“I trained as a researcher in Eur
ope and the way buildings are designed there is very different,” said Gales. “There are many structural innovations that could be developed in Canada. They have been used in Europe for some time and are now just beginning to find their way here. I am hoping that this research will develop an appropriate framework which can promote these innovations safely.”
There has been a lot of testing around innovations that improve fire protection of buildings, but there hasn’t been a thorough analysis of the data collected. This grant is not to build a structure and set it on fire — that has been done. This grant is to look at collected information (tests, case studies, etc.) and to develop the capability to understand what is going on with the entire structure when it is exposed to fire. The grant will facilitate the hiring of a graduate and an undergraduate research student to help achieve these goals.
“We are trying to get people to think beyond individual building components and to think of how things work together and behave during a fire,” said Gales. “It is a change in design philosophy. And that needs a safe framework. It is a big step beyond what we have being doing in Canada for decades.”
About the CISC University Research Grant
The University Research Grants program was initiated by the Steel Structures Education Foundation in 1995. Since the SSEF merged with the CISC in October 2014, this program is administered by the CISC.
Over 100 research grants have been awarded since 1995 to full-time members of engineering faculties of Canadian universities. Grants are awarded on subjects judged to be of value in advancing the use of steel in construction and are awarded at the discretion of the CISC University Research Grant Committee on the merits of the applications received. The grant is awarded for a one-year period. The total value of grants awarded in 2015 is $94,200.
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