Hughes Associates Personnel Present At NFPA'sWorld Fire Safety Congress & Exposition.

Business Editors/Environmental & Energy Writers

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 2000

Hughes Associates, Inc., an international fire science, research and engineering firm, featured three speakers at the National Fire Protection Association's 2000 World Fire Safety Congress

Craig L. Beyler, Ph.D., Technical Director, presented findings from experimental data gathered on the performance of smoke and heat vents in sprinklered buildings, along with results from recent fire modeling studies. New design methods for smoke and heat vents were presented, along with plans for future full-scale testing. The results of these experiments may have an impact on the firefighting techniques used for attacking smokespread via vent systems.

Daniel T. Gottuk, Ph.D., a Hughes Associates Senior Engineer, presented two papers. The first, Fire Dynamics of Spill Fires, is a presentation of hazard analysis methods of fuel spill fires on concrete. Recently conducted experiments have resulted in significantly different findings compared to conventional correlations and pool fire data. The second, Optical Fire Detection Technologies for Aircraft Hangars, reports on the experimental results and analysis from a full-scale experimental evaluation of current optical fire detection technologies intended for use in Navy aircraft hangars..

Joseph L. Scheffey, P.E., Hughes Associates' Director of RDT&E, spoke on behalf of the NFPA 30 Technical Committee to provide an update on significant changes adopted in the Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code. Sponsored by the NFPA Industrial Section, the talk provided an opportunity for engineers and code enforcement officials to become familiar with protection criteria changes in Chapter 4.

The NFPA's World Fire Safety Congress & Exposition is one of the premier events in the fire protection field. This annual meeting draws nearly 10,000 attendees from throughout the world. For more information on the presentations made by Hughes Associates, or to receive synopses, contact Christi Schaefer at Hughes Associates, Inc., 3610 Commerce Drive, Suite 817, Baltimore, MD, 21227 USA. Phone: (410) 737-8677. FAX: (410) 737-8688. E-mail your request to info@haifire.com. Web site: www.haifire.com.

Established in 1980, Hughes Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of engineering and research services to the fire protection field, including fire hazard and risk assessment services, fire protection system design and testing, fire and building code consulting, plus forensic engineering services.