The New York Metro Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers began its 56th year in September 2008. The chapter year runs through June 2009 with technical presentations at meetings and events to reinforce our commitment to:

• Promote the advancement of the science and practice of Fire Protection Engineering
• Maintain a high ethical standard among our members
• Foster Fire Protection Engineering education

Our monthly chapter meetings are held at NYU Midtown, in the Gural meeting room on the 4th floor, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, NY. The Gural room overlooks the beautiful Bryant Park and the adjacent New York Public Library. 

Since September we’ve held three chapter meetings which featured 2 technical presentations by guest speakers, and a November field trip to Victaulic. In September guest speaker Peter Willse of XL GAPS presented High Velocity Low Speed Fans and Sprinkler Design. In October Dominic Kasmauskas of National Fire Sprinkler Association presented LEED Certification and Fire Protection. Our November meeting was actually a full day at Victaulic in Easton, PA where our chapter was introduced to Vortex, a hybrid suppression system – combined water mist/ nitrogen. The presentation was followed by a plant tour, lunch, and then 2 fire tests demonstrating Vortex at Victaulic’s Edison facility. As you can see our goal is to plan meetings that update our membership on the latest advances in the fire protection Industry. We thank all who contributed to a successful year thus far.

Now we are in the process of planning our Winter - Spring 2009 meeting presentations. In January we plan to hold our traditional combined meeting at the FDNY Fire Museum with the Fire Safety Directors. Topics being planned for the February through May meetings are: NFPA 13 update; Early fire detection design; NYC Special Inspection Requirements; NFPA 30 update. Other relevant alternative topics are also being discussed. 

Other upcoming chapter items of interest are the joint NY/NJ Golf outing held each June. All proceeds from the golf outing are deposited into the James R. O’Neil/W. Robert Powers Memorial Joint Scholarship Fund, which is given to local students of fire protection engineering who are enrolled in bachelors or masters programs at approved universities. 

In October 2008, our chapter was presented with the SFPE Silver Chapter Excellence Award by SFPE National at their Senate meeting in Charlotte, NC. Past-President Joe Razza and current Vice President Zygmunt Staszewski accepted the award on behalf of the NY chapter. Congratulations to Past-President Bella Treyger and her board of directors and contributing chapter members for this achievement. We are honored to receive this award and we thank Bella, the board and active members for their dedicated service to our chapter.

I look forward to your participation and suggestions to continue improving our Chapter. Please feel free to contact me anytime with your thoughts or comments.

Jeffrey J. Kroutil
President 2008/2009
New York Metro Chapter
Society of Fire Protection Engineers