INTRODUCTION
Senior Fire Rescue & Emergency Response Professional disciplined in directing Operational resilience for Major Emergency / Crisis Tactical Command and Strategic Incident & Stakeholder Planning. A proficient Executive with exceptional skills in targeting appropriate corporate and regulatory policies for Organizations premeditated development regarding Fire Safety & Emergency Response Procedures, whilst developing effective multi-agency shared resilience’s seemless and effective. This also comes from having direct involvement with the monitoring of performance, setting targets for all departments including Policy & strategic procedures.

BACKGROUND
With a Vast practical and operational background of response to emergencies and major Incidents in the United Kingdom complimented by a Global Knowledge and experience at all levels of Emergency Resilience, Disaster & Crisis Management, Fire Safety planning and Risk analysis of all sectors, including; Local Authority, Oil & Gas, Aviation, Marine & Maritime, Heavy Industrial & Hazardous Materials sectors.

My personality as a communicator coupled with being highly skilled in the development of bespoke plans for policy guidance & direction in the preparation training, response activities of Emergency & Incident Management teams has allowed me to be successful when dealing with third parties and often acting as a proficient coach and mentor for personnel development, customer and public liaison for accomplished design, delivery and innovation.

C U R R E N T R O L E
Senior advisor to General Directorate of Civil Defence Dubai, reporting directly to the Director General and Headquarters Executives. The topics cover, but not limited to Fire & Life Safety Engineering code development and compliance, Risk assessments and Performance based Risk assessed solutions for the built environment, new innovations & equipment accreditations, Operations & fire station management, Public Safety, training & development. Designing and writing SOP’s, planning and assessing effectiveness for scenario and virtual training, to ensure complete readiness for emergency response teams are prepared with appropriate competencies.

Cristina Perez Domper is a Civil Engineer with a Masters in Structural Engineering. She gained her experience in fire testing and certification working in a fire testing laboratory in Spain and she is now the Regional Operations Manager for Intertek’ in Dubai, UAE. She specializes in product testing and certification of passive fire protection products and has been advocating for a more comprehensive approach to these systems, including the importance of proper testing, certification, installation and maintenance of products.

Dr.Mostafa Jafarian is a Senior Certification Engineer at Warringtonfire, specialising in structural fire protection and façade behaviour under fire

He obtained a bachelor degree in civil engineering, an MSc in Structural Steel Design at Imperial college London in Structural design, and PhD in Structural Fire Engineering at the University of Manchester. His PhD project formed part of the RFCS (The Research Fund for Coal & Steel) funded European project COMPFIRE investigating robustness of steel and composite connections in fire.

After obtaining a PhD, he worked as Research Associate for about two years at the University of Manchester developing a method to specify intumescent coating for concrete filled tubular columns.

He joined Warringtonfire in 2016 and is now a Senior Certification Engineer, providing clients with advice about performance of various structural fire protection systems and façade systems under fire conditions, and methods of improvement. He is a member British Standards Institution (BSI) committee (Eurocodes structural fire design co-ordination panel), Association of Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) comment (TG1-for reactive fire protection and TG2- for non-reactive fire protection). He is also working closely with BSI committees developing standards related to façade tests under fire condition.

Ali Al Mutawa started his career in 1998 as a Corporal Watch Commander in Dubai. His role was multi-functional and included writing new training and development policies for operational crews, together with setting fire safety inspection regimes and controls. He gained his first degree in ‘Fire Science’ and a diploma degree in ‘Fires in Airports and Seaports’ in an international fire officer training program in Toronto, Canada in 1999. A year later Mr. Al Mutawa was was appointed as a District Officer taking charge of many incidents as the initial incident commander, whilst still continuing studies to advance the protection of life and property and his career.

In 2002 he was appointed as a Station Director focusing on policy writing for operations, communications and training. As the new operations control room was being developed and expanded in 2005 he was deployed as the Senior Group Officer responsible for staffing, training and equipping the control suite.

After graduating with a bachelor degree in ‘Law’ from Dubai Police Academy in 2007 and attaining another diploma for ‘Operations Room Management’ from Germany in 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Senior Assistant General Director for Smart Services, in charge of the department, and in 2017 to Assistant General Director for Smart Services.

Abhishek is an Engineer and a Post Graduate Diploma holder in Finance. He has been advocating the need for compliance to standards for improved safety and quality across industries for most of the last 18 years. He has vast experience of promoting conformity assessment in several industries including Consumer Electronics, Industrial, Renewable and Building Products across geographies and jurisdictions.

He joined Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants in 2013 and has been the driving force behind the expansion of the fire compliance activities into new markets. His valuable experience from other, larger TIC (Testing, Inspection & Certification) companies has helped customers and construction industry stakeholders over the years.

Along with helping certification bodies expand their horizons of business, he has been writing articles and presenting at various forums about mandatory and voluntary quality and safety compliances. He also owns and drives a blog and a LinkedIn group called Gurus of Testing, Inspection and Certification (www.tic.guru) aimed at expanding the understanding of conformity across the world.

Peter is a Fire Safety Engineer with over 30 years experience in the Sector. As the Business Development Manager at Warringtonfire, Peter co-ordinates the business development of the Middle East Fire Engineering Consultancy activities in addition to supporting the development of fire strategies, building assurance inspections and fire systems analysis for projects.

Peter is also a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) and is currently President of the IFE GCC UAE Branch which has been registered in Dubai through the Dubai Association Centre. His considerable experience in Fire Safety Engineering and Rail Infrastructure Projects includes working as Senior Fire Safety Engineer for Network Rail, as Fire Safety Officer for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and as a consultant in both large multi-disciplinary and small independent practices. Peter is actively engaged within the international fire safety community, being a Committee Member of the Railway Industry Fire Association (RIFA), and former finance director of the International Aviation Fire Protection Association (IAFPA).

Chad Hawkins is currently a Division Chief for the Oregon State Police, State Fire Marshal Bureau. Chief Hawkins has over 20 years of experience responding to and managing All-Hazards emergency incidents across areas in the western coast of the United States and is considered a Subject Matter Expect (SME) in multiple arenas of emergency response. Chief Hawkins has operated in every position in the Incident Command System (ICS), including Incident Commander on a plethora of large-scale incidents including multi-casuality scenes, structural and wildland fires, earthquakes, floods, hazardous materials (Hazmat) releases, along with many others. Chief Hawkins is currently assigned to an All-Hazards Incident Management Team and during his most recent deployment, he was an Incident Commander for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Hawkins holds numerous certifications and accreditations in ICS, Firefighting Operations and Rescue, Hazardous Materials, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Management. He holds a position with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 472 Hazmat/Weapons of Mass Destruction technical committee, he is a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Qualification System Hazmat Team Typing taskforce, and is a committee member of the FEMA Key Response Factors and Considerations for the Aftermath of a Catastrophic Chemical Incidents. One of his recent achievements was receiving the “Ambassador of Public Service” award from the Governor of Oregon for his work within the Hazmat preparedness and response community. With a passion to better prepare first responders, Chief Hawkins regularly instructs numerous federally certified training courses and exercises. He has presented to audiences both nationally and internationally on various aspects of emergency response operations, incident command principles, and Hazmat response and planning considerations.

Chief Hawkins’ philosophy of training; “I believe that training emergency responders is of the utmost importance when it comes to investment. As we enter new phases of technology and capability, preparing responders for a safe, effective, and efficient response to complex incidents will continue to challenge us. Providing the foundational framework through training will allow us to overcome these new challenges and better the outcome”.

Manuel “Manny” Ehrlich was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in January of 2014 and confirmed by the Senate in December 2014. Prior to his appointment Mr. Ehrlich spent over 50 years in chemical industry in a variety of positions. Most recently he served as a health, safety environmental consultant to a broad range of companies across the country.

Mr. Ehrlich spent much of his career with BASF Corporation, one of the largest chemical companies in the world. During his time at BASF Mr. Ehrlich worked in a variety of roles, including plant management and eventually leading emergency response efforts across North America. In his capacity he responded to, managed and investigated numerous hazardous materials incidents in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Mr. Ehrlich served as the on call chemist for the Chemical Transportation Emergency Response Center (CHEMTREC), a 24-hour service that assists responders on the scene of chemical incidents. He also served as a member of the National Fire Protection Association’s committee that develops competency standards for chemical emergency responders.

Mr. Ehrlich has a B.S. in Chemistry from Drexel Institute of Technology, completed graduate studies in chemistry from Temple University and St. Joseph’s College, completed graduate studies in chemical engineering from New York University and received an Ed.M. and M.A. in Counseling Psychology for Business and Industry from Columbia University.

Mariusz started his Fire Service career at the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw (Poland), successfully achieving his Master of Engineering degree in Fire Services (1991). He subsequently joined the National Fire Service of Poland, serving in various positions within the organisation, including commanding the municipal and the industrial emergency response in the Warsaw metropolitan area.

Mariusz then relocated to Abu Dhabi as a Fire Protection Expert, with a primary focus on technical aspects of fire protection systems utilized in the oil and gas industry. In 2005 he joined an ADNOC Group Company as a Senior Fire Officer charged with all aspects of effective site emergency response and later as an integral team member for the inception and creation of the integrated fire and rescue services for the entire Ruwais Industrial Area, specifically the operational response requirements.

In 2018 he was appointed as a Fire & Rescue Specialist within ADNOC Headquarters focusing on the corporate governance for emergency response across all Group Companies. His areas of expertise in industrial fire services include mobile emergency response, fire modelling, pre-fire planning, fire protection systems, unification and administration of fire services.

Bob Campbell is the President and CEO of Alliance Solutions Group, Inc. (ASG), a veteran-owned business that delivers emergency preparedness, health, safety and environmental (HSE) solutions worldwide to government and private entities. He formed ASG in 2005 to meet the growing demand for innovative approaches to addressing complex, technical hazards and risks.

Mr. Campbell holds graduate degrees in International Business and Environmental Engineering and has 23 years of emergency management experience. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a Bioenvironmental Engineer, responsible for installation environmental, health, safety and emergency preparedness programs where he became a certified Hazmat Technician and implemented a $100 million, Air Force-wide CBRN/Hazmat Response program that equipped 82 installations with plans, incident management systems, equipment, training, exercises and medical countermeasures. During the last 23 years, he has collaborated with public safety, private, federal and international organizations to develop practical approaches to all-hazard, risk-based planning. His extensive experience, innovative approach and successful practices to overcoming obstacles to integrated, multi-agency response operations have been published in the Handbook of Emergency Response (2014, CRC Press).

Since forming ASG, Mr. Campbell has consulted with the U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as organizations in the UAE and KSA to build emergency response capacity. ASG has supported over 2,900 communities with an aggregate population of 70+ million residents in 48 states and 17 countries. Through realist, scenario-based training and exercises, ASG has prepared over 20,000 first responders for complex, technical incident response.

As a FEMA-recognized subject matter expert and thought leader on Hazmat planning and response, he has delivered presentations on topics such as: application of unmanned aerial systems in emergency response, all-hazards risk-based planning, and preparing communities for emerging infectious diseases at international conferences. Since 2013, ASG has been consulting with public and private organizations throughout the GCC region.

https://www.asg-inc.org/

Ian is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Fire Industry Association (FIA). The FIA, with over 950 member companies, is a not-for-profit trade association with the aim of promoting the professional status of the UK fire safety industry. As Europe’s largest trade association for the fire protection industry, the FIA’s main objective is to promote the professional standards of the fire industry through close liaison and lobbying with Government and key organisations in the industry. In addition, the FIA is an OFQUAL accredited Awarding Organisation examining to QCF Level 4 and its training department teaches thousands of students every year.

Previous to this Ian was the Managing Director for 5 years at Elmdene International; they being a leading manufacturer of electronic products for the Security, Access Control, CCTV and Fire Industries around the world. At the same time, the Chair of the BSIA Export Council, Board Director of the BSIA, Vice President of Potter Signals LLC, and advisor to a number of security and fire technology based companies.

A truly international working background being the lead project manager of the Africa Nations complex in Libya; Managing Director of Detector Technologies (D-Tec Video Smoke Detection), Country Manager for Cerberus in Taiwan and Siemens in UAE, Managing Director of Intelligent Security Ltd being awarded the Queen’s Award for Innovation; after serving in the Royal Navy for many years and as a Weapons Officer in the Sultan of Oman’s Forces.

Peter is a Chartered Engineer (Fire), Chartered Scientist, a practicing Safety and Risk Engineer, and a Registered Fire Risk Assessor. He holds an Engineering Doctorate where he investigated resilient fire engineering building design, has published numerous journal and conference papers, and authored guidance documents for the profession.

He is the founder and Director of Pyrology Limited, an independent safety, fire and risk engineering practice, is chair the British Standards Technical Committee FSH/24, developing and codifying fire safety engineering practices, and a Trustee and Director of the Institution of Fire Engineers. He has recently been appointed Technical Director of IFE.

Jason has over 34 years of experience in Fire Detection & Alarm Systems starting his service with Thorn Security in 1986 as an installation apprentice.

During his 34 year career he has worked in most fields of fire detection. He spent valuable time within the design department where he learnt to design fire systems to the relevant standards. He has also held Project Manager and Service Manager positions, amongst others. Although he has worked with many disciplines (ie. CCTV, access control etc), he has always specialised in the fire detection industry.

The majority of his career was spent in Manchester, UK. He now works for Johnson Controls and is the Senior Global Product & Certifications Manager for all fire detection brands in the Middle East.

Jason is an AIPMM Certified Product Manager, a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) and a professional member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).

Jason has lived in the United Arab Emirates for 12 years with his wife. Most of this time was spent in Abu Dhabi but they relocated to Dubai in April 2019 which is where the main Johnson Controls Middle East office is located.

Energy and Transportation safety is my focus. Innovations in the transportation and the energy industries are occurring very quickly and safety regions cannot keep up with the pace of these innovations. Hence, cooperating with these industries is crucial for safety regions (PPP). Hence, I am always looking for contacts in this area.

On the one hand to learn from them and to acquire state-of-the-art knowledge and. On the other hand, to provide them with input on safety measures (prevention) and incident management (suppression) for their processes.

I am a goal-oriented scientist, combining empirical data and conceptual reasoning. In my work, I enjoy working together with my colleagues, as well as with other professionals in the field. My deliverables are scientifically sound, often design-based, and are intended to be used by practitioners.

1990-1995: Public administration (MSc) and Business management (MSc), Twente University
1995-2000: PhD Transport safety, Delft university of Technology
2000-2007: researcher transport safety (Nibra)
2007-2016: Head of the Industrial and transportation safety department (TNO)
2016-today: practical professor Energy and transport safety (IFV)

Richard Philbrick is a Senior Emergency Response Specialist in the Shell Center of Expertise for Emergency Response. Richard joined Shell in 2000 and has over 30 years of experience in the Emergency Response sector with both industrial and municipal applications.

In his current role, Richard supports all Business Units globally with emergency response preparedness and actual responses. Richard also supports projects from a fire safety design perspective. Richard has responded to multiple incidents within Shell and outside of Shell.

Prior to his current role, Richard spent that last three years as the Emergency Response Supervisor at the Deer Park Manufacturing Complex – and integrated refinery and chemical plant. In the role Richard was a key interface with external and regulatory bodies that govern Deer Park. He sits on the Emergency Response Planning Committees, bringing together both industry and municipal response efforts, as well as the Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) group, providing mutual aid for all of industry in East Harris County. Richard is also a key contact with government agencies including the United States Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and local municipal officials.

As a member of the management team of the Unified Fire Department (UFD) my daily focus is the emergency response in the port of Rotterdam. The UFD is a rather unique organization in which the large companies in the port and the city council Rotterdam participate in order to achieve the best emergency reponse for aswell the high-risk industrial plants as for the public areas.

With more then 300 industrial firefighters, responding from 8 firestations we try to keep incidents small and prevent escalations.

Next to my management role, I am more then 20 years a firefighter myself. The recent years in the role of chief officer.

Vinay is a Principal Engineer/ Senior Fire Protection Manager with Warringtonfire Consulting ME in their Dubai office. Vinay has over 33 years of building systems engineering experience, 28 years of which have been in the fire protection systems industry

He is an experienced design engineer with a thorough knowledge of both NFPA and British Standards and can develop fire protection systems designs, which are buildable, practical and cost effective.

Since last 20 years, He is actively involved in assisting architectural teams in finalising fire strategies for the developments assisting with code compliance and authority approval issues. The vast practical knowledge gained in the fire protection systems has helped many projects particularly Supertall towers in rationalizing the system design that are efficient and effective.

Ed is an experienced fire officer with nearly 20 years of experience in the UK fire and rescue service. Having worked in an incident command role for 15 years, Ed is also an experienced hazardous materials and environmental protection adviser as well as a qualified hazmat and incident command trainer and assessor. Ed spent two years seconded to an internationally recognized training college in the UK leading on their hazmat training and now leads hazmat training and capability at the global leading National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC). He leads on training, hazmat advice and incident management to NCEC’s 650+ global clients including all UKFRS, international response organisations and 50% of the world’s top 100 chemical companies.

Philip, has over 20 years Director level experience with international Fire Detection & Alarm manufacturers. His involvement in all aspects of these businesses has helped define and refine many of the products we see in the market today. With the last 10 years based in the Middle East, Philip has a good understanding of the challenges that face us in the region. He has been successful in delivering his products into many of the most prestigious facilities including malls, airports, hotels, universities, and infrastructure projects across the Gulf and worldwide.

David is the Founder of SharedAim, a company established to help organisations deliver excellent customer experience (CX) and enhance organisational performance. He has recently been recognised as a leading CX influencer in the UK.

Prior to this, David had a distinguished career in the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS), where he instigated and led an award-winning national study of human behaviour in fires. His insights provided an entirely new perspective and changed thinking and practice in the sector, in the UK and internationally. As a result, he was appointed as the first Customer Experience Manager in the FRS, where he was also recognised for his innovation.

An award-winning international presenter and author, David has worked extensively across multiple sectors. Taking a human centred approach, David advocates the need to re-imagine and transform services in partnership with communities.

Charlie Meyers is the Director of Product Certification and is located at our Arlington Heights, IL facility. He has extensive experience in establishing and administering product certification programs globally. Additional areas of expertise include project management, quality control program development, client services management, and business development activities.

Master in Chemistry Engineering
6 years in Polymer industry as Development Engineer
19 years in AGC Fire Resistance Glass, as Development Engineer and Product Manager, also responsible for testing and certification.

Arun SASI – Property and Casualty Manager @ AXA Gulf Insurance – Has been in Medium and Large Enterprises Risk Management in the Insurance Industry for a decade. I have conducted a broad range of risk engineering activities in the Middle East and now managing the UAE and Qatar portfolios for AXA Gulf. Has a BTech from MAHE University – India. Outside of work, I am an avid SCUBA diver.

Des Tidbury QFSM, MA, MCGI, Dip RSA, C Mgr CCMI

With over 42 years’ experience in the Fire Sector Des has made significant contributions to the Fire Sector, both in the UK, and latterly, in the Middle East.

He undertook the role of Fire Advisor to the Ministry of Interior, Bahrain during 2019/20 concentrating on operational effectiveness and standards in the Civil Defence. Immediately prior to this he was the Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor and Inspector for Wales, a post he held for three years until July 2018. During his tenure he led and authored the report on the thematic review of Organisational Learning in the Welsh Fire and Rescue Services (July 2017) and Chaired the Fire Safety Advisory Group following the Grenfell Tower fire to advise Ministers on fire safety policy and engagement with residents.

His work within the Fire Industry hasn’t been confined to the Public Sector having worked as an Independent Consultant for a three-year period from 2016 – 19. His clients included Lumi Plugin (manufacturers of an innovative lighting system), FCS – Live (Fire Assessors and Engineers) and Jersey Fire and Rescue Service.

Des served just short of 36 years in the Fire and Rescue Service with his career culminating in his appointment as Chief Fire Officer with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in June 2009. He subsequently led the organisation out of ‘Government Intervention’ following categorisation as a ‘failing’ fire authority by the Audit Commission in December 2008.

Des retired from his role as Chief Fire Officer and Director of Community Safety and Protection on 1 January 2015. His previous experience in the Fire and Rescue Service included two years (2007 – 2009) as Deputy Chief Fire Officer at Wiltshire but the majority of his career (1979 – 2007) was spent in Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, predominately in Operations and Training.

Des is a Chartered Manager with the Chartered Management Institution (CMI) and for some years successfully mentored candidates to achieve this award. He was named Outstanding Leader of the Year in the 2012 National Management and Leadership Awards and was awarded the Queens Fire Service Medal in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List. Des is currently serving as a Trustee with the UK Fire Service Research and Training Trust.

Ed Claridge is the Principal Fire Engineer for the Auckland Council and technical lead for Fire across the Auckland region. He has an honours degree in Fire Science from the University of Leeds, holds a Master’s degree in Fire Engineering from the University of Canterbury and is a Chartered Professional Engineer.

Ed started his career as a fire engineer and risk assessor working mainly within the UK industrial sector. He has worked at the NZ Fire Service Engineering Unit and as a consultant Fire Engineer on a number of major projects. Ed undertakes a number of roles serving various industry organisations and is the President of the Institution of Fire Engineers, NZ branch. He has been involved with passive fire for 20 years and serves on a number of passive fire industry groups.

Nigel is a PhD chemist with nearly 10 years’ experience in a hazmat response and training role at the National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC). Previously in the pharmaceutical industry for over a decade with multiple patents to his name. He has been involved with CTIF for 5 years as a nominated representative for the United Kingdom Fire and Rescue service and is now the secretary of the CTIF Hazardous Materials Commission and is representing the commission on behalf of Roman Sykora (CTIF General Secretary & Chair of the Hazardous Material Commission) with his talk on the future of hazmat.

Crew Manager Adam Course has been at Avon Fire and Rescue Service for 14 years and has spent many years studying firefighter fatality incidents, serious accidents, and where possible near misses.

Since June 2017 Adam has been on a secondment to the IFE and National Operational Guidance/National Operational Learning (NOG/NOL). The IFE Firefighter Safety Database which forms a web-based information/learning database where all available UK firefighter fatality and firefighter near miss information can be accessed, shared and learnt from by interested parties. The Firefighter Safety Database is designed to be a one stop shop for information.

Phase 2 of this project is expected to expand to an international scale project. Each country would have its own section of the site to highlight the same firefighter safety events. Phase 3 of the project will enable any incident of interest (high rise/tall building fires, wildfires, historic fires, nightclub fires, commercial fires, informal settlement fires, industrial, transport related incidents, HAZMAT etc), not directly linked to firefighter safety, but often with overlapping themes, where mainly multiple fatality and/or near multiple fatality incident information can be accessed and learnt from in one place. The various technical fire safety and fire engineering themes and lessons are expected to be a prominent feature in phase 3.

Adam has been part of the branch committee for the IFE Mid-Western branch since it was reactivated 13 years ago, holding position of Membership Officer, Events Co-ordinator and is the current Branch Vice President and International General Assembly (IGA) Representative. Adam has presented at a number of conferences, seminars and other events both internationally and nationally.

Adam holds an honours degree in Environmental Science gained at The University of Plymouth in 2000 and is a Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Jonathan began his professional life in the insurance industry and in June 1999 was appointed Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association. During his time as MD, Jonathan has overseen two relocations and has managed the organisation to financial independence from insurers.

Jonathan has served on numerous government, ministerial, and sector advisory bodies and was part of the strategic advisory group on the Fire Futures Review. He represents UK insurers on the Prevention Forum of Insurance Europe, is the UK’s representative at the General Assemblies of CFPA Europe and CFPA International and sits on the Executive of the Fire Sector Federation. In 2017, Jonathan was awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to fire safety and received his OBE on Tuesday 31 October at Buckingham Palace from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

My career in the active fire systems industry started in field engineering / commissioning and progressed to sales. I formed Titan Fire & Security a successful UK fire engineering specialist which was acquired in 2016.

I am currently MD of FirePro UK Ltd. We are appointed to supply and support FirePro, an LPCB certificated condensed aerosol fire suppression technology, as well as complimentary innovative fire system products, from FGD, USA, & Securiton, Switzerland.

2021 sees my 7th successful 2 year term of office as a volunteer Board Director of the Fire Industry Association and my portfolio is membership retention and attraction. Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, I sat on working group 4 (competency) for the Hackitt review.

Tony is a an active member of NAHFO, IHEEM, RIFA and a Worshipful Firefighter.

In summary, I have extensive operational business management, pragmatic fire systems engineering experience, marketing and sales experience to generate profitable business and deliver customer service excellence.

2020 – Head of Operation Branch
2019-2020 – Head of Investigation Section
2015-2020 – Head of Training and Exercise Section – IDF

Matt has over 34 years’ operational experience in the emergency services, now a private consultant working for clients including Dubai Police, INSARAG, Matt also develops rescue equipment and trains teams across the world.

Peter Van Gorp has been working as a Fire Engineer for more than 23 years, of which 13 years have been spent in the Middle East. He handled building fire and life safety projects ranging from schools, hotels, hospitals to large shopping malls to multi occupancy high rise and industrial developments, from initial concept to assistance during construction. Van Gorp has also been involved in the fire safety system design and engineering fire safety system construction supervision and site management and in assistance and witnessing of testing and commissioning of fire and life safety systems. He also has extensive experience in fire risk assessments ranging from qualitative fire risk assessments of refinery and chemical processes to quantitative fire risk assessments of installations. In his role, he has conducted numerous risk assessments involving gas installations and involving the storage and handling of hazardous materials. Van Gorp holds a Masters in Applied Engineering Electro-Mechanics from H.I.K Belgium.

Edward has been in the region for 10 years. After graduating with a degree in Fire Safety Engineering in Ireland he moved to the UAE as a Technical Manager for a Passive Fire Protection manufacturer. He is currently the Regional Manager for BRE global supporting LPCB Certification in the region.

David’s role within the BRE Group Assessment Division encompasses the highly successful LPS 1048, LPS 1531, LPS 1014 and LPS 1204 installer fire schemes as well as our ISO 9001 assessors.

David has over 20 years of fire industry experience, gained while working alongside high profile developers and construction companies on some of London’s most recognisable projects, including Canary Wharf, the Royal London Hospital, Cross Rail and the Nova Buildings in Victoria, as well as many schools, residential and retail developments.

David and his experienced team nurture the BRE’s close relationships with clients, insurance companies, developers, influencers, and the end users ensuring the LPS schemes stay robust and market leaders.

Steve has been an active member of the IFE throughout his career serving as a past Chair of the IFE board of directors, a former International President as well as being involved in many IFE professional standards committees. He is a member of the London branch serving on their committee for many years.

Steve’s career has included six years’ service in the Royal Air Force followed by over 25 years in the Fire and Rescue Service, serving in operations, fire safety and training in both county and metropolitan areas. His last appointment was as Assistant Commissioner with the London Fire Brigade. Steve then became Head of London resilience and led the coordination of the London Resilience Partnership and the coordination of the strategic response to emergencies in London.

Steve is a qualified Chartered Engineer. He holds a BEng(Hons) from the University of Central Lancashire and an MSc from the University of London, together with a post-graduate qualification in strategic leadership from the University of Warwick.

In his current role as a Regional Director of Business Development for Concorde Corodex Group, Mohanned Awad drives both the Marketing and Sales functions within the group. Since 2003 Awad has been spearheading the group’s intelligence and research effort along with driving business development, product development, and formulation of yearly business plans, and review of market position of the entire Concorde-Corodex Group of companies. He’s responsible for the product and service offering that includes Desalination Technology, Vacuum Sewerage, Odor Control, and Sewage Treatment Plants, Firefighting equipment, Firefighting Apparatus, Ambulances and Emergency Vehicles, Marine & Industrial Chemical Cleaning and Specialty Gases.

In his eighteen years with Concorde-Corodex group, Awad was instrumental, along with his executive team, in developing a corporate infrastructure that was attuned to the local market conditions yet able to compete at a global level. This role was facilitated by Awad’s educational background in the field of Chemical Engineering and his two bachelor degrees Chemical Engineering Science and Environmental Science from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Prior to Concorde-Corodex, Awad spent more than a year at IBM Corporation and has a proven track record in marketing research and market planning. He developed, validated and coordinated market intelligence reports for the IBM middleware family of software products, which have been instrumental in product development and competitive analysis.

Awad also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of JOIFF CLG. JOIFF is a not-for profit organisation dedicated to developing the knowledge, skills, understanding and competence of emergency services management primarily in high hazard industry. JOIFF has been in existence for more than 30 years and its prime activity is Shared Learning to drive inherent safety, continuous risk reduction and safe management of residual risk in Industry

Awad is a professional scuba diver (PADI Dive master), and an avid environmentalist. Highly motivated & dedicated triathlon athlete, he currently resides in Dubai where in his free time he participates in Triathlon events both locally and regionally such as Ironman Dubai 70.3, Ironman Oman 70.3, & Daman World Triathlon in Abu Dhabi as part of The Flying Dutchman Triathlon team.

Bill McHugh, the Firestop Contractors International Association (FCIA) Executive Director for 22 years, speaks internationally on fire-resistance-rated and smoke-resistant assemblies, and firestopping. He has been in the construction industry 40 years

As a successful entrepreneur, business founder, owner and Director, Edward is a team – orientated leader with a high track record of success. Turning ideas into reality, he embraces challenges with no two days the same. He views every challenge as an opportunity and is passionate about learning and building his knowledge. Edward has proven competencies in a diverse set of skills, including team leadership, public speaking, customer services and an extensive knowledge in engineering and manufacturing.

Matthew Wright is UL’s Business Development Manager for Australasia, Built Environment – a position created by UL to spearhead development of UL service offerings tailored to Australia and New Zealand.

With a passion for delivering safety in the built environment, Matthew has held roles implementing and developing requirements and good practice guidance across all building types. This has included collaborating with national and international stakeholders to build relationships and improve outcomes.

As an influential industry advocate, Matthew has achieved meaningful change in legislation, codes and Standards, including strategic generational change to the fire safety strategies of the National Construction Code, as well as frameworks for practitioner competency. He has worked in local government and private industry building surveying, as well as roles with the fire brigade and Australia’s peak fire protection association. Matthew’s current role is focused on championing product safety and certification solutions and providing a conduit to contemporary research responding to emerging trends and hazards, building on UL’s global reputation of integrity, safety science and thought leadership.

Matthew holds a Bachelors Degree in Building Surveying, a Graduate Certificate in Performance Based Building and Fire Codes and a Graduate Diploma in Fire Safety and Risk Engineering. By ministerial appointment Matthew also served two terms as a member on Victoria’s Building Appeals Board and was Fire Protection Association Australia’s inaugural Building Codes Committee representative for the Australian Building Codes Board. Matthew was appointed as one of 5 members of an international jury for the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s “Fire and Risk Engineering Award” and presents regularly at industry events.

Dr Andrew Taylor was appointed as ASFP Technical Officer in January 2018. He offers more than 30 years of experience in the fire protection coating industry.

Having worked in the field of fire resistance product research and development and testing, Andy initially worked on reactive coatings for steelwork at Leighs Paints/Sherwin Williams, and more recently on both intumescent coatings and firestopping at tremco-illbruck.

Andy has worked on various ASFP, CEPE, CEN and BSi committees involved in writing standards and guidance. He has a chemistry degree from Bristol University, and a PhD in the material science of intumescent coatings from Manchester University.