Ed Galea

Professor Ed Galea is a leading academic in fire safety engineering, serving as Professor and founding director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) at the University of Greenwich. He holds visiting professorships at Ghent University and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, he earned his BSc (Hons) and Dip.Ed from Monash University, and a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Newcastle NSW. His career includes roles at BHP Research Laboratory and a postdoctoral fellowship at St Andrews University before joining the UK in 1985.

His research focuses on computational fire engineering, evacuation modeling, and fire dynamics, leading to the development of EXODUS and SMARTFIRE software tools. He advises global industries and governments on fire safety standards, contributing to IMO MSC Circulars and UK civil defense committees. He has participated in major inquiries, including the Grenfell Tower Fire, Swiss Air MD11 crash, and Paddington Rail Crash.

• Over 300 academic/professional publications
• Supervised 31 PhD and 6 MSc students
• Trained 650+ professionals via annual short courses since 1997

Awards include the Royal Aeronautical Society Hodgson Prize (1999/2002), British Computer Society Gold Medal (2001), and SFPE Jack Bono Award (2008). His work bridges academic research and real-world applications in aviation, maritime, and urban safety.