Simona Dossi

“What helped was to ask for help when needed and to continue progressing slowly even when unsure of how to move forward”

I am a second year PhD student in the Leverhulme Centre. My research project is in fire safety engineering, specifically on hardening buildings located near wildlands to better resist fire ignition.

I am based in the Mechanical Engineering department at Imperial College London, in the Hazelab research group. Our group’s research covers wildfires, façade fires, timber building fires and smouldering peat fires, and looks at their ignition, spread, and impact mechanisms.

Studying wildfires is interesting and motivating. There is a strong need and passion in improving wildfire understanding and management. I have noticed a lot of exposure to new topics and of eagerness in collaborating. This is especially good because fire science is so diverse, in terms of disciplines and of world areas involved.

A challenge I faced starting this project was that because I had never studied or experienced wildfires, starting to get to know this large and complex topic felt difficult. What helped was to ask for help when needed and to continue progressing slowly even when unsure of how to move forward.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Simona Dossi is a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Imperial College London

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