WJE's Fire Protection Practice Expands

WJE has recently expanded its fire protection practice with the hiring of four new staff members, expanding the firm’s technical capabilities and its geographic coverage to better serve client needs.

Kim Clawson, AIA, joined WJE as a senior associate in WJE's Northbrook headquarters. An architect by training and practice, Mr. Clawson is an expert in the interdisciplinary aspects of buildings, particularly the design and construction of tall and complex buildings. Those interests and skills are utilized in assisting clients resolve problems with egress, passive and active fire protection, and building code issues for projects in the United States, Middle East, Asia, and South America. Specific expertise includes code analysis, egress analysis, construction documents peer review, accessibility plan reviews, and building surveys.

Prior to joining WJE, Mr. Clawson served as senior consultant with Aon FPE/Jensen Hughes, Inc., where he provided code and fire protection engineering consulting services to a broad range of clients and project types and as director of production with Goettsch Partners, architects in Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Architecture with a bachelor of science in architectural studies and is a licensed architect in Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Mark Hayes, SET, joined WJE as a senior associate in WJE’s Dallas office, bringing thirty-five years of experience in the analysis and design of fire alarm and emergency communication systems. Mr. Hayes designs fire alarm systems for variety of projects to ensure compliance with local code requirements and provides construction administration period services for various federal, state, and local government fire alarm/fire sprinkler retrofit projects.

Prior to joining WJE, Mr. Hayes was manager of the Texas offices of Schirmer Engineering/Aon FPE and central region business development leader with Jensen Hughes, Inc.

Paul Roland, SET, joined WJE as a senior associate in WJE’s Dallas office. He is a recognized industry expert with sixteen years of experience in all areas of fire protection and life safety. Specific areas of expertise include automatic sprinkler system analysis and design, third-party smoke control system testing, hazardous materials handling and storage assessments, and fire/life safety/egress assessments.

Prior to joining WJE, Mr. Roland was a senior consultant with Schirmer Engineering/Aon FPE/Jensen Hughes Inc., and provided code and fire protection engineering consultation for a broad range of clients. Mr. Roland has an associate degree in applied sciences from Collin College.

Chen Su, P.E., joined WJE as a senior associate in WJE’s Northbrook headquarters. He is a recognized industry expert with twenty years of experience in all areas of fire protection and life safety. His expertise includes fire protection system design, hydraulic analysis, life-safety evaluation, performance-based design approaches, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fire modeling, computer egress modeling, smoke control system analysis, industrial/high-risk facility program development, site-wide water system analysis, and code consulting.

Prior to WJE, Mr. Su served as senior consultant with Schirmer Engineering/Aon FPE/Jensen Hughes, Inc. He holds a master of science in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland and is a licensed engineer in Illinois and Delaware.