Conference Program
To view additional information about a speaker or session, click on the session title.
Tuesday 7 May 2024
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
Tradeshow Hall
Wednesday 8 May 2024
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
Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC
8:35 am – 9:00 am
Mark Potter, President, FPA Australia
9:00 am – 9:30 am
Charley Fleischmann, Principal Research Engineer with UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), UL
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Responsible end of life management of ODS & SGS fire extinguishing agents
Elvira Nigido, Group Sustainability Compliance Manager, A-Gas
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Have you notified your insurer?
Fiona Perrin, Senior Risk Engineer, Zurich Resilience Solutions
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)
Central Room A
How does the insurance industry assist with fire system maintenance compliance?
Alan Wilson OAM, Managing Director, Alan Wilson Insurance Brokers
Bushfire
Central Room B
Role of professionals in bushfire risk reduction – BPAD updates
Dr. Maria Kornakova, Manager Bushfire Services, FPA Australia
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
How to Prevent Lithium-ion Battery Fires from Cradle to Grave
Richard Taylor, Business Development Director-Pacific, Honeywell
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Developments in Fire Protection Technologies for Lithium Ion Batteries
Howard Tomlin, Group Engineering Manager, Fire Protection Technologies
Stream:
Room:
11:45 am – 12:30 pm
Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)
Central Room A
Software systems in fire panel session
Panellists:
Russell Porteous, Chief Executive Officer, Firewize
Glenn Talbot, Managing Director, Verified
Bushfire
Central Room B
When Fire Safety Meets Bushfire Safety
Catherine Ryland, Director, CR Bushfire
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
The best goal never yet set. The greatest scientific collaboration since the Hadron Collider.
11:45 am – 12:05 pm
Graeme Thom, Managing Director, GT & Associates
12:10pm – 12:30pm
Gavin Williams, Technical Manager, TBA Firefly
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Gaseous fire systems and the insurance sector
Phil Morrell, Senior Engineering Specialist II, FM Global
Vikki Dodds, Senior Learning Specialist, FM Global
12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Lunch
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
1:20 pm – 2:05 pm
Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)
Central Room A
Hank Van Ravenstein, Principal, LCI Consultants
Les Schwarz, Special Counsel – Head of Litigation, KPA Lawyers
Bushfire
Central Room B
Research project; January 2020 NSW Bushfires study into building vulnerability
Dr. James O’Brien, Chief Geospatial Scientist, Risk Frontiers
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
Revolutionising Fire Safety in the Digital Age
Amin Nooranipour, Product Manager (Fire Safety) ANZ, Siemens
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Fire Protection and Life Safety in Unique Buildings for Storage and Supply
Margaret Tatum, Senior Fire Engineer, Sotera
Paul Clancy, Director, Sotera
Stream:
Room:
2:10 pm – 2:55 pm
Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)
Central Room A
Performance-based design in fire engineering. Friend or foe?
Marcus Royle, Leader – Fire, A G Coombs
Ben O’Brien, Technical Specialist – Fire Mode, A G Coombs
Bushfire
Central Room B
LiDAR-based Heat Transfer Models of Buildings for Bushfire Conditions
Anthony Ariyanayagam, Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering, QUT
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
Importance of Developer and Design Teams Early Engagement with Fire Protection Professionals
Yvonne Pengally, Director, Myown Constructions
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Environmental Management of Firefighting Foam and Queensland’s transition to fluorine-free foams
Nigel Holmes, Principal Advisor Incident Management, Queensland Department of Environment and Science
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Afternoon Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
3:30 pm – 4:10 pm
Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)
Central Room A
The environmental impact of sprinklers
Mark Fessenden, Managing Director, International Fire Suppression Alliance
Bushfire
Central Room B
Bush Fire Design, Assessment, & Compliance – Confessions
David Boverman, Chief Executive Officer & Principal Advocate/Consultant, Helping Hands Planning & Design Pty Ltd
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
James Cameron, Executive Director, Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF)
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Fire Hazards of Electric Vehicles (EVs) Located within Buildings
Matt Booth, Senior Fire Safety Consultant at Warringtonfire Australia, a Jensen Hughes Company
Stream:
Room:
4:15 pm – 5:00 pm
Fire Systems Assessment (FSA/ESM)
Central Room A
AS1841 & a new section lithium-ion battery fire extinguishers
Ray Mergard, Managing Director, Fire Safety Equipment
Stephen Birch, Managing Director, Flamestop Australia
Bushfire
Central Room B
Big-Data, Ensemble Wildfire and the Wildland Urban Interface: A Case Study on K’Gari – Fraser Island
Anthony Power, Bushfire Technical Lead, Covey Associates
Fire Systems Design
Central Room C
Gary Rake, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Building Codes Board
Special Hazards
Meeting Room 5
Does the A350 aircraft fire in Japan suggest upgrading fire test standards?
Mike Wilson, Principal, Wilson Consulting
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Reece Fire Networking Drinks
Tradeshow Hall
7:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Conference and Awards Gala Dinner
The Event Centre Marquee at The Star Gold Coast
Thursday 9 May 2024
Day 2
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Registration Open
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tradeshow Hall Open
Plenary Sessions
Room
Plenary: Central Room A
8:15 am – 8:45 am
8:45 am – 9:30 am
Fire Safety Engineering … Fire Protection Engineering … The gap
David Isaac, Director, Fire & Safety Technologies
Dr. Jonathan Barnett, Director, Basic Expert
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Igniting a Response: Battery Energy Storage Safety
Chris Groves, Product Manager – Product Development, Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimisation
Noah Ryder, Chief Operating Officer, Fire & Risk Alliance, LLC
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Product Traceability and Environmental Claims Verification
Neil Savery, Managing Director, ICC Oceania
10:30 am – 11:00 am
Morning Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Breakout Sessions
Stream:
Room:
11:00 am – 11:45 am
Inspect and Test
Central Room A
John Lynch, General Manager Business Services, Wormald
Innovation
Central Room C
Redefining work: A blueprint to hybrid and remote workplaces
Alan Short, Managing Director, Fire & Emergency Services SA
Other
Meeting Room 5
Panellists:
Dr. Maria Kornakova, Manager Bushfire Services, FPA Australia
Tracy Gurnett Director, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Christina Knorr, Founding Director, CJK Fire & Safety
Stream:
Room:
11:50 am – 12:30 pm
Other
Central Room A
Olivier Braquet, Director, Global Seismic Business, nVent
Bushfire
Central Room B
Dr. Rowena Morris, Node Research Manager NSW/ACT, Natural Hazards Research Australia
Innovation
Central Room C
Fire resistance, combustibility and fire hazard properties
Christina Knorr, Founding Director, CJK Fire & Safety
Inspect and Test
Meeting Room 5
Peter Blain, Managing Director, Plus Systems
12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Lunch
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
1:25 pm – 1:45 pm
Other
Central Room A
Australia’s strong Ozone protection laws. Can we do more?
Paul Hodgson, Executive Officer – Ozone Protection, Fire Protection Industry Board
Bushfire
Central Room B
Latest research – Timber construction in bushfire-prone areas
Boris Iskra, National Codes and Standards Manager, Forest and Wood Products Australia
Innovation
Central Room C
AI Innovation in Fire Protection
Russell Porteous, Chief Executive Officer, Firewize
Inspect and Test
Meeting Room 5
Digital Overwhelm vs Digital Transformation: How Less Apps Means More Efficiency in the New World
1:25 pm – 2:10pm
Glenn Talbot, Managing Director, Verified
1:50 pm – 2:10 pm
Solving the combustible cladding issue in Victoria: a Cladding Safety Victoria update
Ashley Hunt, Executive Director Program Delivery, Cladding Safety Victoria
AI, Fire Fighting Robots, and the Future of Fire Safety
Noah Ryder, Chief Operating Officer, Fire & Risk Alliance, LLC
Stream:
Room:
2:15 pm – 3:00 pm
Other
Central Room A
Safely Managing Fires Involving Solar and Static Battery Systems
Capt. Richard Birt, Commissioner (Retired), City of Las Vegas
Bushfire
Central Room B
Kathryn Kinnear, Director/Principal Environmental & Bushfire Consultant, Bio Diverse Solutions
Innovation
Central Room C
Technology in asset management strategy
Antonio Serianni, NSW Business Development Manager, Wormald
Inspect and Test
Meeting Room 5
Fire Protection – is it box ticking, best practice or the space in between?
Anita Kingdom, General Manager, Total Concept Industries
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Afternoon Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
3:30 pm – 4:10 pm
Other
Central Room A
Working with your customers to understand their fire protection risk appetite
Simon Rickard, Technical Manager, FPA Australia
Bushfire
Central Room B
Hear from industry experts on all things Bushfire. The perfect way to round out the conference.
Panellists:
Dr. Maria Kornakova, Manager Bushfire Services, FPA Australia
Mark Potter, President, FPA Australia
Innovation
Central Room C
Matt Allen, Specialist Risk And Fire Safety Manager, Country Fire Authority
Inspect and Test
Meeting Room 5
Best Practice for Battery Testing:AS 1851 Compliance
Warren Makings, Interim National Technical Manager, FPA Australia
Plenary Sessions
Room:
4:15 pm – 4:55 pm
Central Room A
Silkyara-Bardot Tunnel Collapse – the Disaster with a Silver Lining
Prof. Arnold Dix, Barrister, Scientist, Professor of Engineering
4:55 pm – 5:00 pm
Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC
