Ofodike (‘DK’) Ezekoye, Professor and Joe C. Walter Jr. Chair in Engineering at University of Texas, is a new addition to UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) Advisory Board. He joined the board earlier this year and brought with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise in characterizing heat and mass transfer processes in fire and high-temperature reacting systems.
Dr. Ezekoye’s journey as an engineer was inspired by his father, who was a mechanical engineer. But his fascination with fire research was truly ignited during his National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the early 1990s. Since joining the faculty at UT in 1993, his passion for fire safety engineering has continued to grow. And while he enjoys and values exploring complex research questions, he believes that his greatest impact is in training and mentoring students.
When probed about the future of fire safety, Dr. Ezekoye is quick to point out the obstacles ahead for fire safety professionals. “Our civilization is still challenged to control feral and unwanted/accidental fire. Unwanted fire follows humanity on sea, in the air, and in space,” said Dr. Ezekoye. “As new materials, construction techniques, and energy dense systems are introduced, fire safety engineers and scientists will be challenged to maintain and improve the level of fire safety that society has come to expect.”
Dr. Ezekoye’s current research focuses on the knowledge gap surrounding lithium-ion batteries. His research group has studied battery failure at various scales – from investigating how the active materials in cells chemically evolve to studying the consequences of battery failure at the compartment scale and beyond. This work continues and an upcoming Department of Energy (DOE) project on de-risking rechargeable battery technologies will commence soon.
“I’m excited about connecting the dots between our ongoing DHS (Department of Homeland Security) project on firefighter safety on firegrounds that contain batteries and our upcoming DOE project.”
- Ofodike (‘DK’) Ezekoye
Professor and Joe C. Walter Jr. Chair in Engineering at University of Texas
Dr. Ezekoye will present the “Fire Safety of Batteries” covering research from cell and module level failure evolution through compartment and far-field consequence modeling on August 1, 2023, at UL Research Institutes 2023 Annual Research Symposium in Chicago, IL.