José Luis Torero is a Peruvian fire protection engineer and academic. He is currently the Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Torero has held leading academic and research positions in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, and is internationally recognised for his work in fire dynamics, smouldering combustion, and disaster resilience. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

, the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, the

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences was foun ...

, and the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

Career

Torero completed a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic church, being the oldest private institution of higher learning in the country. The Peru ...

and earned a PhD from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he studied smouldering combustion under the supervision of

Carlos Fernández-Pello Carlos Fernández-Pello (born in Asturias, Spain) is a faculty member of the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Mechanical Engineering. He also serves as an associate dean in the Graduate Division at Berkeley, where he oversees th ...

. His academic career includes: * Associate Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering,

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

* BRE Trust /

Chair in Fire Safety Engineering, and Director of the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering,

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(2004–2012) * Head of the School of Civil Engineering,

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

(2012–2017) * John L. Bryan Chair in Fire Protection Engineering and Director of the Center for Disaster Resilience, University of Maryland (2017–2019) * Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering,

(2019–present) He has also served as a Chargé de recherche with the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

Research

Torero's research focuses on fire dynamics, smouldering combustion, flame spread, microgravity combustion, fire suppression systems, and fire safety education. While based in Edinburgh, he developed expertise in structural behaviour in fire and combustion-based remediation of contaminated land. At the University of Queensland, Torero collaborated with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

on th
SAFFIRE
project, conducting large-scale spacecraft fire safety experiments. He also led the development of th
Cladding Materials Library
offering reliable flammability data to architects and designers. Torero was a co-founder of the IAFSS Working Group on Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena (MaCFP), which promotes fundamental fire science.

Role in Mexico forensic investigation

Torero served as a technical expert to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) during the investigation of the

Iguala mass kidnapping On September 26, 2014, forty-three male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College disappeared after being forcibly abducted in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, in what has been called one of Mexico’s most infamous human rights cases. ...

. His experimental work on open-air cremation refuted the official account provided by Mexican authorities.

Editorial roles

* Editor-in-Chief, ''

Fire Safety Journal ''Fire Safety Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on all aspects of the science and engineering of fire, fire safety, and fire protection. Topics include but are not limited to chemistry and physics of fire, fire dynam ...

'' (2010–2016) * Editorial Board Member: ''

Fire Technology ''Fire Technology'' is a peer-reviewed journal publishing scientific research dealing with fire hazards facing humans and the environment. It publishes original contributions, both theoretical and empirical, that contribute to the solution of probl ...

'', ''

Progress in Energy and Combustion Science ''Progress in Energy and Combustion Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed review journal published by Elsevier. Established in 1975, the journal publishes review articles on all aspects of energy and combustion science. All contributions are by i ...

Honours and awards

* Fellow,

(2010) * Fellow,

(2008) * Fellow,

(2014) * Fellow,

(2018) * Tam Dalyell Prize, University of Edinburgh (2010) * Lord Ezra Award, Combustion Engineering Association (2009) * Arthur B. Guise Medal,

Society of Fire Protection Engineers The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) is a professional society for fire protection engineering established in 1950 and incorporated as an independent organization in 1971. It is the professional society representing those practicing ...

(2008) * Bodycote Warrington Fire Research Prize (2007) * FM Global Award, Fire and Explosions Hazard Seminar (2007) * William M. Carey and Harry C. Bigglestone Best Paper Awards (2001)

References

External links

University of Edinburgh's Fire Safety Engineering webpage (archived)

Christmas Lecture: Prof. José Torero – ''Fire: A story of fascination, familiarity and fear''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torero, Jose L. Peruvian engineers Peruvian emigrants to the United Kingdom Fire protection Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academic staff of the University of Queensland University of Maryland, College Park faculty University College London Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales Pontifical Catholic University of Peru alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Academics from Lima