Fire Engineer, Reax Engineering

Maria leads the project’s user engagement with utility companies and provides research support on the Wildfire Forecasting Team. Maria’s technical specialization is in research and development of engineering solutions related to wildland fire risk and resilience. Her professional experience spans all aspects of fire protection and life safety, including projects involving energy infrastructure, residential communities, international airports, and historic preservation. She develops curated fire/life safety solutions by incorporating fire science with an evaluation of building and fire codes and related standards. Maria contributes as co-lead to a global research task force under the International Association for Fire Safety Science that aims to understand and improve response operations and evacuations in large-scale fire disasters. Before joining Reax, she worked as a fire engineer and wildfire specialist at Arup in San Francisco. Maria holds a master’s in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland and is a doctoral candidate in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley.