RaCERS Announces Spring 2023 Seminar Schedule: Smart Buildings, Vincent Dunn, and Bob Hennelly
The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies is pleased to announce its Spring ’23 Seminar Series. This semester focused on building safety, with a series of lively and educational talks of interest to policymakers, first responders, and the code and mitigation communities. We are pleased to have three experts joining us over the course of the semester.
March 16 — We begin our series with legendary FDNY Deputy Chief, author, lecturer, and fire service leader Vincent Dunn. Vincent Dunn is among the best-known and respected chiefs actively writing, lecturing, and teaching on the subject of firefighting strategy and tactics today. In this discussion, he will review his latest book, and reflect on his career, the fire service, and culture.
His book, Skyscraper Battlespace: High-Rise Firefighting was published in late 2022.
April 11 — Smart buildings, the convergence of sensors, and traditional building systems such as HVAC, lighting, security, and alarms into an integrated network. Beyond gains in efficiency, user comfort, and more appealing living and work spaces, such technologies hold promise to revolutionize the way emergencies within buildings are detected and managed.
This talk will introduce the technology, current capabilities, and the path forward for the industry. Wea re pleased to have Maria Marks, CFPS SET from Siemens, who will address this topic. Maria Marks is an experienced fire and life safety professional who works at the forefront of technology in the building environment.
May 2 — We end our series with a free-wheeling discussion with Bob Hennelly, investigative and labor reporter well-known to New Yorkers. Bob has an unprecedented record of covering labor, regulation, and the politics behind it in New York City and beyond. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, he has always had a keen interest in the role of immigration in the evolution of the United States historically. He was national affairs correspondent for Pacifica Network News. His written work has appeared in the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Christian Science Monitor, the Miami Herald, the Detroit Free Press, and dozens of other magazines and newspapers. He has acted as a consultant/reporter for “60 Minutes” and been featured on C-Span’s “America and the Courts” as well as on C-Span’s “Washington Roundtable.”
In his talk we will touch on issues including post-Twin Peaks building safety reforms, the FDNY EMS pay gap, and the role of the press in advancing safety concerns.
Hennelly is author of Stuck Nation: Can the United States change course on our history of choosing profits over people, a critical account of America’s neglect of worker protections, safety, and health. He also hosts a weekly radio show “What’s Going On” which covers unions, labor, and politics on WBAI.
Reservations for these online events can be made here.
Link to previous events can be found on our “publications” page under “videos.”
