Ryan Falkenstein-Smith is a mechanical engineer in the Firefighting Technology Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Falkenstein-Smith received his doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Syracuse University for his research on high-temperature membranes for oxyfuel combustion. As a NIST postdoctoral fellow, he created model validation datasets of pool fire characteristics to support the International Association of Fire Safety Science’s Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena (MaCFP) Working Group. His current research focuses on designing technology for smart firefighting, including gas extractive devices for predicting backdraft and non-invasive analytical tools to improve situational awareness.