Ed Galea

Professor Ed Galea BSc (Hons), Dip.Ed, PhD, CMath, FIMA, CEng, FIFireE

Professor and Fire Safety Engineering Group Leader

Professor Ed Galea, originally from Melbourne Australia, studied at Monash University (BSc Hons, DipEd) and the University of Newcastle NSW (PhD). On graduating with a PhD in Astrophysics he worked for the BHP Research Laboratory Melbourne before moving to the UK in 1985 to take up an appointment as a post-doctoral fellow at St Andrews University.

Professor Galea is the founding director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich in London where he has worked in the area of Computational Fire Engineering (CFE) research since 1986. FSEG are developers of the EXODUS suite of evacuation software and the SMARTFIRE fire simulation software. He is the author of over 300 academic and professional publications and serves on a number of standards committees concerned with fire and evacuation for organisations such as; IMO, ISO, BSI and the SFPE Task Group on Human Behaviour in Fire.

He also sits on several UK Government committees concerned with civil defence. He has served on several major Inquires and legal cases as an expert in fire and evacuation including: the Paddington Rail Crash, the Swiss Air MD11 crash, the Admiral Duncan Pub bombing and is currently an expert serving on the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry.  He assisted the IMO in framing MSC Circ 1033, 1238 and 1533. His work is applied to the building, aviation, maritime and rail industries.

Since 1997 Professor Galea has trained over 650 fire and safety professionals from 44 countries in human behaviour, evacuation modelling, fire dynamics and fire modelling through a series of annual short courses he runs at the University of Greenwich. He has successfully supervised 31 PhD and 6 MSc by Research students in fire and evacuation related studies. He is the director for the MSc By Research within the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Greenwich and is a Visiting Professor at Ghent University Belgium and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), Haugesund, Norway where he teaches on Fire Safety Engineering MSc courses and supervises doctoral students.

Professor Galea has won a number of awards for his work including;
1999 and 2002 Hodgson Prize from the Royal Aeronautical Society;
2001 British Computer Society Gold Medal,
2002 Queen's Anniversary prize,
2002 RINA/Lloyds Register Safer Ship Award;
2006 and 2018 Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Award;
2008 SFPE Jack Bono Award,
2010 Royal Aeronautical Society Bronze Award,
2014 The Guardian University Award for Research Impact
2014 Royal Institution of Naval Architects Medal of Distinction
2019 Society of Fire Protection Engineers (UK Chapter) Best Research Project for 2019

Responsibilities within the university

Member of Academic Council.
Member of University Research Committee.

Programme leader

MSc By Research

Module leader

MSc by Research Project

Awards

* In 2019, Prof Galea and colleagues won the award for the ‘Best Research Project for 2019’ from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (UK Chapter) for their Evacuation from High-Rise Construction Sites project.

* In 2018, a publication co-authored by Prof Galea, ‘Numerical Investigation of the Fatal 1985 Manchester Airport B737 Fire’, which appeared in the Aeronautical Journal 2017, won the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Gold Award for 2017.

* In 2016, Aoife Hunt (doctoral student of Prof Galea), won the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Foundation Awards Student Scholar Award.

* In 2015 Rob Brown (doctoral student of Prof Galea) and Prof Galea won the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Foundation Awards First Annual Dr. Guylène Proulx, OC, Scholarship.

* In 2014 a research project conceived and run by Prof Galea concerned with the development of a novel emergency signage system won The Guardian University Award for Research Impact.

* In 2014, a publication co-authored by Prof Galea, ‘Passenger Response Time Data-Sets for Large Passenger Ferries and Cruise Ships Derived from Sea Trials’, which appeared in The Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, International Journal of Maritime Engineering 2013, won the Royal Institution of Naval Architects Medal of Distinction for 2013.

* In 2011, a publication Prof Galea co-authored, "Fire and Evacuation analysis in BWB aircraft configurations: computer simulations and large-scale evacuation experiment", which appeared in the Aeronautical Journal 2010, won the Royal Aeronautical Society's Bronze Award for 2010.

* In 2008, a publication Prof Galea co-authored, "Signage Legibility Distances as a Function of Observation Angle", which appeared in the Journal of Fire Protection Engineering 2007, won the SFPE Jack Bono Engineering Communication Award. The Jack Bono Engineering Communication Award is given to the authors of the paper that during the prior year has most contributed to the advancement and application of professional fire protection engineering.

* In 2006, a publication Prof Galea co-authored, "CFD Fire Simulation of the Swissair Flight 111 In-Flight Fire - Part 2: Fire Spread analysis", which appeared in the Aeronautical Journal 2006, won the Royal Aeronautical Society's Gold Award and George Taylor Prize for 2006.

* In 2003, Prof Galea and the EXODUS group were awarded the 2003/2004 European IST prize by the European Council of Applied Sciences, Technology and Engineering (Euro-CASE) for their development of the EXODUS suite of software.

* In 2003, a publication Prof Galea co-authored, "Examining the effect of exit separation on aircraft evacuation performance during 90 second certification trials" which appeared in the Aeronautical Journal 2002, won the Hodgson Prize of the Royal Aeronautical Society for best paper.

* In 2003 Prof Galea and the EXODUS group, were awarded the 2002 Queen's Anniversary Prize with the citation:

"The University is a recognised world leader in the area of evacuation model development. Use of its software technology by businesses and public authorities greatly enhances public safety and its specialised training offers vital expertise to the user community worldwide."

* In 2002 Prof Galea and the EXODUS group were awarded the 2001 RINA/LR Safer Ships Award (Royal Institution of Naval Architects/Lloyds Register).

* In 2002, Prof Galea and the EXODUS group were awarded the 2001 CITIS (Communications & IT in Shipping) Award for Innovation in IT for Ship Operation for the maritimeEXODUS software.

* In 2002, Prof Galea and the EXODUS group were awarded the 2001 British Computer Society award for IT 2001 (the Oscars of the IT industry).

BSC IT Award presentation:

"The winners not only demonstrate technical innovation, but also show how technology can be used to benefit society at large.," Judith Scott, Chief Executive of The BCS.

* In addition to winning the IT award, Prof Galea and his team also received the gold medal from the British Computer Society.

* In 1999, a publication Prof Galea co-authored, "The Numerical Simulation of Aircraft Evacuation" which appeared in the Aeronautical Journal in 1998, won the Hodgson Prize of the Royal Aeronautical Society for best paper.

Recognition

Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, (FIMA).

Charted Mathematician status (C.Math). 5 April 1994.

Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers. (MIFireE) 1995.

Charted Engineer status (C.Eng) 2003.

Member Society of Fire Protection Engineers

Vice Chair of the International Association of Fire Safety Science. (Feb 2014 - )

Associate Editor, The Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (Nov 2013 - )

Associate Editor, Safety Science (Feb 2017 - )

Research / Scholarly interests

Professor Galea is the author/co-author of over 300 academic and professional publications concerning fire and related topics. His research interests are diverse and include:

Development of human behaviour models for evacuation simulation;

Development of human behaviour models for circulation simulation;

Experimental methods for the collection of human performance data;

Aviation safety (fire and cabin safety);

Building safety (fire and evacuation);

Maritime safety (fire and evacuation);

Rail safety (fire and evacuation).

Numerical methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based fire simulation;

Development of intelligent user interfaces for CFD fire simulation;

Simulation of combustion and fire dynamics.

Simulation of aerosolised pathogen dispersion within enclosures.

Key funded projects

1) DSTL/DfT funded project.  Modelling train security threats.

Sept 2017 – Jan 2018, Jan 2020 – Aug 2020, UK Pound Sterling 200,000.

KEYWORDS: Marauding armed terrorist, human behaviour, agent based modelling.

2) EU: IN-PREP, Horizon 2020 project.  Disaster management with a focus on, Earthquake, Floods, Wildfires and Terrorism

Sept 2017 – Aug 2020, Euro 540,000

KEYWORDS: Agent based modelling, urban-scale, evacuation, human behaviour.

3) CLEVERTRONICS funded project. Assessing the performance of novel dynamic emergency exit signage.

May 2017 – April 2018, UK Pound Sterling 65,915

KEYWORDS: Signage, evacuation, human behaviour.

4) IOSH funded project.   Analysis of evacuation from high-rise construction sites.

May 2016 – Jan 2019, UK Pound Sterling 169,000.

KEYWORDS: High-rise, Construction site safety, evacuation, human behaviour, experimental analysis, evacuation trials, agent based modelling.

5) EU: GEO-SAFE, Marie Sklodowska-Curie RISE project.  Wildfire evacuation research.

May 2016 – April 2020, Euro 150,000

KEYWORDS: Wildfires, human behaviour, evacuation, agent based modelling.

6) Innovate UK, EPSRC project GATEway.  Human behaviour associated with autonomous vehicles.

Oct 2015 – March 2018, UK Pound Sterling150,000.

KEYWORDS: autonomous vehicles, human behaviour, pedestrians.

7) EU: AUGGMED, Horizon 2020 project.  Developing augmented training environments for first responders responding to terrorist incidents in crowded places.

June 2015 – May 2018, Euro 640,000.

KEYWORDS: VR, AR, MR, training, human behaviour, agent based modelling.

8) Australian DSTO. Developing a virtual simulator for damage control on naval vessels. Part I – III,

Jan 2014 – Feb 2018, UK Pound Sterling 202,000

KEYWORDS: VR, training, human behaviour, agent based modelling, CFD fire simulation.

9) HSBC.  This was a consultancy project to enhance the evacuation capabilities of the HSBC tower in Canary Wharf.

Sept 2014 – July 2015, UK Pound Sterling 50,000.

KEYWORDS: Evacuation, human behaviour, agent based modelling.

10) CPNI (UK Home Office). Experimental analysis of the impact of Bollard Arrays on Pedestrian movement – Part II.

Feb 2014 – June 2015, UK Pound Sterling 100,000.

KEYWORDS: Experimental analysis, human behaviour, evacuation trials.

11) KTP funded by TSB/EPSRC. LIFEBID project in partnership with the Kent Fire and Rescue Service. The project is concerned understanding human behaviour in domestic fires.
July 2013 - Aug 2016, UK Pound Sterling 158,250.

KEYWORDS: Domestic Dwelling Fires, evacuation, human behaviour

12) Experimental research project funded CPNI (UK Home Office). Project involves designing, implementing and analysing the results from a series of full-scale experiments concerning human performance associated with Bollard Arrays.
Nov 2012 - Aug 2013, UK Pound Sterling 76,400.
KEYWORDS: Evacuation, public buildings, Bollards, human behaviour.

13) Fire modelling funding by ASH. This is a consultancy project concerning using CFD fire simulation to simulate the performance of a new concept domestic vent during fire situations.

Sept 2012 - Aug 2013, UK Pound Sterling 21,000

KEYWORDS: CFD fire simulation, vents, domestic dwelling fires.

14) Off-Shore evacuation analysis funded by Nexen. This is a consultancy project concerning the evacuation analysis of an off-shore oil platform.

July - Oct 2012, UK Pound Sterling 33,500

KEYWORDS: Evacuation modelling, off-shore, life safety.

15) Aircraft evacuation analysis for Bombardier Canada. This is a consultancy project concerned with the evaluation of the evacuation performance of a new novel aircraft design.

April 2012 - Jan 2013, UK Pound Sterling 20,000

KEYWORDS: aircraft, evacuation, certification.

16) EU FP7 project GETAWAY. This is a STREP project concerned with developing a new evacuation control system for overground and underground rail stations. The project involves the development of Intelligent Active Dynamic Signage Systems.

Nov 2011 - Oct 2014, EURO 572,438

KEYWORDS: Human behaviour, evacuation, modelling, real-time, signage, rail stations, underground stations.

17) EU FP7 project INDIRA. This is an Integrated project concerned with managing large scale cross-boarder emergencies.

April 2011 - May 2015, Euro 640,000

KEYWORDS: Evacuation, disaster, urban scale, real time systems.

18) EU FP7 project AircraftFire. This is a STREP project concerned with aircraft fire and evacuation simulation with a focus on aircraft structures made from composite materials.

Jan 2011 - Dec 2014, Euro 354,000

KEYWORDS: Fire simulation, CFD, evacuation, aircraft, composite materials, burn through.

19) EU FP7 project FIREPROOF. This is a STREP project concerned with developing a probabilistic methodology for the assessment of fire and evacuation risk associated with large passenger ships.

June 2009 - June 2012), Euro 345,000

KEYWORDS: Fire simulation, CFD, evacuation, evacuation simulation, probabilistic analysis, passenger ships

20) EU FP7 project SAFEGUARD. This is a STREP concerned with developing data sets for passenger response times and validation of ship evacuation mdoels. The project involves both experimental and modelling based research.

April 2008 - April 2012, Euro 725,000

KEYWORDS: Fire simulation, CFD, evacuation, evacuation simulation, response times, validation, passenger ships

21) EU FP7 project BeSeCu. This is a STREP concerned with investigating the cultural influence on evacuation.

May 2008 - Dec 2011, Euro 600,000

KEYWORDS:Culture, Human Behaviour, evacuation, validation, response time.

22) UK Home Office. Review of state of the art in indoor-dispersion modelling for CBRN,

March 2010 - March 2011, UK Pound Sterling 45,000

KEYWORDS: CBRN, dispersion modelling, CFD.

23) Jet Aviation. Consultancy, aircraft evacuation project related to a VIP B747.

Sept 2010 - April 2011, UK Pound Sterling 65,000

KEYWORDS: aircraft, evacuation, certification, B747, VIP.

24) Bombardier Canada. Consultancy aircraft evacuation project related to a new regional jet design.

Sept 2010 - March 2011, UK Pound Sterling 26,000

KEYWORDS: aircraft, evacuation, certification.

25) AGIP: Consultancy evacuation analysis of large-scale oil refinery plant.

Nov 2010 - Jan 2011, UK Pound Sterling 20,000

KEYWORDS: evacuation, large-scale, modelling, oil refinery.

26) Battelle and US Defence Dept. Real time evacuation management system.

Dec 2007 - Sept 2010. US Dollar 90,000.

KEYWORDS: Human behaviour, evacuation, modelling, real-time.