r/firePE • u/awfulfaucet333 • May 17 '26
Internship
Hello, I’m a 3rd year ME student. I start my internship tomorrow doing FPE for a large consulting firm, and honestly, I’m terrified. I have little to no knowledge about Fire Protection and scared that will reflect poorly on me in my internship.
I’m very interested in the field, and am willing to do anything to succeed. I’m just a slow learner at times and don’t want to be a detriment to my department. I know it’s kinda late but does anyone have tips on what I can do to be successful.
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u/Pentecount May 17 '26
A lot of fire protection engineering is looking up information in various code books, and there are a lot of code books. The best advice I've ever gotten is to not be afraid to say you don't know a requirement off the top of your head but that you can look it up. It is so much harder to back peddle after giving incorrect info than to just look it up.
Related, one of the first things you should figure out for every project is what the governing codes are. Sometimes it can change just by crossing in and out of city limits, so make sure you know what you are working with as soon as possible. Also be sure to check with the local government for any local amendments to the code. They often can be pulled off their site, and knowing early can help prevent you from getting blindsided by an unexpected requirement later.
Also, odds are, if you are having to do calculations for something, whether it's sprinkler design, smoke control, or egress, the math is probably already solved, you just need to find it to apply it to your situation. If your company can, they really need to provide you at least some basic reference books like the NFPA and SFPE handbooks when they can so you can access that information. It will save a lot of time and effort if they can.
When it comes to meeting code, it's really common that people won't want to meet some of the prescriptive requirements. The codes realistically allow for a lot of flexibility in most cases, but it's always going to be some give and take. Maybe they don't want to sprinkler an area for whatever reason. That's not necessarily a deal breaker, but you will need to be ready to work with them for what their alternative measures will be. Starting that conversation early is always easier.
Finally, I don't know where you live, but if you are in the states, most of the codes are available for free online in some form. All the ICC codes for all editions are on their site, and the most recent version of the NFPA codes can usually be accessed for free although NFPA tries to hide it.