As early career faculty,
we are trained to walk the fine line of innovative research,
but with assured success.
[radio] Rolla city fire, Rolla city fire...
Hey, I'm Victoria, and this is CAFE creative,
a video-podcast series, where I go out and talk to different instructors
who are going about teaching in online environments in new and creative ways.
As a post-doc, I worked in a virtual reality center.
And so, I got my feet wet in beginning to understand how engineering
right, works very well with virtual reality.
And how we can use computation and visualization tools,
to aid us in the design field, manufacturing, the entire lifecycle process for different systems.
And so, joining S&T gave me the opportunity to explore that idea.
Meet Dr. Benjamin Kwasa.
Assistant Professor in Engineering Management & Systems Engineering.
Dr. Kwasa has put together a research team,
that will explore how to help emergency responders like firefighters,
to conduct their traditional training operations,
in a virtual reality platform.
He believes this will eventually help firefighters not replace their current operations,
but enhance them.  While we did conduct this interview before the COVID-19 outbreak in the US,
Dr. Kwasa has confirmed to me that his team is able to move forward remotely, despite the challenges
So we reached out to the Rolla Fire Department,
both the chief and assistant chief were very gracious,
and so we started working with them,
in December of last year, December 2019.
[Eric] We got here about 10 this morning.
We did a walk-through of the building; took pictures, video.
And recorded measurements of the room, so that we could recreate it in CAD.
So we're gaining the knowledge of the building size, so we can recreate a building that we can accurately
compare to the computer model to the real world [version], so that we don't have to guess...small critiques of it
[Audrey] They're also hoping to learn how the fire expands and grows...
Hopefully, the closer we can get to real life situations that they deal with,
then the better training tool that we are providing them for them to do their work.
That translates into more effective firefighting, more effective emergency response in general,
and ultimately that's saving tax payers quite a bit of money.
...In terms of loss of property, and other events, right
If they're able to get to people who are trapped in a fire sooner,
then we are potentially reducing the health risks that are going to come as a result, right.
If we're able to provide them a safe environment where they're not constantly being exposed to these gasses
that are generated during fires, now
then we are not only then improving, right,
the longevity and health of our community members, but
more so for the firefighters themselves.
[Jeff] There's a lot of potential, and I think that part of
us partnering up today,
is to learn more on both ends.
Us [firefighters] to learn more of this technology, and I think it's a lot for Dr. Kwasa to learn
where he can improve, or what direction he needs to go, so
this is kind of more like a research & development phase right now.
[Samuel] There's a lot more to the set up than we were kind of anticipating,
We just thought they would kind of put together a building however they saw fit or what they were able to, and then
set it on fire and then go and try to put it out.
But there's really a lot of kind of planning that goes on, behind-the-scenes...
[Jeff] In the past, the fire service has always,
kind of "piggy-backed" from the mining industry, so
self-contained breathing apparatus, stuff like that, was developed in the mining industry,
and then kind of handed down to the fire service, so the
fire service is being a lot more proactive in technology and growing things they need
specifically, not just a dual purpose from another industry, but something that is specific to the fire service in general.
[Victoria] That was what was so surprising to me,
because I've never been around a fire that big, and
we were shooting, the camera was a couple feet...probably 20 feet away
and the smoke just billowed out...
And so, that was very eye opening...Because they're training in those conditions.
I think the part that struck me most is,
that's in a controlled environment.
That's when it was controlled, so you can imagine them responding to actual fires,
in buildings and apartment complexes, right
where you have other factors now, that we don't even think about...
One of the ones we discuss in the lab is the firefighter gets to train
in the structure, but there are certain elements that are difficult to train for,
that you then have to deal with.  So you're reporting to a fire on campus in the middle of the day, right.
So the parking lots are filled
with vehicles that they have to maneuver around.
You have 8 to 10,000 people walking around the campus,
You have a huge multitude of people who are present in a building as they began to evacuate, so
these are all things they have to interface with,
...How do we provide them with that type of detail?  Training platforms,
so that they can begin to think now about different elements of strategy that they usually had to come up with on the fly,
but can now be more intentional about it.
[Victoria] Dr. Kwasa's research is indeed making great progress through the on-site discoveries
his team has been able to make since March.
Speaking of team, in the next episode I got a chance to speak with Dr. Kwasa about
how he builds his team of research students,
and the unifying factor among a diverse group of majors.
For weekly interviews, you can hit that "subscribe" button,
and look for us on Spotify for the audio version.
Thanks, and I'll see you next time...
