In this piece, we’re shining the spotlight on Dr. Michael Kinsey, a seasoned practitioner and researcher in human behaviour in fire and evacuation modelling.

Michael brings a wealth of experience, with over 15 years in fire engineering design and pioneering fire safety solutions. His work has significantly contributed to industry research and supported the development of international guidance.

Michael is set to lead our expansion into advanced fire engineering and human behaviour analysis. His diverse project portfolio across sectors, including rail, rolling stock, commercial, and airports, brings invaluable expertise to our team.

Q: Welcome to the team, Michael! Could you start by telling us about your background and what drew you to the field of fire engineering?

Michael: I did my degree in Computer Science, and following a final year project involving cryptography, I was planning to go into software engineering but was offered a funded PhD at the University of Greenwich looking at evacuation modelling, which eventually focused on understanding and modelling evacuation of high-rise buildings using lifts and underground stations using escalators. Following my postdoc, I decided I wanted to focus on the application of evacuation modelling and thought I’d become a fire engineer. In honesty, whilst I knew fire engineering involved the use of evacuation models and design guidance, I was massively ignorant and naive in knowing the full breadth of what fire engineering encompasses. It was a big and exciting learning curve (which I feel like I am still on now!).

Q: You’ve been involved in various significant projects over your career. Could you share some of the highlights about some of the projects you found particularly interesting?

Michael: I’ve been very fortunate to have worked on some amazing projects with some amazing superstar engineers/consultants, on projects internationally, and been privileged to have lived/worked in Asia (China). Some of my most memorable projects include being involved in massive open plan offices with no protected escape routes and significant amounts of CLT/Glulam timber elements, full-scale evacuation research for the fastest commercial bullet train in the world, working on the world’s largest Starbucks in the world, and the largest airport in Cambodia.

Q: You are perhaps most widely recognised for your expertise in human behaviour in fire and evacuation modelling. What are some key trends you see currently shaping these areas?

Michael: The field of understanding human behaviour in fire through research and applying such understanding in the design process through such tools as evacuation modelling in the industry has developed significantly since I first became involved. It used to be that evacuation modelling would only be used on large, high fee-paying projects. In recent times, there has been an increase in the use of evacuation models, and I think this has occurred for a few reasons:

• The models themselves are becoming easier to use
• More people are being trained in how to use them and interrogate their results
• Awareness/appreciation of the insights they can bring is becoming more recognised (along with their limitations)
• Shifts in attitudes with certain approving authorities that they are not just black boxes which can be abused.

Because the use of evacuation modelling is much cheaper and faster than in the past, we are seeing them being adopted for supporting small projects in reduced timeframes. We are also seeing fire engineers becoming more knowledgeable in understanding how people behave in fires and applying this understanding through not just computational tools and calculations but also just thinking about the evacuation process to inform decision-making in the design process (e.g. through mental simulation).

Research-wise, we are seeing more scientists looking into human behaviour in wildfires, the use of AI to understand human behaviour, and the increasing use of VR for training and experiments. Researchers now have access to a vast array of different technologies which can be used to analyse and collect data about human behaviour in fires. We are also seeing the number of universities and organisations involved in human behaviour in fire research increasing across the globe which are also increasingly collaborating more.

Q: Joining Ashton Fire marks a new chapter in your career. What will your role involve, and what are you most excited about in this new position?

Michael: One of the things which really attracted me to joining Ashton Fire was the open-mindedness and flexibility to try new things, conduct research, appreciate that we don’t have all the answers, and foresight to provide autonomy to staff to make their own decisions. I will be maintaining these values whilst being involved in a number of activities, which will include:

• Support training and upskilling our staff to provide value to our clients by improving how we consider human behaviour in fire and how to use the latest tools/methods for applying such understanding.
• Provide technical support and approvals for our commercial practice.
• Being part of Ashton Fire senior leadership team in helping lead and support our staff work on interesting fire engineering challenges and respond to their needs.
• Involvement within internal and external human behaviour in fire and evacuation research to support the wider practice and the broader fire engineering community.
• Support the development of internal and external industry fire design guidance.
• Foster collaboration and support of university students and researchers.

Q: How do you see the fire engineering industry evolving over the next few years? What are some of the challenges we are facing, and what role do you envision Ashton Fire playing in this evolution?

Michael: The fire engineering industry has gone through and continues to go through massive changes in recent years in so many areas. These include:

• Recognising the need to define fire engineering competency criteria.
• Defining fire design guidance for high-rise residential buildings, which provides a safe means of egress for all people.
• Supporting the use of exposed Timber.
• Using Artificial Intelligence to support the fire engineering process.
• Increasing the adoption of BIM and capitalising on the opportunities for automatisation for various fire engineering tasks

 Ashton Fire has been and continues to be involved in several of these areas, contributing to and sharing research and guidance.

Q: You have been involved in teaching and education within the industry. What advice would you give to upcoming professionals in the industry?

Michael: Research is ever-increasing our understanding of fire engineering in a range of areas, including fire/smoke dynamics, human behaviour in fire, structural response to fire, and fire systems. Fire engineers are required to have increasing amounts of knowledge in understanding a broad range of topics. Being curious and able to learn new things in fire engineering is now more important than ever for upcoming professionals in the industry.

For leaders in the field, I would also say that creating psychologically safe environments where junior staff are not afraid to speak up, are actively encouraged to question assumptions and the status quo, and make mistakes is integral for innovation. A core part of this is when giving feedback, be mindful of the manner, tone and wording you use to make sure people feel supported in speaking up.

Q: What would be the best way for potential clients or industry partners to get in touch and explore opportunities for collaboration with you?

Michael: In addition to emailing or calling me, please add me on LinkedIn. If you have any challenges in fire engineering design or management, particularly regarding evacuations, please get in contact.