Speakers

Dr Benjamin Ralph is Head of Fire Safety and Partner at Foster + Partners. He is a Chartered (Fire) Engineer, Chartered (Mechanical) Engineer, Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Paramount among Benjamin’s primary drivers is early and integrated conscientious fire safety design – unlocked through iterative creation, multi-objective optimisation, and risk-based engineering. He has undertaken multiple visiting research fellowships, including with the Building Research Establishment (UK) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), and led fire safety designs for projects with value up to £7 billion. Benjamin is passionate about diversity and inclusion - especially fostering the successes of people with learning differences and advocating design of spaces for all abilities and neurodiversities. He obtained his civil engineering undergraduate from the University of Southampton, fire safety engineering postgraduate from the University of Ulster, and fire science PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Benjamin is a Visiting Professor at Brunel, a published academic author, an active STEM Ambassador, a frequent guest lecturer, and sits on various committees and steering groups.