Prof Richard Walls is the head of the fire engineering team at Stellenbosch University, Africa’s first research team with a focus on fire engineering and structural fire design. Various fire related topics are currently being investigated, such as the design of steel structures in fire, analysis of structures in fire, forensic fire investigations, 3D printed concrete in fire, material behaviour, multi-storey timber fires and informal settlement fire behaviour. Full-scale fire tests on shacks have been conducted on around seventy homes to understand fire behaviour, spread and how to reduce the impact of such fires. Consulting work has been done for companies developing rational structural fire design systems, ascertaining the fire resistance of products, repairing fire-damaged structures (including high-profile National Key Points), forensic investigations and technical guidance on fire safety specifications. He was part of the team analysing the Knysna fire disaster, sponsored by Santam, and specifically considered why almost 1000 homes were lost in South Africa’s largest wildland fire disaster. His research has been covered by multiple newspapers, radio stations and websites. His team has developed Masters and PhD programmes in fire safety engineering. He runs postgraduate courses on structural fire engineering, fire dynamics and fire safety.

His team has published over 100 technical papers, including the first technical guideline in the world for fire safety in informal settlements. He has contributed to publications by the World Bank, United Nations and various other organisations. He led the writing of South Africa’s first infrastructure report card on fire safety infrastructure. He is an honorary fellow of the SA Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE), and member of various committees including NFPA Research Foundation, SABS technical codes, SAICE Fire Division and SFPE South Africa. He serves as a reviewer for numerous international journals including Fire Technology, Fire Safety, Fire & Materials, etc.