Ian Brady first joined UL Research Institutes' Fire Safety Research Institute as an eager intern in the summer of 2023. He quickly stood out for his contributions to vital fire research projects. Now, Ian has returned to ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute as the tenth recipient of their coveted research fellowship for promising fire protection engineering graduate students.
During his internship, Ian collected crucial data on different material samples using a Heat Flow Meter and constructed a data acquisition system (DAQ) for large-scale experiments at the Delaware County Emergency Services Training Center (DelCo). Ian also collaborated with Grayson Bellamy, an ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute Ph.D. fellow, to design a new sample holder for the Micro-scale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC). This apparatus allows researchers to find the physical properties of a material by burning small samples. With this data, it communicates to researchers how they should expect that material to behave in a fire.
Now embarking on his graduate studies, he is still in the developmental process of his thesis project. Ian will work with Arnaud Trouvé, Professor and Chair of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at UMD, and Mark McKinnon, ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute Research Engineer, to determine, develop, and execute his prospective research project.
“I really enjoy working with my hands to produce tools- especially when I can see them being utilized. When we plugged in the DAQ after multiple days of just assembling it, it was extremely rewarding to see my work contributing to a greater mission”
- Ian BradyResearch Fellow
UL Research Institutes | Fire Safety Research Institute
Ian first discovered ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute at the UMD Fire Protection Career Fair, when his professor Dr. James Milke encouraged him to apply to the fellowship as he thought highly of Ian as an applicant. He joined ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute as a summer intern in 2023 to meet the team, be introduced to ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute’s research, and develop his position within ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute. Since then, Ian has returned to ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute as a Fellow in January 2024.
“I’m looking forward to bringing together everything I’ve learned through my educational career to write my first paper. Fire protection engineering is a very important topic and the work ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute does has continued to help a lot of people make safer decisions. I appreciate how close-knit the industry is, and I’m excited to continue networking with this community and get more lab experience.” Ian said.
Ian earned his Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2023. He anticipates earning his Master of Science in Fire Protection Engineering in 2025.
The fellowship, established in 2017, provides support for incoming Master of Science (M.S.) students enrolled at the University of Maryland (UMD) Department of Fire Protection Engineering and is renewed each semester provided the fellow remains in good academic standing. ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute’s Fellowship Program provides support for Graduate Research Assistantship each year, to incoming master's students enrolled at UMD and is awarded on a competitive basis.
