Joshua Swann (Ph.D. '19) won the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) Best Thesis Award "Excellence in Research," the highest recognition for a graduate student in the field of fire safety. 

 

Swann's research, entitled, "A Comprehensive Characterization of Pyrolysis and Combustion of Intumescent and Charring Polymers using Two-Dimensional Modeling: A relationship between thermal transport and the physical structure of the intumescent char," focused on the characterization of pyrolysis and combustion properties for five commonly used charring and intumescent polymers. The study required the development of novel, experimental techniques and numerical tools to parameterize comprehensive pyrolysis models for each material.

 

"Using insight from the recently developed pyrolysis models coupled with an analysis of the resulting intumescent char, I was able to derive a quantitative relationship between the heat transfer that takes place within the decomposing solid and developing char layer and the physical structure of the intumescent char," said Swann.

 

The prize included a plaque, a $2,000 travel grant and free registration to attend the 2020 IAFSS Symposium - at which time Swann will offically be recognized - to be held in April in Waterloo, Canada. Swann was advised by FPE Professor Stanislav Stoliarov.

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