Ph.D. Student Cong Zhang Wins Sheldon Tieszen Student Award

Cong Zhang, a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) focusing in Fire Protection Engineering (FPE), has been selected to be a recipient of the 12th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science Sheldon Tieszen Student Award, sponsored by the International FORUM of Fire Safety Directors. Zhang was selected from a pool of 41 candidates, and will receive a certificate at a special ceremony during the Symposium, to be held in Lund, Sweden, June 12-16, 2017. At that time, Zhang will present his research paper, entitled, "Evaluation of a data-driven wildland fire spread forecast model with spatially-distributed parameter estimation in simulations of the FireFlux I field-scale experiment."

Originally from China, Zhang completed his undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing. In 2014, he started his Ph.D. program at UMD focusing on wildfire spread modeling. Post graduation, Zhang will pursue a career in the field of fire engineering computational modeling, where he can utilize the technical expertise that he has gained throughout his studies.

Zhang, advised by FPE Professor Arnaud Trouve, is on track to complete his Ph.D. in the spring of 2018.

Congratulations, Cong!

Published April 26, 2017