Educating experts in the field of fire engineering is crucial in a country like South Africa, where there is a shortage of fire engineers. This is according to professor Richard Walls, the head of fire engineering at Stellenbosch University (SU).
Walls was awarded the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Lucht Award for contributions to education on 9 July, according to the SFPE website.
The SFPE is a leading global society, representing professionals who work in the field of fire protection and fire safety engineering, according to the website.
Professor Richard Walls is the head of the fire engineering research unit at Stellenbosch University (SU). Fire engineering comprises four facets, namely fire protection systems, fire protection analysis, fire science and human behaviour, and evacuation, according to Kara van Heerden, an MEng (Civil Engineering) student at SU specialising in fire engineering. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
The award gives recognition to a person or organisation that has significantly contributed to increasing higher education opportunities in fire protection engineering, according to the SFPE website.
The contributions that Walls and his team of fire engineering researchers made include: creating various industry training modules and training material, such as a fire engineering guideline for informal settlements, and contributing to various academic and research publications, according to Walls.
Walls and his team also trained MEng and PhD students from different countries, especially across low and middle-income countries, he said.
‘Great for Stellenbosch’
“We started offering research in fire engineering from 2016, postgrad courses in 2019, a specialisation in fire in the MEng degree in 2024, and we are [in the] final stages to have a formal named MEng degree in fire engineering for our students to graduate from in 2026,” said Walls, in correspondence with SMF News.
Dr Natalia Flores Quiroz (left), researcher and senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University (SU) fire engineering research unit, and professor Richard Walls (right), head of fire engineering at SU, stand in front of a coal calorimeter at the fire engineering laboratory. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
The degree programmes have helped raise SU’s profile, according to Dr Natalia Flores Quiroz, a researcher and senior lecturer at SU’s fire engineering research unit.
“[The programmes] have allowed us to be part of international conversations, while leading research that feeds into policy, standards, and community resilience,” she said.
“I think it’s great for Stellenbosch, [as] there’s many people working hard on engineering here,” said Walls. “This is the first fire safety degree for consulting engineers in Africa, and one of the few in the world that’s available [part-time].”
‘Growing gradually’
Kara van Heerden, an MEng (Civil Engineering) student at SU specialising in fire engineering, said that Walls’ award means a lot for the university, as it promotes fire engineering.
“This exposes fire engineering education and it shows the importance of it,” she said. “[The fire engineering programme] is still very young, but is growing gradually.”
The Stellenbosch University (SU) department of civil engineering consists of five main research areas, namely construction engineering and management, water and environmental engineering, structural engineering and civil engineering informatics, geotechnical and transport engineering, and fire engineering, according to the SU department of civil engineering website. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
As South Africa needs more fire engineers, making fire engineering education available is an important first step, according to Walls. There is a shortage of professional fire engineers, so it is good that the profession is getting noticed, he said.
“For us, success is firstly just having the degree to start with, and then trying to build a solid base that people, especially in South Africa, but across Africa, can come [to],” said Walls.