Fire Engineering, BEng (Hons) - Degree Apprenticeship

Program Overview

Through hands-on experience, collaboration with industry professionals, and state-of-the-art facilities, the program empowers graduates to enter various fire industry roles, including engineering companies and fire safety consultancies.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This program is a BEng (Hons) Fire Engineering Degree Apprenticeship offered by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). It is a full-time, four-year program delivered in-person at the Preston Campus. The program focuses on fire in the context of buildings and infrastructure, including:

• Technology for predicting fires
• Designs for fire safety
The curriculum was developed in consultation with employers and professional bodies, ensuring its relevance and currency. The program's multidisciplinary approach reflects the real-world application of fire engineering.

Outline:

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Introduction to Combustion and Fire:
This module introduces the fundamentals of combustion and fire, covering topics like combustion, fire, and explosion phenomena.
• Safety and Fire Law: This module provides an overview of the legal system in the UK, focusing on the employment relationship, leadership, management, and team working skills.
• Engineering Design Practice: This module introduces simple design principles, developing a scientific and analytical approach to solving environmental/safety control problems in the built environment.
• Skills for Science and Engineering: This module develops mathematical, analytical, IT, communication, and research skills essential for progression through the course.

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Fluid Dynamics of Fires:
This module builds upon the theory and practical themes introduced in Year 1, focusing on fluid flow and its application to flames, fires, and explosions.
• Fire and the Built Environment: This module explores the impact of fires on the built environment, including building construction methods, materials, smoke movement and control, law regulations, and standards.
• Accidents and Catastrophes: This module develops awareness of accident and catastrophe phenomena and their impact on society, exploring technological accidents and catastrophes in the built world.
• Safety, Health and Environment: This module covers key areas of health and safety in the workplace, enabling students to identify and control hazards.
• Project Management: This module focuses on the role and responsibilities of the project manager, including leadership, organization, analytical, monitoring, and controlling techniques.
• Engineering Analysis 2: This module builds upon previously learned skills, providing the mathematical skills required for the final stage of study.

Year 3:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Enclosure Fire Dynamics:
This module explores enclosure fire and the dominant mechanisms for controlling it, examining relationships, solutions, and models used in building design for fire safety and investigations.
• Fire Protection Engineering: This module develops skills in numerical analyses and evaluates different fire protection applications.
• Fire Investigation: This module develops the ability to investigate fires to meet official needs, covering scene recognition, patterns, indicators, fire development dynamics, fire setter motives, and evidence recovery and analysis.
• Probabilistic Risk Analysis: This module introduces probabilistic risk assessment and modeling in technical systems, developing theoretical and practical themes of systems analysis and probability theory.
• Engineering Design Project: This module develops engineering design skills both as a team member and individually, enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, and case study skills.

Teaching:

• Students benefit from the new £35 million Engineering Innovation Centre (EIC), which provides an integrated teaching space with state-of-the-art facilities.
• The program features hands-on practical experience throughout the course.
• Students meet with industrial representatives, providing a real-life aspect to the program.
• The EIC enables students to work on real-world projects with commercial partners.
• Students have access to a state-of-the-art laboratory and industry-relevant software.
• Students are tutored by world-class academics with both industry and research experience.

Careers:

• Graduates can enter various roles within the fire industry, including:
• Fire engineering companies
• Fire safety engineering consultants
• Fire safety officers within fire and rescue services or the wider public sector.
• Some graduates have been hired by engineering companies such as:
• BuroHappold Engineering
• WSP
• ARUP
• Horea Lea
• Tenos Fire Safety Engineering
• London Underground
• BAE Systems
• Design Fire Consultants

Other:

• The program is based in the School of Engineering and Computing at UCLan.
• The program is subject to ongoing review and development, and changes may be necessary to comply with accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements.