Proposal Deadline: March 13, 2015

SFPE International is now accepting educational presentation abstracts for its two-day North America Conference & Expo: Freedom to Design. The conference will showcase advanced and cutting-edge practices in fire protection engineering that are used to protect people, property and the environment from fire.

We invite you to share your knowledge with your peers on the advances in fire protection engineering as a presenter, November 9 - 11, 2015 at the Loews Hotel, Philadelphia, PA. Presentations must be noncommercial in nature with no specific brand names mentioned. The 2015 Conference Program Committee, co-chaired by Michael Madden & Michael Venneri, will review all abstracts and make final speaker selections based on level of innovation, quality, relevance, focus, practical application, and timeliness.

Deadline for abstract submission is March 13, 2015. For more information and guidelines, please click here. Completed abstracts should be sent to Melissa Franco and include “2015 SFPE Conference & Expo” in the subject line of the email.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Melissa Franco, Marketing & Meetings Manager, at mfranco@sfpe.org or 301-915-9724.

Proposal Deadline: 13 February 2015

SFPE International is now accepting presentation abstracts for its two-day European Conference held in Copenhagen, 4-5 June 2015. The conference will showcase advanced and cutting-edge practices in fire protection engineering that are used to protect people, property and the environment from fire.

We invite you to share your knowledge with your peers on the advances in fire protection engineering as a presenter. Presentations must be noncommercial in nature with no specific brand names mentioned. The 2015 Conference Program Committee will review all abstracts and make final speaker selections based on level of innovation, quality, relevance, focus, practical application, and timeliness. More information can be found in the attached document.

Deadline for abstract submission is 13 February 2015. Complete the abstract guidelines form here. Completed form should be sent to Melissa Franco and include “2015 SFPE Europe Conference” in the subject line of the email.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Melissa Franco, Marketing & Meetings Manager, at mfranco@sfpe.org or 301-915-9724.

TORONTO, Ontario -- On December 9th, 2014, the Southern Ontario Chapter recognized their newest Past-President and their Corporate Members prior to their Lunch & Learn event. They also made a sizable contribution to the Thomas Chiang Memorial Award.

The Chapter was delighted to recognize Edward Koe for his many years of involvement on the Chapter's Executive Committee and his contributions to the Chapter. "We are pleased to continue to have the opportunity to work with Ed in his roll on the committee as our Past-President" said Melinda Amador, Chapter President. Ed was awarded with a commemorative SFPE President’s Pin and a plaque recognizing his contributions the Chapter. Thank you Ed!

The Chapter also took the opportunity to thank their eighteen Corporate Members for their continuous support towards promoting the fire protection engineering agenda. "It was a pleasure to honour each of our members with their certificates at our December 2014 meeting" said Paul Johnston, Membership Chair. "Without their support we wouldn't be as strong as we are today, and as Membership Chair, and on behalf of the Southern Ontario Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers Executive Board, we thank you."

Finally, the Chapter was delighted to make a significant contribution towards the Thomas Chiang Memorial Award. The contribution was made possible through the generosity of our members and guests attending the December Lunch & Learn event. Attendees of the event participated in the Chapter's annual 50/50 draw raising $130 towards the award. The winner of the draw, Domingos Lopes, went on to donate his $130 winnings to the award to bring the total contribution to the award to $260!! The Chapter has raised $435 so far this season and will match all donations received. The winners of the award, who are deserving students pursuing an education in Fire Protection, will be announced in May.

Attention Members! SFPE International’s Educational & Scientific Foundation Board of Governors makes numerous scholarships and awards available each year. The Dr. Guylène Proulx Scholarship provides at least one recipient with up to $5,000.00 annually. The scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student undertaking a research project in the field of human factors or human behaviour related to fire or emergencies.

As described on the SFPE website, Dr. Guylène Proulx was an outstanding researcher in human factors and human behavior related to fire. She received her Ph.D. in architectural planning/environmental psychology from the Université de Montréal in 1992, following which she joined the Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council Canada (NRC) to conduct research in human factors related to fire. For that research, she received international acclaim from all of the diverse interests in the fire safety community. This scholarship honors her legacy by building on the research in her chosen profession.

Application details are available at the following websites:

• http://www.sfpe.org/Portals/sfpepub/docs/foundation/App%20Information_ntb.pdf
• http://www.sfpe.org/EducationalScientificFoundation/EducationalScientificFoundation/DrGuyleneProulxOCScholarship.aspx

Applications are required to be received by December 31, 2014 to be eligible for review by the international panel.

Please consider if you or your colleagues may be eligible to apply for this scholarship, or others made available by SFPE International.

BETHESDA, Maryland -- SFPE has officially changed its logo and tagline to convey a more contemporary, bold and global image while maintaining the iconic triangle. The logo represents the new brand as it continues to attract and bring together the community of fire protection and fire safety engineers, and its allied stakeholders, around the world.

Similarly, the new tagline, Engineering A Fire Safe World, was selected as it communicates a broadening of SFPE's base worldwide, while still maintaining the emphasis on engineering.

"We are excited to launch a new logo and tagline that reflects the evolution and future of the SFPE global brand," said Carl Baldassarra, SFPE President. "The SFPE Board of Directors has spent the better part of 2014 reviewing our strategic direction and plans for the future. Rebranding with a stronger image and more inclusive messaging was needed if we are to better serve the global community and attract the next generation into the profession."

The new logo and tagline were unveiled at SFPE's Conference & Expo in Long Beach, California on October 12. New logos have also been created for all of SFPE's chapters, Corporate 100 and SFPE Foundation.

The Southern Ontario Chapter is excited to begin phasing out use of the old logo as we implement the new brand and logo.

Melinda Amador attended the 2014 SFPE Conference and Expo, including the SFPE International Business Meeting, held in Long Beach from October 12-17, 2014 to represent our Chapter.

We are pleased to announce that the Southern Ontario Chapter was the recipient of a Chapter of Excellence Award, and Melinda was on-hand to receive the award on behalf of the Chapter. This is the first award for our Chapter and recognizes the efforts of our dedicated Executive Committee and the continued support and contributions from our members. Thank you to everyone for their support!

Attention Members! For your information we have attached a letter from the Fire Marshal and Chief, Emergency Management that has been prepared to remind owners and operators of vulnerable occupancies about the upcoming compliance deadlines for applicable Fire Code requirements. Please distribute this information to your colleagues.

VulnerableOccupancies17Oct2014.pdf

On June 5th, 2014 we had the pleasure of hosting our 17th Annual Charity Golf Tournament in support of The Children's Wish Foundation.

The event was held for the fourth year running at Cardinal golf course who put on another spectacular event.

Though the weather was cool, it stayed dry, and the wind may have even helped push a few balls closer to the hole, or further in to the trees, depending on who was hitting.

Our hole sponsors really came through for us, right down to the last minute, and I want to personally thank each and every one of you for stepping up to support this event. Thanks to their generous donations, as well as the Hummer cart raffle (which seemed to be helped along by the presence of a bottle of Scotch) we were able to raise $3700.00 for The Children's Wish Foundation!

I know that Ethan and his family, along with everyone at the Children's Wish Foundation sincerely appreciate the contributions that each of you have made. And we at The Society of Fire Protection Engineers - Southern Ontario Chapter, would like to thank each participant, hole sponsor, volunteer, and prize donor for continuing to support us in this event.

Attached is a Thank You letter on behalf of Children's Wish.

ChildrensWishLetter_20140829.pdf

We can't wait to see all of you again next year!

Sincerely,
Nicole LeBlanc, Intact Insurance
Golf Chair

Dear friends and avid golfers,

It's that time of year again! Registration for our 17th Annual Charity Golf Tournament is now open!

Please join us on Thursday, June 5th, 2014 for a great day of golf, food and friendship in support of The Children’s Wish Foundation.

Once again, we will be returning to the beautiful and challenging Cardinal Golf Club in Newmarket.

Here are some of the details:

• $200 for individual registration - OR - save $100 for a foursome!
• $250 for a hole sponsorship - OR - save $50 with a foursome registration!
• Great prizes!

Visit our golf page for more information.

We look forward to seeing you.

All the best,
Nicole

Nicole Leblanc
Tournament Organizer
golf@sfpesoc.com
Cell: 416-529-2465