Jim Milke

"A Study of Building Performance in the World Trade Center Disaster"

ABSTRACT -- A review of the World Trade Center incident on September 11, 2001 was completed to better understand the performance of buildings under fire exposure. While some buildings collapsed, others survived with local or no collapse. The assessment of the building performance has provided new information to the fire protection and structural engineering communities about the behavior of tall buildings exposed to fires. The presentation will review the findings of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) sponsored investigation, including both structural and fire behavior, and provide insight on implications for the profession. A special focus on the need for interaction between the fire protection and structural engineering professional in design will be presented.

SPEAKER -- Dr. Jim Milke, P.E., is Professor Emeritus and past chair of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland. He is also a Principal Senior Engineer with Fire and Risk Alliance. He received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering, MS degree in Mechanical Engineering and BS degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland. In addition, he has a BS degree in Physics from Ursinus College. He has served on the faculty of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering for over 40 years. Jim has served as the Fire Protection Engineer for Fairfax County, VA and a Research Fire Prevention Engineer at NIST. Dr. Milke is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). He was a member of FEMA's Building Performance Study Team that investigated the World Trade Center catastrophe of 9-11. He is a Life Member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a past member of the Standards Council, a past member of the NFPA Fire Tests Committee, a current member and past chair of the NFPA committee on Smoke Management Systems. He has received awards for teaching, communications and service from the University of Maryland, NFPA, SFPE, Automatic Fire Alarm Association, American Fire Sprinkler Association and Siemens Building Technology Division.

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