Wednesday, December 17, 2008

WPI wins $100K gift for fire science lab

By Brendan Lynch

Worcester Polytechnic Institute reports it has received a $100,000 gift to help fund a fire sciences laboratory.

Chicago-based fire-protection consultancy Rolf Jensen Associates Inc. has committed to a five-year endowment to support the project and has volunteered to spearhead fundraising, according to the school. Plans for the laboratory are still in the conceptual phase, but the facility is intended to support teaching and research programs in fire protection engineering, the school said.

WPI has had a long-standing relationship with Rolf Jensen, which also has an office in Framingham. Company COO George Toth is chairman of WPI’s fire protection engineering advisory board. The company’s founder, Rolf Jensen, was also a member of the board. After Jensen died in 2002, the company established the Rolf Jensen Memorial Fund Endowment at WPI to support the fire protection engineering program. Rolf Jensen CEO Martin Reiss has also chaired the board.

WPI offers an one-year, five-course, online graduate certificate program, for Rolf Jensen to provide recent recruits in Chicago with on-the-job training in fire protection engineering. Rolf Jensen employees can also complete an online master’s degree in fire protection engineering from WPI.

WPI is also a sponsor of the RJA Academy, which provides ongoing technical and professional learning programs in fire topics to Rolf Jensen employees worldwide.