Parsons Brinckerhoff appoints industry leading fire consultant to its transport business

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Parsons Brinckerhoff, the international engineering consultancy, has appointed leading industry specialist Dr Nicole Hoffmann, as UK Principal Fire Engineer for its transport business covering rail and road infrastructure, airports and ports.

With over 25 years in fire engineering and 15 years consultancy working for Mott MacDonald, Arup and most recently Kingfell, Dr Hoffmann brings a wealth of specialist fire engineering and risk analysis expertise to Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Her work will be predominantly focused on supporting UK activities, although she will also be a valuable resource to the company’s extensive global transport activities including its internationally recognised tunnel ventilation team.

Dr Hoffmann has been responsible for developing fire and evacuation strategies for a wide range of transport projects in the UK and internationally.

In London and the South East she has produced fire strategies for numerous London Underground projects and mainline stations including Kings Cross, Victoria, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Euston, and Blackfriars.

She also developed an integrated fire safety study for Crossrail, covering the entire sub-surface and surface line route, seven new sub-surface and 27 surface stations.

Dr Hoffmann was instrumental in the development of the industry standard STEPS model (Simulation of Transient Evacuation and Pedestrian movements) which she initially helped design and develop. The programme is capable of simulating both normal and emergency evacuation modes to allow the analysis of ‘what if’ scenarios.

Commenting on the appointment, Darren Read, Director of Rail at Parsons Brinckerhoff for Europe, Middle East and North Africa, said:

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr Nicole Hoffmann to Parsons Brinckerhoff. She brings exceptional experience and understanding of fire engineering and risk analysis which is a critical area for modern infrastructure planning, as transport systems become increasingly complex.”

Dr Hoffmann is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Mathematician. She is also a Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers (MIFireE) and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (FIMA). For the last three years, she has been a committee member for the UK Railway Industry Fire Association.

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