The Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), an affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), announced the winners of the William M. Carey Award and the Ronald K. Mengel Award. The awards are made for the best suppression and detection presentations at SUPDET 2009, the Research Foundation’s annual technical working conference on suppression and detection research, and applications. The winners are chosen based on a vote by participants and presented with the awards the following year.
The Ronald K. Mengel Award for the best presentation in the detection category went to Thomas Fabian, George Hunter, Paul Patty, and Pravinray Gandhi of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. for Development of New Flaming and Smoldering Polyurethane Foam Test Protocols for UL 217 Standard on Smoke Alarms.
The William M. Carey Award for the best presentation in the suppression category went to Roger Thomas of Tyco Asia Pacific for Water Conservation and Sustainable Use in Fire Suppression Systems.
Awards were presented at SUPDET 2010, held Feb. 16-19 in Orlando, Florida.
The William M. Carey award was established in 2001 to recognize the most outstanding presentation at the suppression and detection conference. Two awards were traditionally given: one in the suppression category and one in the detection category. In 2008, the award in the detection category was renamed in honor of the late Ronald K. Mengel.
Ronald K. Mengel was the vice president of industry affairs of the system sensor division of Honeywell Corporation. He was instrumental in Honeywell’s efforts in industry-sponsored research and training. Mengel contributed to a number of Research Foundation projects and served on the Foundation’s Fire Detection and Alarm Research Advisory Council.
William M. Carey was a senior staff engineer at Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. He participated in many Research Foundation fire suppression projects, including the first, The National Quick Response Sprinkler Project.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation plans, manages, and communicates consortium-funded research on a broad range of fire safety issues in collaboration with scientists and laboratories around the world. The Foundation is an affiliate of NFPA.
