Fire Protection Research Foundation Announces 2022 SUPDET Best Paper Awards
Each year, the Fire Protection Research Foundation hosts the SUPDET® (short for Suppression and Detection) Conference to bring together industry experts to collaborate in panel discussions and participate in engaging education sessions on the latest research techniques and applications used for fire suppression, detection, signaling, and other emerging technologies.
At the conclusion of the conference, attendees vote on the “Best Paper” (presentation) for each category of suppression and detection.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation is proud to announce the 2022 SUPDET winners of the William M. Carey Award (suppression) and the Ronald K. Mengel Award (detection).
The William M. Carey Award for the best presentation in the suppression category goes to Jeremy Souza of Code Red Consultants for his presentation “Going Fluorine Free – Converting a Legacy AFFF System to Fluorine-Free Foam.”
The Ronald K. Mengel Award for the best presentation in the detection category is being awarded to two individuals, as there was a tie in votes: Arjen Kraaijeveld of HVL for his presentation “Reliable Fire Detection Systems for Residents with Drug and Psychiatric Disorders” and Travis Montembeault of Peerless Pump Company for his presentation “Smart fire protection systems improve overall reliability and decision making.”
These winners will be presented with the awards at the 2023 SUPDET Conference, which will be September 12–14 in Northbrook, Illinois. Save the date!
The awards’ namesakes
It is with grateful appreciation of William Carey and Ronald Mengel that the Fire Protection Research Foundation presents these two awards each year.
William Carey was a leading authority on fire safety. He spent 34 years as a professional engineer at Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. Throughout his career, Carey was a project engineer, giving presentations on fire safety products and investigating products to determine if they met UL standards. He also volunteered at several industry-related associations, including the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), and served on many NFPA technical committees.
Later in his career, Carey was a senior staff engineer involved in working at UL’s large-scale fire testing facility, where he specialized in testing fire safety products, including sprinkler systems and portable fire extinguishers. He died unexpectedly at the early age of 56. He had an extraordinary knowledge and experience in his area of expertise and contributed to a better understanding of fire for engineers.
Ronald Mengel had a long-distinguished career in the fire detection and alarm industry. He served in the US Navy and worked for General Electric and later Honeywell’s System Sensor Division. Mengel was a valued member of the fire protection community and volunteered for several industry-related associations including the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), Automatic Fire Alarm Association (AFAA), National Electrical Manufacturing Association (NEMA) and the Foundation’s Fire Detection and Alarm Research Council.
Congratulations Jeremy, Arjen, and Travis on your well-deserved awards.
We look forward to seeing you in the fall! Please save the date, and check out our call for papers for 2023!
