​​Fire design principles for structural engineers​

Jenny Burridge is the Head of Education and Training at The Concrete Centre. She is a Fellow of the IStructE and a Chartered Member of the ICE, with over 30 years' experience in the construction industry. Jenny has previously worked for Arup and AECOM, where she designed award-winning buildings in both the UK and mainland Europe. She chairs the BSI Advisory Committee for Engineering Design and Construction.

Katherine is a Professor in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering (CEGE) at University College London (UCL) and is also a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers. Prior to joining UCL in November 2022, Katherine worked as a Reader in Structural Engineering at Brunel University London, as a Senior Structural Engineer at the Steel Construction Institute and a Senior Engineer at High Point Rendel Ltd.

Andrew is a HPR trained loss prevention consultant with account management experience. He worked in manufacturing as a quality assurance manager and industrial engineer, before his loss prevention career. Andrew has worked for FM Global, XL Insurance and XL GAPS prior to joining Aon. Andrew undertook his initial training in with FM Global and has continued to build on this HPR background with additional training in equipment hazards, dust hazards, business interruption and flood. Andrew has been in the property insurance industry since 2002.

Patrick is Technical Director at the Institution of Structural Engineers. He leads in the areas of climate action, computational design and structural safety. He oversees the management of the CROSS-Reporting Scheme on structural and fire safety.

Dr Mostafa Jafarian is a Chartered Structural Engineer (IStructE) and Chartered Fire Engineer (IFE) with specialist expertise in structural fire engineering. He is currently a National Director of Structural Fire Engineering at Stantec, alongside his role as Managing Director of TechNorma, where he leads the development and assessment of fire-related products and delivers advanced structural fire engineering consultancy.

His work focuses on understanding and improving structural performance under fire conditions, combining research-led insight with practical engineering judgement to enhance life safety and resilience in the built environment. He leads multidisciplinary teams on complex projects involving both structural assessment and fire performance evaluation.

Mostafa is actively engaged in national and international technical communities. He contributes to committees within the British Standards Institution (BSI) and European Committee for Standardization (CEN), and collaborates with organisations such as CROSS and the Institution of Structural Engineers, supporting knowledge-sharing and the continuous improvement of industry practice.

An established author and researcher, Mostafa has published extensively in the field of structural fire engineering. His book, Behaviour and Design of Steel and Composite Connections in Fire, was at the time of publication the first publication dedicated solely to this subject. Alongside his research and writing, he regularly delivers technical lectures and supports the professional development of engineers globally.

Martin is a consultant and founder of Milner Associates which is now part of RSK Material and Structures business unit. He is a Chartered Structural Engineer with expertise in the design, inspection and forensic engineering of  timber structures.

Martin’s key skills include timber building fire behavior, fire testing, moisture management,  differential movement, engineered wood products including mass timber products, timber decay, remedial timber repairs, modern methods of construction and timber material testing and development. Over 40 years’  industry experience. Martin sits on several BSI committees relating to timber and fire and he is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers. Martin is Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University within the Civil Engineering department. Martin has written several UK industry guidance documents for the Structural Timber Association.

Eoin O’Loughlin is an Associate and Fire Safety Engineer at Arup. He has over 13 years of experience delivering design and consulting for new and existing buildings across the UK and internationally, as well as providing strategic advice to private sector, public sector and government bodies. Eoin is Arup’s global structural fire engineering (SFE) skills leader, providing technical and strategic direction to design projects, internal research and external collaborations. Passionate about enabling sustainability safely and at scale, Eoin’s focuses are increasingly on the reuse of existing buildings and enabling low carbon structural forms such as timber. Eoin also is also Chair of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) Special Interest Group (SIG) on Fire Resistance who, together with other organisations such as the IStructE, are seeking to drive education and good practice across the industry in relation to structural design for fire.

Judith is a Director and Fire Safety Engineer at Arup, and a Chartered Engineer with over 20 years' experience enabling and advancing fire safety in the built environment, both in the UK and abroad. Her work enables award-winning architecture that shapes places and communities, through her collaborative and evidence-led approach that integrates fire safety into the overall design. She has led highly acclaimed research that informed codes and standards globally, focused on contributing to the growing body of knowledge, with insights quoted widely to develop a safe, low-carbon future for buildings. Judith also generously contributes her expertise on working groups and committees, including to the new Building Safety Regulator.

Professor José L. Torero is Professor Civil Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London. He works in the field of fire safety where he specialises in complex environments such as complex urban environments, novel architectures, new construction materials, critical infrastructure, aircraft and spacecraft. José is a Chartered Engineer (UK), a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), The Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK), The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA), the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).