disposal now.

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We were amazed by the facade of this building, and this is something that every fire engineer needs to see. This structure is none other than the Pompidou Building in Paris, which is considered to be an architectural masterpiece, and its innovative design and incorporation of advanced fire protection systems have helped to set a new standard for building safety and fire protection engineering. I am not going to spoil everything for you, but by the end of the semester, you guys will appreciate this structure and understand the challenges of having a facade as a load-bearing member. All hail, Margaret Law!

Not to be a killjoy, I am dropping a link here. Keep reading and appreciate the seminal works of one of the most prominent pioneers in our field

https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/books/section/engineering-fire-safety-some-selected-papers-from-margaret-law

The IMFSE programme is truly remarkable because it accounts for people from different backgrounds; we all started with different perceptions, different skill sets, and different outlooks. After year 1, I can confidently say that we are all on the same page when it comes to fire.

I am grateful to be part of this journey.

Regards,

General Kenobi