Field Trip: From Concept to Reality: Inside the World of Fire Protection Product Design

Field Trip: Johnson Controls Cranston, RI Training Center

Join the New England SFPE Chapter for a field trip to the Johnson Controls Cranston, RI Training Center in Cranston Rhode Island with a presentation from Manny Silva P.E, Director of Engineering and Fellow for JCI’s Fire Suppression Products business and a tour of the training center, sprinkler spray demo, and fire demo.

The agenda is the following:

12:00-12:30 Registration

12:30-1:15 Lunch

1:15-2:30 Presentation from Manny Silva on the Product Development Process

2:30-4:00 Lab Tour

Lunch will be Garden salad, Pasta or potato salad, Assorted gourmet bread & wrap sandwiches, Lay’s potato chips, and Homemade cookies & bars (please email program@sfpe-newengland.org with and dietary restrictions)

Presentation: From Concept to Reality: Inside the World of Fire Protection Product Design

Presented by: Manny Silva P.E. is the Sr. Director of Engineering and Fellow for JCI’s Fire Suppression Products

Join Manny Silva, Senior Director of Engineering at Johnson Controls Fire Protection Products, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the product development journey for fire protection products. This presentation will walk you through the entire lifecycle of a product—from initial concept to delivery on the job site. Manny will also introduce performance-based design solutions tailored for automatic storage and retrieval systems, offering insights into how innovation and safety intersect in today’s fire protection industry.

Manny Silva P.E. is the Sr. Director of Engineering and Fellow for JCI’s Fire Suppression Products business. He has over 35 years of engineering experience and for the past 24years he has developed numerous products for use in fire sprinklers systems and is named on over 50 U.S. Patents related to fire suppression devices. In his current role Mr. Silva oversees the development of new fire protection products as well as the maintenance and improvement of existing products. He is a member of the NFPA 13, 25, and 1910 Technical Committees, the SFPE Educational and Scientific Foundation Board of Governors, UL Technical Committees 47, 199, and 2901, the NFSA Engineering and Standards committee, and the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO Technical Committee 21, Sub-Committee 5.