Key details
Darren Blackshields
Research Fellow (Evacuation Modelling)
Darren Blackshields has worked as a research fellow at the University of Greenwich's Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) since 1999. He has been involved in developing the EXODUS evacuation model for buildings, aircraft and maritime environments. This has included work on the Royal Navy CVF class aircraft carrier, toxicity modelling for the British Home Office, and the European Union funded Framework 5 VELA, Framework 7 SAFEGUARD and Horizon 2020 AUGGMED projects. He has also been involved in the development of a version of the EXODUS model as part of a DASA project, related to security and the simulation of marauding armed terrorist attacks. Recently he has been involved in a number of aviation evacuation related projects for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the OneHeart project in collaboration with Cranfield University. He has also been involved in a project for the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) related to updating the parameters within the Green Guide, to take into account a range of uses of sports grounds, including women’s football.
Darren Blackshields also lectures on the annual Principles and Practice of Evacuation Modelling (PPEM) short course that attracts an international audience of professionals working in the fire safety field. The course covers all aspects of fire safety engineering and human behaviour in emergency and circulation situations.
Responsibilities within the university
- Researcher (member of the Centre for Safety, Resilience and Protective Security and the Fire Safety Engineering Group)
- Lecturer on the Principles and Practice of Evacuation Modelling (PPEM) short course
- MSc final project supervisor
Awards
2008 Jack Bono Engineering Communication Award from the US based Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).
Research / Scholarly interests
Darren Blackshields research interests involve, Evacuation Modelling, Behaviour Modelling, Large Scale Urban Evacuation, Security and Video/Data Collection and Analysis. He is also actively involved in software development (i.e., C++, C#, python programming).
Recent publications
Article
Lawrence, Peter J. , Filippidis, Lazaros, Veeraswamy, Anand, Blackshields, Darren , Marzoli, Marcello , Marsella, Stefano (2025), Implementing notification strategies in the urbanEXODUS large-scale evacuation model. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Safety Science, 187 . pp. 106854 ISSN: 0925-7535 (Print), 1879-1042 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2025.106854).
Filippidis, Lazaros , Lawrence, Peter, Anand, Veeraswamy, Blackshields, Darren , Cooney, David , Galea, Edwin (2024), Evacuation modelling for rapid multi-hazard tabletop exercise deployment. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Safety Science, 173: 106438 . pp. 1-18 ISSN: 0925-7535 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106438).
Book section
Filippidis, Lazaros , Lawrence, Peter, Blackshields, Darren, Ewer, John (2023), Trapped on the seashore, seaborne evacuation, impact of exposure to PM2.5: demonstration of the urbanEXODUS evacuation model. Nova Science Publishers. In: , , In: Michail Chalaris (ed.), The Challenges of Disaster Planning Management, and Resilience. Nova Science Publishers, New York (1st) . pp. 339-457 . ISBN: 9798886972290 (doi: https://doi.org/10.52305/QURT7964) NB Item availability restricted.
Conference item
Filippidis, Lazaros , Lawrence, Peter, Blackshields, Darren, Ewer, John (2022), Trapped on the seashore, seaborne evacuation, and impact of exposure to PM2.5: Live demonstration of the urbanEXODUS large-scale evacuation model. Department of Chemistry, Research Division on Risk, Hazards, Crises, and Safety at “Hephaestus” Advanced research Laboratory School of Science, International Hellenic University. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Planning, Challenges of Disaster Management and Resilience (ICPCDMR), 11th - 13th February 2022, Athens and online In: Michail Chalaris (ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Planning, Challenges of Disaster Management and Resilience(ICPCDMR). Department of Chemistry, Research Division on Risk, Hazards, Crises, and Safety at “Hephaestus” Advanced research Laboratory School of Science, International Hellenic University, Kavala, Greece INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLANNING, CHALLENGES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND RESILIENCE (ICPCDMR) (1st) . pp. 59-59 . ISBN: 9786185630089 (doi: https://www.idafk.com/icpcdmr-2022/indexEN.html).
Filippidis, Lazaros , Lawrence, Peter, Hulse, Lynn, Veeraswamy, Anand , Blackshields, Darren (2021), Large-scale evacuations: they worked last time. Will they work again?. SafeGreece. In: SafeGreece 2021: 8th International Conference on Civil Protection & New Technologies, 24th - 26th November 2021, Greece and online In: Katerina – Navsika Katsetsiadou (ed.), SafeGreece 2021 – 8th International Conference on Civil Protection & New Technologies. SafeGreece, Greece, online SafeGreece 2021 (1st) . pp. 85-88 2654-1823 (Online) (doi: https://safegreece.org/safegreece2021/images/docs/safegreece2021_proceedings.pdf) NB Item availability restricted.
Conference proceedings
Lawrence, Peter , Pellacini, Veronica, Filippidis, Lazaros, Blackshields, Darren (2022), The development of pedestrian gap acceptance and midblock pedestrian road crossing behavior utilizing SUMO. TIB Open Publishing (Technische Informationsbibliothek) - DLR Institute of Transportation Systems. In: SUMO User Conference 2021, 13th to 15th September 2021, online In: Pablo Alvarez Lopez, Olaf Angelo Banse Bueno, Maria Giuliana Armellini, Michael Behrisch, Laura Bieker-Walz, Erdmann Jacob, Yun-Pang Flötteröd, Robert Hilbrich, Ronald Nippold, Johannes Rummel (eds.), SUMO User Conference 2021. 13 – 15 September 2021, Virtual Event. TIB Open Publishing (Technische Informationsbibliothek) - DLR Institute of Transportation Systems, Hannover, Germany , 2 (1st) . pp. 33-51 2750-4425 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.52825/scp.v2i.90).
Monograph
Galea, Edwin , Lawrence, Peter, Filippidis, Lazaros, Cooney, David , Blackshields, Darren (2025), Investigating the expanded use of modelling and simulation for evacuation certifications using the airEXODUS Aircraft Evacuation Simulation Software. Office of Aerospace Medicine, United States Federal Aviation Administration. In: , , , . Office of Aerospace Medicine, United States Federal Aviation Administration, Washington D.C., United States of America (1st) (doi: https://doi.org/10.21949/1529685) NB Item availability restricted.
Galea, Edwin , Lawrence, Peter, Cooney, David, Blackshields, Darren , Filippidis, Lazaros , United States. Federal Aviation Administration, Aircraft Certification Service , University of Greenwich. Fire Safety Engineering Group (2024), Investigating the impact of retrieval of carry-on luggage by passengers on aircraft evacuation using the airEXODUS aircraft evacuation simulation software [Report Number : DOT/FAA/24/19]. United States Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration - Office of Aviation - Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. In: , , , . United States Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration - Office of Aviation - Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Washington, DC (doi: https://doi.org/10.21949/1529674).