I got accepted into the Architectural Engineering program! So I’m going to be heading to Penn State this fall! There’s this one class that I have to take and in the description it mentions “intro to fire protection systems”. It should be an easy part of the class for me! 
I’ll keep you updated on how it goes and what exact topics are covered when we hit that section. I bet there’ll also be opportunities for filming fire drills considering they’re require monthly in the residence halls. (Ouch…)
Congrats!
Thanks so much! I was at a loss of words when I found out because they only accept a limited number of students the first year. I thought I’d have to continue classes where I am at now and apply to go up for my junior year.
wow good luck
That is a very nice opportunity for you. I imagine you will be the best one, and it will bring your GPA up, unless your professor is a psycho.
he’s right it should
It would also be great if you are going to become an electrician or alarm technician.
but i dont thank that one class would get him the proper ed for the alarm tech
Definitely not qualified to be a technician! But possibly qualified to be an engineer someday! I know plenty of engineers around my area and some of them design sprinkler suppression and design fire alarm systems for certain projects. I remember shadowing my senior year at an engineering firm and I told the one engineer working in the electrical field that I’m interested in electrical systems, fire alarms and stuff like that. Not even kidding, less than 30 seconds later another guy comes to his cubicle and says “Hey we’re going to the meeting room to have a conference call with a project manager about their fire alarm system that’s being installed.” The engineer I was talking to was like “Well, there you go… you can go sit in on that meeting if you want.” :lol:
I meant if would be helpful, he would also have to take other classes.
I’m also thinking about becoming an engineer. I’m thinking about software engineering, but I do have a major interest in electrical and fire systems as well, so I might have to consider electrical engineering.
I hope that you enjoy the class that you are taking! And if you do become a fire alarm technician someday, please record the system tests that you test. :lol:
Only if there electroMechanical 
I don’t think I’ll be a technician but if I do end up designing fire alarm systems I’ll probably have to be there for commission tests. Which means I’d probably do videos. I also might be able to do videos of dorm fire drills this year… we’ll have to see! I know they do fire drills monthly in residence halls. Let the ringing of U-MMT’s begin! :?
I love U-MMT’s! They are like a second TrueAlert for people with Fire-Lite panels.
Yeah! But hopefully there’s not one in my room! Since I’m in supplemental housing, they converted a larger open area into a dorm room that houses 6-8 people, so I’m thinking it would have one. They’re really loud though. Haha! Heck, maybe they aren’t U-MMT’s depending on the building, but all the dorms I’ve toured in have them.
Good luck! A lot of times people overlook that. My vet used to be a building with two stores, then the vet bought both of the rooms, knocked out the wall in between them, and overlooked the two AS’s about 3 yards apart.
I think at most it’d only have one horn/strobe in it. Most of the dorm rooms have just have the typical smoke detector and I’m assuming it’s with a sounder base, but I can’t tell because it’s a Siemiens/CP system. How they do supplemental housing, is they take a common area on a floor, and convert it into a room to provide more space that can fit more students in the room. It’s very likely that these common areas have a horn/strobe in them but I’ve never been in a supplemental room so I can’t tell. Probably won’t be too big a deal either way but I will just have to wait and see.
You guys know me so well by now. :mrgreen:
Congratulations! Best of luck to you! I am also taking a course this fall at my local college, that can get me into the FA technician business. Its an Electrical Techniques program, and I went to the college to check out the labs, they’re pretty neat! I even saw FA panels in there, newer ones like the Simplex 4100 series, and Newer Notifier panels, and older ones such as the Edwards 2280.
Well, I got my book for this class called “Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings”
…and it’s a pretty big book! I don’t think the class is going to hit every topic in there because the course description only really mentions sustainable design, building envelope, fire protection, and a few others. There’s a whole section on fire protection systems and I’ve been skimming through it. It’s pretty neat! Even though the book was revised around 2010 it still has older information in it regarding fire alarm systems. The pictures are older too. It does hit on addressable/intelligent fire alarm systems, so it’s new enough I guess. But the fire alarm system is just a small part of the fire protection section. Likewise the fire protection system section is just a small chapter out of this book. I can’t wait to see what that class has to offer! Even though I hope we don’t go through this entire book (in one semester at least), this will be a great reference book to keep for future classes and probably my senior project.