Measuring Smoke Evolution with Digital Recordings

The presentation will provide an update on the significant advancements in smoke evolution measurements that have been made over the last few years. A recently developed innovative low-cost, high-yield method for measuring smoke layer height, extinction coefficient and visibility from digital recordings on the scale of centimeters is presented. Data collected at this scale will be invaluable for validation of fire and evacuation models. 

Presenter

Jennifer Ellingham
University of Waterloo

Jennifer Ellingham is a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) scholar and doctoral (PhD) candidate in mechanical engineering with a focus on fire safety. She was awarded the 2020 CFSA Founders Award for Leadership and Excellence in the final year of her master’s in mechanical engineering (MASc). Her research focuses on developing a low-cost, high-yield smoke evolution measurement method. She also holds a master’s in business administration (MBA). She has worked full-time in the construction industry and as a Research Specialist at the University of Waterloo Live Fire Research Facility.