Ed Galea

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Ed Galea
Born
Melbourne, Australia
Alma mater Monash University
Known forFire safety engineering, evacuation modelling
Awards2001 British Computer Society Gold Medal for IT
2002 Queen's Anniversary Prize
2006 and 2017 Royal Aeronautical Society's Gold Award
2013 RINA Medal of Distinction
Scientific career
FieldsFire and evacuation modelling
Institutions University of Greenwich
Thesis  (1981)

Edwin Richard Galea is a British academic specialising in fire safety engineering and evacuation dynamics. He is the founding director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) at the University of Greenwich, where he has conducted research in fire modelling, human behaviour in emergencies, and evacuation simulation since 1986. [1] [2]

Contents

Galea has served in major public inquiries including the Paddington rail crash, Swissair Flight 111 disaster, Admiral Duncan bombing, and the Grenfell Tower fire. [3] He is also on the editorial boards of Safety Science [4] and The Aeronautical Journal. [5]

Early life and education

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Galea studied physics and mathematics at Monash University. There, he completed a Bachelor of Science in 1980 and a Diploma in Education in 1981. In 1984, he earned his PhD in astrophysics at the University of Newcastle, specialising in magnetohydrodynamics. [6]

Academic career

In 1986, Galea joined Thames Polytechnic (later the University of Greenwich), initially applying computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to study the 1985 Manchester Airport B737 fire. He became Senior Lecturer in 1988, Reader in 1991, and Professor in 1992. That same year, he founded the FSEG, a research unit focused on fire safety and evacuation modelling. [7] [8]

Research contributions

Galea led the development of simulation software such as SMARTFIRE for CFD fire modelling and EXODUS for evacuation modelling. [9] [10] These tools are used to simulate evacuations in aircraft, ships, buildings, and urban environments, contributing to the global safety practices.

Awards and honours

Galea has received several distinctions for his research:

Publications and outreach

Galea has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to documentaries and news media covering fire safety and evacuation. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Professional involvement

Galea is a Chartered Fire Safety Engineer and Chartered Mathematician. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. [19]

Personal life

Galea lives in London and has supervised over 35 PhD students. He is married and enjoys photography, astronomy, performance cars, and cinema.

References

  1. "Professor Ed Galea". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  2. "Expert Profile: Professor Ed Galea". ExpertFile. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  3. "Professor Ed Galea Biography". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  4. "Editorial board - Safety Science". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  5. "Editorial Board - The Aeronautical Journal". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  6. "LinkedIn profile: Ed Galea" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  7. "Ed Galea - Speaker" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  8. "Ed Galea Interview". The Aperiodical. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  9. "SMARTFIRE" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. "EXODUS" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  11. "Speaker File CV" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  12. "The Lessons of 9/11". Times of Malta. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  13. "Speaker File CV" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  14. "Speaker File CV" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  15. "E. R. Galea - Google Scholar" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  16. "E. R. Galea - Scopus" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  17. "Ed Galea – IMDb" . Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  18. "Inside a Flaming Jet". WSJ. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  19. "FAA Fire Safety" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2025.