Xingyu Ren (Berkeley Fire Lab PhD Candidate at University of Maryland) and Lauren Gagnon (Combustion and Fire Processes Lab PhD Candidate at Berkeley) were both awarded Sheldon Tieszen Student Awards for the upcoming IAFSS symposium. The award recognizes excellence in an IAFSS symposium paper in fire safety science by a student making a significant contribution to that paper. The papers are linked below.

Lauren B. Gagnon, Ph.D., Awarded for the paper “Effect of Reduced Ambient Pressures and Opposed Airflows on the Flame Spread and Dripping of LDPE Insulated Copper Wires” by Lauren Gagnon, Carlos Fernandez-Pello, James L. Urban, Van P. Carey, Yusuke Konno, and Osamu Fujita, Advised by Carlos Fernandez-Pello and Van P. Carey at the University of California, Berkeley, US.

Xingyu Ren, Ph.D., Awarded for the paper “Temperature measurement of a turbulent buoyant ethylene diffusion flame using a dual-thermocouple technique” by Xingyu Ren, Dong Zeng, Yi Wang, Gang Xiong, Gaurav Agarwal, and Michael Gollner, Advised by Michael Gollner at the University of California, Berkeley and Dong Zeng at FM Global

The Sheldon Tieszen Student Awards are sponsored by the International FORUM of Fire Research Directors (http://fireforum.org/), a group composed of the Directors of fire research organizations throughout the world, which aims to reduce the burden of fire (including the loss of life and property, and effects of fire on the environment and heritage) through international cooperation on fire research. 

Another Berkeley Fire Lab PhD candidate, Priya Garg was also awarded the Ralph A. Seban Heat Transfer Fellowship and Ernest and Marjory Starkman Fellowship in recognition of her distinguished academic record.

The endowment was established in 1998 in memory of Professor Ralph Seban to support graduate students in Mechanical Engineering in the field of Heat Transfer. Seban became a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley and made the Berkeley heat-transfer research group one of the world’s leaders. He served as chairman of the Heat Power Systems Division, and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1965 to 1969.

The Ernest and Marjory Starkman Endowment was established with gifts from family and friends of Professor and Mrs. Starkman in May 1987 to support graduate students in Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Starkman was a student (1937-1945), receiving a BS in 1942 and an MS in 1945 in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. He was on the Mechanical Engineering faculty from 1950-1971 when he left to become the Vice President for Environmental Activities of the General Motors Corporation. He was a leader in research on automotive engine combustion and pollutant emissions.

Congratulations to Xingyu, Lauren, and Priya on your recognition!