John is the leader of Arup’s Fire Engineering Practice in the Gulf. A Chartered Fire Safety Engineer he holds a BSc Hons in Fire Safety Engineering.

John has gained a wide range of experience in fire engineering in Middle East, Africa, UK, Ireland, Russia and across Continental Europe.

He applies his expertise primarily in fire safety design, on-site implementation and handover of Aviation, Assembly and transportation projects across the built environment.

John is a visiting lecturer at Trinity College Dublin on the fundamentals of fire safety science and fire dynamics.

John’s passion is for advancing the field of fire engineering in its application into the design and operation of the built environment. He represents Arup and the industry in promoting this message on fire safety at targeted fire safety seminars and conferences.

Daniel has over 11 years’ experience in the fire and life safety industry. Since graduating from the University of Central Lancashire, he moved to the Middle East region, working on multiple projects across the region. Daniel joined WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff fire and life safety team in 2013.

Daniel’s role varies from developing fire strategies, through third party inspections, peer reviews and assisting facility managers operate large and complex building. This has given Daniel the unique ability to understand the problems facility managers have maintaining large and complex buildings, and to address these issues within the design phase. He also worked for the UK Fire and Rescue Service, assisting the local Fire Authority reduce the number of emergency call outs. This role required him was to identify those members of the community who are at greatest risk of requiring emergency assistance and put measures in place within the community to reduce these risks.

As a fire safety consultant Daniel has worked on a multiple projects, including rail, tunnels, hospitals, schools, malls, large mixed used buildings, airports and facilities containing hazardous materials.

Andy has over 25 years of experience in the field of Building and Construction, ranging from structural testing within the nuclear industry to fire testing. Having established the Dubai Cladding Technology Centre and Laboratory, and operated it for 10 years, he has particular knowledge of heavy structures testing and weathertightness testing of cladding, curtain walling and building envelope systems.

He has carried out many consultancy projects as a third-party specialist in the field of building envelope technology.

Andy has a long-standing association with the CIOB. He is currently the Chairman of the Dubai and Northern Emirates Center and he is also an experienced candidate mentor.

He continues to provide input into the UAE code and is a regular speaker at industry technical seminars such as this one.

James A. Bychowski, P.E., has over 30 years of fire protection experience and has worked for JENSEN HUGHES for over 15 years. As Vice President – Middle East Development, Mr. Bychowski is responsible for all Middle East, Africa, and South East Asia development.

Mr. Bychowski was responsible for establishing one of our Middle East offices in Dubai in 2006 and developed the office into one of our largest regional offices having a unique mix of international professionals. Mr. Bychowski has served as a principal member on the NFPA 72 technical committee, as alternate to the chairman of NFPA 13 and is a founding board member of the International UAE Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) chapter. He has served in many roles for JENSEN HUGHES including Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Director of Global Marketing and Vice President and Regional Manager of our Lincolnshire IL office.

Mr. Bychowski is a professional fire protection engineer with experience in preparation of fire strategies for many types of occupancies including high-rise offices and hotels, shopping malls, airport terminals, aircraft hangars, petrochemical processing, power generation stations, stadiums, convention centers, hospitals, universities, assisted living facilities, museums, and numerous other facilities. He guides our Middle East team in developing fire-safe designs for our clients that meet the requirements of Civil Defense authorities and improve life safety throughout the region.

In addition to fire protection and safety engineering, Mr. Bychowski enjoys ultra-marathon running, open water swimming, mountaineering, rock climbing, triathlon, adventure racing, scuba diving, snowboarding, cross country skiing, and most any other outdoor activity. He has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, run across the Grand Canyon and swam in the English Channel.

Jaime Paucar graduated from The City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and holds a graduate certificate in Fire Protection Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As a registered professional engineer in the United States with over 15 years of professional experience in the fire protection engineering industry, Mr. Paucar has applied his diverse design experience to several notable projects on a national and international level.

Mr. Paucar’s design and management experience expands to a variety of fire suppression systems including special hazards for oil/gas refineries, hangars, airports, semiconductor and military facilities, power generation plants, and pharmaceutical research and development laboratories. Additional experience includes advanced CFD and fire modeling, smoke control systems design, high-piled storage analysis, hazardous occupancy analysis, plan review/inspection services, and working with AHJs to develop alternate design solutions to prescriptive code requirements.

As Project Director, he is responsible for developing and monitoring project budgets, coaching and supervising teams, assisting with the coordination of staff workload, and managing client relationships. In addition to providing fire/life safety consultations, he has knowledge of the UAE and GCC Fire Codes, IBC, and NFPA standards.

Mr. Paucar currently serves as Project Director for Al Maktoum International Airport project for JENSEN HUGHES in the United Arab Emirates

An electronic systems application design consultant with over 30 years’ experience in building and industrial projects across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia as a consultant, contractor and with major manufacturers.

Innovative integration application and solutions designer for iconic projects and contributor to CEN, CIBSE and BSRIA standards in the UK and Europe.

Aaron F. Vanney is Vice President for RJA/JENSEN HUGHES located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Vanney specializes in international projects including mixed use high-rise buildings, large assembly occupancies, and healthcare facilities. He has focused his project work in code consulting, developing building fire and life safety strategies, and performance-based design.

Since joining RJA, Mr. Vanney has spent the majority of his career working in the Middle East where he had the opportunity to participated in the design of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Mr. Vanney has participated in projects throughout the world and is familiar with fire and life safety regulations throughout the Middle East.

He is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering. Mr. Vanney is a registered Professional Engineer in the United States. He is a certified NFPA 101 instructor and is a member of the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice Code Committee. Mr. Vanney is a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Mr. Vanney has participated in international conferences throughout the Middle East, North America, and Asia.

Nusrulha has completed his Diploma & Bachelors in Instrumentation Engineering. He started his career in Factory Automation where he worked with MESSUNG & MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC PLCs in the fields of Programmable Logical Controllers, Control Panels and HMI (Human Machine Interface) Panels. He later worked in Buildings Automation Systems when working with Johnson Controls International.

Nusrulha is competent in BMS, CCTV, Access Control System (Smart Cards & Mobile Key Technologies using low power Bluetooth), Fire Alarm System, Perimeter Protection, ELV, Wireless Telecommunication (P2P & P2MP), PLC, SCADA and RTU. Nusrulha is well versed with Building Management System and Access Control Systems.

He also has a Certification of Honeywell - Notifier Fire Alarm System, Certification of Lenel’s Access Control System & Digital Video-CCTV Certification. Allen Bradley’s - PLC & SCADA Programming. For Wireless Communication – Point to Point & Point to Multipoint, he is Netronics Certified System Specialist. He has worked for different industries such as infrastructure, hospitality, airport, oil & gas.

Paris Stavrianidis is general manager of FM Approvals, a member of the FM Global group. Named to the position in December 2001, Stavrianidis had most recently been the assistant vice president and manager of the FM Approvals electrical department since early2001, during which time he oversaw certification of equipment used in hazardous locations, detection and signaling, and reliability evaluations of PLCs. Stavrianidis served as director of risk and reliability research for the FM Global for the 5 years prior to that. He began his career with FM Global as a fire research scientist in 1987.

During his tenure with FM Global, Stavrianidis has led as well as participated in several committees for the Instrument Society of America, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Electrotechical Commission (IEC), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He chaired ASME’s Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis Division from 1999 to 2000, and served on the editorial board of the Reliability Engineering and System Safety Journal from 1995 to 1997. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is currently on the Board of directors of the International Fire Sprinkler Association (IFSA), and a member of the United States National Council of IEC. He has authored over 30 research reports and has published 25 technical papers in national and international journals.

Stavrianidis completed both undergraduate and graduate work at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., USA, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering.

Ms. Rashid-Sumar has over 15 years of experience in building and fire code consulting, fire dynamics, timed egress modeling, and performance based design. Since graduating with a B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland, she has performed fire protection evaluations, prepared fire and life safety strategies and design specifications, fire alarm system design, and other engineering analyses and studies.

As a registered Professional Engineer in the United States, she has worked on a multitude of projects including government facilities, hospitals and medical centers, airport terminals, museums, high-rise buildings, hotels, shopping malls, and many special use facilities.

Ms. Rashid-Sumar was Vice President of Middle East Operations for Rolf Jensen & Associates in Dubai prior to joining Aon Fire Protection Engineering in 2014 as Director of Business Development for the Middle East and Project Manager and has continued in this role following the acquisition of Aon Fire Protection Engineering by Jensen Hughes in April 2016.

Shamim was instrumental in establishing and currently serves as President of the UAE International Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). She is also an NFPA 101 International Instructor, a member of the UAE Code Committee, and a member of the SFPE International Committee on Membership and Chapters Relations.

Gilles Vandevoorde is the General Manager for Building Sciences at Intertek for the GCC markets. Gilles holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a 22 plus year veteran of the construction industry. He is a glass expert and has worked in all aspects of the building envelope sector. His previous work ranges from designing and selling aluminum and glass for facades, directing an aluminum contracting company and managing a glass manufacturing float plant in KSA. His focus is on the construction industry providing facade consulting and enclosure commissioning, third party design reviews, field testing, mock-up testing, tender assessments, facade dispute resolution, technical risk assessment and failure investigation/expert witness services. Gilles is widely traveled and understand the different requirements from European and American construction codes and standards.

David has studied Applied Science, (Fire Technology at Swinburne University, Australia), Fire Engineering with the Institute of Fire Engineers London and Advanced Project Management. He has worked in various roles over the past 26 years, the last 6 being in the Middle East.

These include.

• Civil Defence
• Project Management / Construction Supervision Consultancy
• Independent Third Party Inspection
• Fire Safety Consulting
• Insurance Risk Assessment
• Products Fire Testing and Certification

His current role involves managing the Fire Testing Laboratory, the Product Certification Division and the Third Party Fire Inspections Division, including the UKAS & IAS accreditation.

David’s past projects include airports, museums, government facilities, hospitals, high-rise, hotels & hospitality, education, entertainment complexes, stadia, shopping malls, industrial / manufacturing and mixed use facilities.

Anas A. Alzaid is the General Director of Safety and Security in the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia. He has more than 25 years of experience in Healthcare Facilities Management and safety

He holds Consultant Engineer level from the Saudi Counsel of Engineers (SCE). He is certified Facilities Management and Safety surveyor by CBAHI/ Accreditation Canada, Certified Arbitrator from Ministry of Justice, member of NFPA, IEEE, and Chicago AHA. Moreover, he has published articles in Journals and local magazines.

Mr. Alzaid received Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals in 1990. Then he received a Master Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from King Saud University in 1999.

onathan J. Gonzalez is UL’s Project Engineer for Middle East, Jonathan is responsible for the region’s Engineering and technical execution for the Building and Life Safety Division.

Jonathan’s experience started as a Product Safety Engineer in Fire Protection for Building Materials and Systems at Underwriters Laboratories’ Global Headquarters in Northbrook Chicago, USA and has been in the life safety industry since. He has been involved in numerous certifications projects, while working with international, building and certification standards. He holds a Bachelors in Construction Engineering from North Dakota State University and has recently moved to the Middle East region to UL’s regional headquarters in Dubai.

Mr. Ali has been in the fire protection engineering field in the Middle East for over 15 years, after completing his Master's thesis in Fire Risk Analysis, combining site inspection and code compliance with computer modeling analysis. Since graduating with a Master of Science in Fire Protection Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, he has been involved in a vast range of projects including hospitals, airports, retail development complexes, residential buildings, offices, schools, sports stadiums, theatres, industrial plants and high-rise and super tall buildings. He has also been involved with training authorities having jurisdiction, clients and architects, most recently as an NFPA 101 international instructor.

Prior to moving to the fire protection consulting industry, Mr. Ali’s work experience includes five years as a building regulator with Dubai Municipality’s Building Department, where he served on the technical committee for the accreditation of third-party inspectors, as well as four years as a fire engineer with Abu Dhabi Civil Defense, where he was a Senior Member and Coordinator of the Technical Committee that developed the original UAE fire code.

Tony Cole has 28 years of experience in fire protection ranging from firefighting to engineering and design. Currently, Tony is the Technical Director for Aman Fire Engineering Consultants located in Muscat, Oman. Prior to that, Tony was an Assistant Professor of Fire Protection Engineering Technology at Eastern Kentucky University where he still teaches in an Adjunct Professor role. Additional positions include Senior Fire Protection Engineer with the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), a Fire Protection Engineer with Rolf Jensen and Associates, Fire Chief/Senior Fire Engineer for the Saudi Iron and Steel Company, and a Loss Prevention Engineer with FM Global. Tony started his fire career as both a paid and volunteer firefighter in Ohio, he continued on several volunteer fire departments in Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri.

Tony earned a B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering Technology from Eastern Kentucky University and a M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He also serves on NFPA technical committees for NFPA 13 and NFPA 30 and is on the Board of Directors for the NFPA/CFPS certification. Tony is a license Professional Engineer (P.E.), a Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) and a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator/Instructor (CFEI/CFII), and is a member of SFPE, NFPA, NAFI, and IFE.

In addition to fire protection and safety engineering, Mr. Bychowski enjoys ultra-marathon running, open water swimming, mountaineering, rock climbing, triathlon, adventure racing, scuba diving, snowboarding, cross country skiing, and most any other outdoor activity. He has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, run across the Grand Canyon and swam in the English Channel.

Wail is the founder and managing director of Aman Fire Engineering Consultants (Aman FEC). His extensive background in fire protection engineering spans over 10 years’ including building and fire code development, code consulting, and passive fire protection and specifications.

Wail has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Sultan Qaboos University and a Master’s of Fire Safety Engineering from the University of Central Lancashire.

His primary specialties include fire protection and life safety engineering and consulting, performance of site fire and life safety audits and surveys, project meetings with clients and authorities having jurisdiction, preparation of fire strategy reports, review of fire protection system designs, project management, and participation in business development activities.

Since graduating from the Fire Safety course at the University of Central Lancashire in 2001 Robert has undertaken a variety of roles within the Fire Safety Industry. He started his career with AkerKvaener carrying out fire protection system designs for Petro-Chemical and Pharmaceutical facilities before moving to International Fire Consultants Limited (IFC). Whilst working for IFC he gained extensive experience in managing and witnessing Fire Resistance Tests, undertaking Fire Risk Assessments and preparing Fire Safety Strategies and Fire Engineering Solutions for a variety of building types. Whilst working for IFC he also completed a Masters in Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Ulster.

In 2007 Robert moved to Dubai and joined Buro Happold as a design engineer working on large mixed use / high rise developments in the ME region. In 2009 he was awarded Chartered Engineer status with the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) and qualified through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as one of their Certified Fire Protection Specialists (CFPS).

At the start of 2010 Robert started working as an independent fire safety specialist for several high profile clients in Saudi Arabia including the Planning and Development authority for Riyadh (Arriyadh Development Authority) as their fire safety advisor. After one year Robert returned to Dubai and joined WSP Middle East.

Specialties: Fire Engineering Solutions, Fire Safety Strategies, Liaison with Local Authorities in the Middle East, Fire Risk Assessments, Fire Safety Management, Fire Resistance Testing.