Program Overview

Fire Protection Program Overview

The University of Maryland's fire protection engineering programs are designed to prepare engineers for the challenges of this rapidly growing field. With a strong demand for fire protection engineers due to performance building codes and the international trend towards performance-based fire safety analysis and design approaches in construction, this program is geared toward working engineering professionals and is offered both on campus and online.

Program Details

• The Fire Protection Engineering Department, established in 1956, is one of only a few graduate fire protection engineering programs in the US.
• Courses are taught by the university's foremost experts in fire protection engineering as well as international experts from business and industry.
• Students taking courses on campus for the Master of Engineering degree work with an advisor to identify a course of study based on the student's professional interests.
• Fire protection engineering courses are available to explore basic processes of fire behavior, prediction of fire development, the combustion of materials and furnishings, the effects of fire on structures and the environment, smoke management, evacuation and tenability analysis, and the law.
• Courses may also be approved from other engineering departments or technical areas.

Admission Requirements

• A bachelor's degree, GPA of 3.0 or better, in a STEM field from an accredited institution.
• Successful completion of all of the following courses (or their equivalent):
  • Math: Differential Equations
  • Engineering: Fluid Mechanics, and Heat Transfer

Degree Requirements

Master of Engineering: 30 Credits or 10 Courses

• Students pursuing a Master of Engineering in Fire Protection are required to take six Fire Protection core courses and four technical electives.
• Any non-pre-approved technical electives must be approved by MAGE prior to registering.
• There is no research or thesis required for this degree.

Graduate Certificate in Engineering: 12 Credits or 4 Courses

• Students pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Engineering in Fire Protection are required to take ENFP651 Advanced Fire Dynamics and three Fire Protection technical electives.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fee information is available upon request.

Program Content Advisors

• Dr. James A. Milke, Professor Emeritus, Fire Protection Engineering, Center for Risk and Reliability (Online)
• Dr. Arnaud C. Trouve, Professor and Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (On Campus)