The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been offering degrees in the areas of Fire Safety and Fire Engineering for over two decades. In this time, it has established itself as a world leader in education, research and training in these fields. External recognition of this achievements was delivered in 2014 when the UCLan Fire Team scooped the Training Provider of the Year prize in the Excellence in Fire and Emergency Awards.
The judges said: “The Division of Fire and Safety Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire has developed a leading position in the United Kingdom and overseas with respect to the delivery of taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Fire Safety Engineering, Management and leadership studies across Fire Safety Design, Fire Risk Management and Emergency Response.”
Leaders in Course Development and Curriculum Design
The University offers one of the most extensive ranges of Fire based courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level within the educational sector. The courses have been developed in collaboration with fire brigades and other key stakeholders to produce innovative courses, producing highly employable graduates. All courses meet the requirements of the appropriate professional bodies; they are accredited by the Energy Institute, on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration at the appropriate level and are also accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers as a Recognised Educational Programmes (with academic exemption) for Member Grade (MIFireE).
An example of the how UCLan uses innovative course design and collaboration with key stake holders is typified by the ground-breaking BSc(Hons) Fire and Leadership Studies Degree offered in collaboration with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.
The pioneering concept, the brainchild of Lancashire’s former Chief Fire Officer Peter Holland, offers fire and rescue services a unique opportunity to recruit and fast-track potential operational officers through the single-tier entry system which still predominates UK fire and rescue services.
The course provides future leaders with a unique study programme that combines academic study of fire science and management with practical firefighting training, enabling those sponsored by a Fire and Rescue Service to be qualified to ride on fire engines by the end of their first year. Uniquely, they only study academic subjects which will be practically useful to them as managers or officers in the Service including the management of health and safety, fire risk management and human resources.
The quality of UCLan’s provision and the experience afforded by the team ensure that UCLan Fire is a truly international brand. The university successfully franchises its fire courses with partner organisations in Hong Kong and the Middle East.
Education and Training for the Oil and Gas Related Industries
The University recognises the specialist health and safety requirements of these potentially high risk industries. In response, it has launched BEng / MEng programmes in Oil and Gas Safety Engineering the courses provide a knowledge of the fundamentals of safety engineering; practical experience in the use of state-of-the-art techniques for the study of safety engineering systems, together with an understanding of the necessary scientific, engineering and technological principles specific to the oil and gas industry.
The MSc in Oil and Gas Engineering develops professionals with specific knowledge in the engineering principles such that they can make a contribution to nearly all stages of oil and gas field evaluation, development and production. The ethos of the course is the maximisation of hydrocarbon recovery at minimum cost while maintaining a strong emphasis on reducing environmental impact.
The University of Central Lancashire has established itself as not only a leading education and training provider in the fire related disciplines but has considerable expertise in the area of policing, and across the full range of “blue light” emergency services. Building on this the University has launched d its UCLan-PROTECT range of emergency training, as they aim to make UCLan the number one Place for Resilient Organisations and Total Emergency Capability Training – PROTECT. These training and consultancy and advisory services are not limited to the UK, there is a strong realisation that to be truly effective these must be available in the work place and have global reach. PROTECT has been designed with this in mind, using UK experts with considerable experience of working in the Middle Eastern region this team of highly mobile trainers who are ready to bring their expertise to you.
The PROTECT team can offer a full range of consultancy services to ensure that companies are prepared for whatever the future may hold in store. Whatever your needs you can be assured team will provide independent and confidential advice to ensure that your company is best prepared for the future.
There are a comprehensive range of “off the shelf” training packages available, alternatively our highly experienced trainers are happy to work with you to review your emergency plans and identify your skills gaps and provide bespoke training programmes to meet your requirements. Thus ensuring that your staff have the skills and knowledge to meet the demands placed upon them and ensuring that the company is well placed to thrive whatever the future may deliver is crucial to any organisation’s resilience.
World Leading Research
The Centre for Fire and Hazzard Science is a centre of excellence combining expertise in the areas of Fire retardancy, fire toxicity and fire and explosion modelling. The Centre has developed internationally leading laboratory facilities which are fully equipped with modern analytical instrumentation and a comprehensive range of small and medium scale fire tests. This has enabled the team to pioneer and undertake the development of a new generation of fire safe materials. It provides a vital service to industrial research and development, allowing improvements in fire safety to be made, before products reach the final, accredited standard testing laboratories. Crucially, it also provide detailed chemical analysis, presenting a unique insight into how fire retardants work, and how their performance may be improved.
Our research areas cover a wide spectrum of research problems, including new physical and mathematical models of combustion, explosions and related phenomena. It reflects new advances in combustion and explosion science and computational fluid dynamics, which have a significant and decisive impact on progress in fire engineering and create the required fundamentals for the overwhelming majority of applications in fire engineering. These include fires, explosions and other potentially dangerous situations within chemical industry, transportation and storage of chemically active substances, and in the environment. The Centre has also conducted research into large open and enclosed fires and explosions, which is central to the research program of this area. These studies confirm the vulnerability of industrial and civil conurbations with high concentrations of combustibles and lead to a necessity of general studies in hazards, disasters and emergencies. This has resulted in the formation of the second research area.
For more information, go to www.uclan.ac.uk/fire
About the Author
Dr Andrei Chamchine is Principal Lecturer and Academic Lead for Business Development and International, School of Engineering, University of Central Lancashire, UK.
