SFPE Foundation Announces 10 Recipients of Annual Awards

GAITHERSBURG, MD – The SFPE Foundation, a charitable organization focused on enhancing the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the social, natural, and built environments, is pleased to celebrate the 10 recipients of its 2025 awards, as follows:

• Glenn Forney, PhD, Computer Scientist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (United States) – presented the prestigious Arthur B. Guise Medal, endowed by R. Keith Guise. Dr. Forney will deliver the Guise Keynote Address “Putting the Smoke into Smokeview: Musings on Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We Might Go” during the 2025 SFPE Annual Conference & Expo in Vancouver, BC, Canada in October. Since 1986, Dr. Forney has conducted outstanding research at NIST that has had a huge impact on the practice of fire protection engineering. He single-handedly developed numerical and information tools for zone fire models and scientific visualization of computational results; each with widely different technical challenges. More specifically, Dr. Forney created the architecture and numerical heart of CFAST—the Consolidated Fire and Smoke Transport model—the most widely used zone fire model in the world. He is also solely responsible for Smokeview, the scientific visualization software that displays the results of important fire protection engineering calculation software such as CFAST and the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Dr. Forney is being recognized for his rare combination of capabilities that include a thorough understanding of fire physics, an exceptional grasp of applied mathematical and computational methods, and the ability to lead technical efforts to practical ends through innovation and persistence.
• David Morrisset, PhD, The University of Queensland (Australia), and Jonathan Reep, PhD, Ian Ojwang, Rory M. Hadden, PhD, and Angus Law, PhD, CEng, The University of Edinburgh (Scotland, United Kingdom) – presented the Jack Bono Award for Engineering Communication, endowed by UL Research Institutes, in recognition of their article in Fire Technology journal titled: “Repeat Fire Tests of Upholstered Furniture: Variability and Experimental Observations,” which presents a series of trials conducted to investigate the repeatability of furniture-scale calorimetry experiments. Twenty-five identical upholstered chairs were ignited under the same experimental conditions. Experimental results of heat release rate (HRR), mass loss rate (MLR), and emission yields (CO, CO2, N2O, NO, CH4, HCN) are presented.
• Leo Willem Menzemer, PhD student, Lund University / DBI – The Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology, Sweden & Denmark – presented the Dr. Guylène Proulx, OC Scholarship for his research to further our understanding of human behavior in fire. More specifically, his project aims to investigate a key aspect of memory in evacuation, namely, the acquisition and retention of spatial knowledge over time. The findings from his research and data collection are expected to inform evidence-based training intervals in fire codes. This award also celebrates the support of his advisor, Dr. Enrico Ronchi (Lund University). 
• Mahdis Borhani, PhD student, University of Utah, USA – presented a Student Scholar Award for her work on bridging disciplines and focusing on practical strategies for wildfire resilience that can benefit communities. Her research focuses on “A Framework of Wildfire Resilience for Utility Planning in the Western Interconnection.” The objective of this research is to enhance wildfire resilience by assessing the adoption and implementation of mitigation strategies among utility providers in the Western Interconnection (USA). This study seeks to bridge the gap between available strategies and their real-world adoption by examining factors that shape implementation.
• Mohammad Javad Moradi, PhD candidate, Carleton University, Canada – presented a Student Scholar Award for his research focusing on the intersection of mechanical engineering and fire protection engineering. His research includes the prediction of fire performance of concrete-filled steel tubes using artificial intelligence (AI), predicting structural damage levels of bridges in vehicular collision fires using an AI model, and the application of artificial intelligence in predicting the residual mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced concrete after high temperatures.
• Dia Luan, PhD student, Central South University, China – presented the Frederick W. Mowrer Global Scholar Award, endowed by Kathleen Almand, for her research on “Tunnel Fire Dynamics and Smoke Control Under Heavy Rainfall Induced Airflow.” In the words of her advisor, “her work offers practical solutions that enhance disaster prevention and emergency response capabilities in tunnel projects, particularly in regions increasingly affected by heavy rainfall events.”

“The SFPE Foundation is honored to recognize a distinguished group of 2025 award recipients whose work represents the forefront of fire safety science and engineering,” said Leslie Marshall, Ph.D., Director of the SFPE Foundation. “From Dr. Glenn Forney’s lifetime contributions to fire modeling and visualization, to groundbreaking research in experimental fire testing, human behavior in fire, and wildfire resilience, these individuals are addressing critical global challenges. Their achievements—from the lab to real-world application—are advancing the science that protects people, property, and the planet. We are proud to celebrate their innovation, collaboration, and commitment to shaping a safer and more resilient future.” 

The awards will be presented by Sean Donohue, Chair, SFPE Foundation Awards Committee, Peter Senez, Chair, SFPE Foundation Board of Governors, and Maria B. Marks, Vice Chair, SFPE Foundation Board of Governors during the SFPE Annual Conference & Expo in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on October 21-23, 2025; registration for the conference is available at sfpe.org/annual25. Nominations for the SFPE Foundation’s 2026 awards will be solicited in early 2026.