Conference Program

To view additional information about a speaker or session, click on the session title.

Tuesday 13 May 2025

Day 0 (Pre-conference)

Official Opening

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Registration Open

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Tradeshow Hall Open

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Welcome Reception

Tradeshow Hall

Wednesday 14 May 2025

Day 1

7:30 am – 5:00 pm

Registration Open

7:30 am – 5:00 pm

Tradeshow Hall Open

Plenary Sessions

Room

Plenary: Central Room A

8:30 am – 8:35 am

Conference Opening

Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC

8:35 am – 9:00 am

Welcome

David Boverman, President, FPA Australia

9:00 am – 9:30 am

NFPA Fire and Life Safety Ecosystem Applications and Lessons Learned

Chris Dubay, Vice President and Chief Engineer, National Fire Protection Association

9:30 am – 10:00 am

Plenary 2

Speaker TBC

10:00 am – 10:30 am

Plenary 3

Speaker TBC

10:30 am – 10:55 am

Morning Tea

Tradeshow Hall

Breakout Sessions

Stream:



Room:

11:00 am – 11:40 am

Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)

Plenary Room

Breakout 1

John Collie, Chief Executive Officer, FPA Australia

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

A New Era of Global Fire Monitoring

Dr Karen O’Conner, Earth Fire Alliance

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Breakout 3

Dr. Maria Kornakova, Manager Bushfire Services, FPA Australia

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Breakout 4

Howard Tomlin, Group Engineering Manager, Fire Protection Technologies

 

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 5

Speaker TBC

Stream:



Room:

11:45 am – 12:25 pm

Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)

Plenary Room

Breakout 6

Speaker TBC

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Derivation of wildfire radiant heat flux values using an ensemble of dynamic fire simulation models

Anthony Power, Bushfire Technical Lead, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

A series of large scale tunnel fire test

Phil Friday, Vice President, Product Technology, The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co. Inc.

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

11:45 am – 12:05 pm

Breakout 10A

Henry Coles, Project Officer, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

12:05 pm – 12:25 pm

The Global Language of Firestopping

Abhishek Chhabra, Director International Initiatives, Firestop Contractors International Association (FCIA)

12:30 pm – 1:20 pm

Lunch

Tradeshow Hall

Stream:



Room:

1:20 pm – 2:05 pm

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Breakout 13

Professor David Bowman, Natural Hazards Research Australia

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Breakout 14

Jason D’Silva, Senior Engineer, Fire Life Safety, Transport for NSW

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 15

Vance Row, Queensland Manger, Holyoa

Ivan Steed, Team Leader – Essential Services, Grosvenor Engineering Group

Pat Mcmanus, Managing Director, Stokes Safety

Stream:



Room:

2:10 pm – 2:55 pm

Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)

Plenary Room

Breakout 16

Henrietta Tan, Engagement Manager, Standards Australia

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Effective Decision Making in Incident Command

Dr Greg Drummond, Assistant Commissioner FRNSW – Education and Training

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Breakout 18

Natural Hazards Research

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Breakout 19

David Isaac, Manager, Fire and Safety Technologies

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 20

Alan Short, Managing Director, Fire & Emergency Services SA Pty Ltd

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Afternoon Tea

Tradeshow Hall

Stream:



Room:

3:30 pm – 4:10 pm

Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)

Plenary Room

Breakout 21

John Lynch, General Manager Business Services, Wormald

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Breakout 22

Trent Fearnley, IFE International President/Former National Advisor Fire Risk Management, Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Beyond Fire Spread: Advancing Rapid Suppression Modelling

Olivia Breed, Head of Firestory, Kablamo

Thomas Hart, Customer Solutions Manager, Kablamo

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Sustainable Certified Structural Steel Fire Protection Solutions at reduced costs

Chris Partington, Passive Fire Protection Manager, Tremco

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 25

Anita Kingdom, General Manager, Total Concept Industries

 

Stream:



Room:

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm

Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)

Plenary Room

AS 1851-2012

Moderator:

Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC

Panellists :

Simon Rickard, National Technical Manager, FPA Australia

Glenn Talbot, Managing Director, Verified

John Lynch, General Manager Business Services, Wormald

Jody Aldag, Director, Fire Matrix

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Polyaire Commercial Site Fire – Cause and Impact

Tara Burton, Station Officer/Fire Investigator, FRNSW

Nik Sutarov, Private Forensic Fire Examiner , halliwellglobal

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.9

Breakout 28

Rod O’Loan, Technical and Products, Stainless Steel Wire & Mesh

Fire Systems Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Inspect and Test



Meeting Room E3.3

Advancing Fire Suppression Maintenance with Ultrasonic Technology

Anthony Lima, Founder and Director, Fire NDT Pty Ltd

7:00 pm – 11:30 pm

Conference and Awards Gala Dinner

The Grand Ballroom at the Fullerton Hotel Sydney

Thursday 15 May 2025

Day 2

7:30 am – 5:00 pm

Registration Open

8:00 am – 4:30 pm

Tradeshow Hall Open

Plenary Sessions

Room

Plenary: Central Room A

8:30 am – 9:00 am

Plenary 4

Lt. Col. Dr. Essa Almutawa, Dubai Civil Defence

 

9:00 am – 9:30 am

Safety Considerations in Energy Storage

Chris Groves, Product Manager, Wärtsilä Energy Storage & Optimisation, Wärtsilä

9:30 am – 10:00 am

Plenary 6

Mark Potter, Managing Director, Agilus

10:00 am – 10:30 am

Plenary 7

Russell Porteous, Chief Executive Officer, Firewize

10:30 am – 10:55 am

Morning Tea

Tradeshow Hall

Breakout Sessions

Stream:



Room:

11:00 am – 11:40 am

Innovation



Plenary Room

Breakout 31

Speaker TBC

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Breakout 34

John Clampett, Director, JC Consulting

Shae Mete, Chief Engineer and Inventor, FST Innovation

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Bushfire risk and Renewable Energy developments (TBC)

Matthew Allen, Specialist Risk and Fire Safety Manager, Country Fire Authority

Stream:



Room:

11:45 am – 12:25 pm

Innovation



Plenary Room

Home Fire Sprinklers: Where are we at? And where to next?

Mark Whybro, Chair, Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Australia (HFSCA)

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Fire Service Expectations for Multi Storey Warehouses

Luke Loseby, Inspector FRNSW – Fire Safety Directorate

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

11:45 am – 12:05 pm

Breakout 32A

Pierrin Vogeli, National Training Manager, FPA Australia

12:05 pm – 12:25 pm

Breakout 32B

Stacey Fein, National Accreditation Manager, FPA Australia

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

The link between passive firestop approvals, product quality, building safety & sustainability

Dr. Martin Stirling, Head of Sustainability (Australia) and Regional Process Lead, AMS (A2), Hilti (Aust.) Pty Ltd

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 40

Justin Leonard, Research Leader in Bushfire Adaptation, CSIRO

12:30 pm – 1:20 pm

Lunch

Tradeshow Hall

Stream:



Room:

1:20 pm – 2:05 pm

Innovation



Plenary Room

Leveraging AI for business success

Moderator:

Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC

Panellists :

Russell Porteous, Chief Executive Officer, Firewize

John Lynch, General Manager Business Services, Wormald

John Collie, Chief Executive Officer, FPA Australia

Glenn Talbot, Managing Director, Verified

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Leading Safety: Consulting to High Risk Environments

Trent Curtin, Director, Safework NSW, Former Assistant Commissioner, FRNSW

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

Footscray Hospital. The largest Health project in Victoria. How we tackled fire protection / safety design challenges / stakeholder management and importance of understanding both Fire Protection and Fire Safety.

Herbert Domgjoni, Principal, Social Infrastructure Sector Lead, VIC/SA/TAS, Stantec

Sebastian Azagra, Chartered Fire Protection and Fire Safety Project Technical Lead, Stantec

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

1:20 pm – 1:40 pm

Dry-Flo® digitally-enabled waterless deluge performance and compliance testing

Daniel McCormick, Director Fire Services, Paradigm

1:45 pm – 2:05 pm

Building X: AI-driven building analytics for unmatched safety and operational excellence

Lars Weber, Head of Digital & Software Sales, Siemens Ltd.

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 45

Dr Alan Green, Uni of Wollongong

Stream:



Room:

2:10 pm – 2:55 pm

Innovation



Plenary Room

2:10 pm – 2:30 pm

Breakout 46

Leon Ward, Regional Lead Australia & New Zealand, PlanRadar

2:35 pm – 2:55 pm

Implications of Non-Compliance with Fire Safety Requirements:The Role of Practitioners in Ensuring Compliance

Hank Van Ravenstein, Principal, LCI Consultants

Les Schwarz, Special Counsel, KPA Lawyers

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Fire Service Requirements for BESS Installations

Jamie Hansen, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Community Safety, Fire Rescue Victoria

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

From Maintenance to Mastery: Thriving as a Fire Partner in the Strata Sector

Nathan Keating, Chief Executive Officer, Focus Building Risk And Compliance Pty Ltd

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

2:10pm – 2:35pm

Breakout 49A

Speaker TBC

2:35pm – 2:55pm

High Viscosity Foam Concentrates and Foam System Design

David Meyer, Managing Director, Orion Fire Engineering

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 50

Speaker TBC

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Afternoon Tea

Tradeshow Hall

Stream:



Room:

3:30 pm – 4:10 pm

Innovation



Plenary Room

Using AI for Passive Fire Stopping Design and Construction Monitoring

Akshat Malhotra, Senior Associate Director, Beca

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

Breakout 52

Speaker TBC

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Sprinkler Protection in Housing for People with Disabilities

Elizabeth Sieverts, Associate, (Fire Safety – Risk & Process Safety) ARUP

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 55

Speaker TBC

Stream:



Room:

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm

Innovation



Plenary Room

4:15 pm – 4:35 pm

Revolutionising Fire Equipment Inspections with Artificial Intelligence

Naaman Shibi, Solution Consultant, Techs4biz Australia

4:40 pm – 5:00 pm

Blockchain in Fire Compliance: A New Era for Record-Keeping Integrity

Mathew Kenn, Service Manager, Grosvenor Engineering Group

Fire Safety Engineering

Meeting Room E3.1 & E3.2

High Rise Fire Operational Tactics

Gerard Mann, Fire Operations Instructor, Fire Rescue Victoria

Fire Systems Assessment
(FSA / ESM)

Meeting Room E3.9

Fire Safety Assessment & the Emergency Plan

Ian Collins, Emergency Plan Principal, 

Fire System Design
(FSD)


Meeting Room E3.10

Breakout 59

Speaker TBC

Bushfire



Meeting Room E3.3

Breakout 60

Speaker TBC