Muhammad Usama Niaz

Fire Consultant

Usama is a passionate fire engineer with a master’s degree in fire safety and more than 5 years of experience in UAE and internationally. 

Usama has expertise in fire code consultancy in UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice, NFPA 101, International Building Code and Saudi Building Code. He is also knowledgeable in NFPA 130 and European Rail system standards and proficient in fire and egress modelling.   

Rahul Rawat

Fire Consultant

Rahul has over 11 years of experience in fire life safety, fire protection, inspections, and testing. 

He specialises in performance-based design for fire protection systems. He is conversant in UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice as well as NFPA, Saudi Building Code & National Building Code of India.

Abdulkadir Omar

Project Consultant

Omar is a professional engineer and specializes in fire code consulting. His vast experience includes industrial, residential, and commercial fire safety plans, emergency procedure signage, emergency response and hazard awareness training, fire extinguisher training.  Omar has worked on projects in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon.

Nikhat Mustafa

Fire Consultant

Nikhat has expertise in fire safety consultancy working with local and international codes such as NFPA, IBC, UAE Fire Code & Saudi Building Code.

With a background in architecture, she is involved in developing fire life safety strategies in 2D and 3D BIM.  She also conducts site audits and undertakes fire risk assessments providing mitigation measures to achieve adequate levels of fire life safety.

Jabir Jamal

Senior Fire Consultant

Jabir is a fire safety engineer with over five years of consulting experience on large-scale projects in Australia and Middle East. He specialises in rail tunnels, road tunnels, stadiums, and high-rise commercial buildings. 

He is a competent user of the widely used standard fire engineering software packages such as FDS, Pyrosim, Pathfinder, C-Fast and B-Risk.

Thales Martelo

Project Consultant

Thales holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Industrial Engineering from Candido Mendes University, Brazil, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acsenda School of Management, British Columbia, Canada.

Thales has worked on various projects across British Columbia, from identifying building code design options, developing alternative solutions, to performing third-party reviews of architectural and engineering drawings for multi-family residential and mixed-use buildings for compliance with Division B, Part 3 of local codes.

Nicole Cocks

Project Engineer – Australia

Nicole is a Senior Fire Safety Engineer with more than 13 years of engineering experience. She leverages strong technical and management skills including stakeholder engagement and communication, and inter-disciplinary collaboration to deliver optimally tailored client outcomes with a focus on cost effectiveness, and protection of human life. 

With her strong understanding of the Australian Building Code, for application within the ACT and NSW regulatory environments, she develops client-focused performance solutions, reports and advice through a holistic approach to fire and life safety. Nicole has a strong track record of delivery across construction, infrastructure, and restoration projects in the Canberra region, and has contributed engineering expertise to projects including local schools, industrial facilities, and Iconic Canberra buildings.

Elizabeth Johnson

Project Manager – Australia

Elizabeth is an experienced Project Manager and seasoned Administration Officer with over ten years of experience spanning across the Music, Health, Consulting, Fire Engineering and Food Industries. She specializes in creating and implementing processes for administration, project management and QMS allowing businesses to streamline processes and to focus on their clients.

Elizabeth is adept at project management, travel management, maintaining databases, billing and finance processes, overseeing branding and document review along with organizing large-scale meetings and workshops along with managing third-party vendors. As a highly self-motivated individual and team leader, she is skilled at multi-tasking and maintaining a strong attention to detail whilst demonstrating professionalism and high communication skills to meet both client and company needs. 

After creating and implementing a new project management system, Elizabeth has been instrumental in developing further processes to create greater efficiencies in-house allowing our Engineers more time to focus on their clients and to easily track the progress of projects.

Brad Robson

Project Engineer – Australia

Brad has consulted on a wide range of projects within New South Wales and the ACT. Brad has experience in performance based building code design and consultation as well as passive fire inspections. Brad builds his relationship with clients to understand their project needs as well as value add to ensure the buildings construction and life safety is to the best achievable. Brad has completed hundreds of performance based designs on a wide range of projects such as infrastructure, assembly, residential, commercial, industrial as well as high-rise buildings throughout the ACT and NSW.
Brad has an in-depth understanding and proven experience with the application of local and international codes and standards to suite his clients needs.

Chris Joseph

Project Engineer – Australia

Christopher is a recent graduate from the Australian National University in Canberra, receiving degrees in Engineering and Business Administration.

Christopher began his work in Fire Safety Engineering as a student with Ignis Solutions, and after graduating, he then joined Ignis Solutions as a full-time Graduate Engineer.

His experience on projects from fire engineered solutions, product code compliance and advice, to bushfire compliance and fire testing, has allowed him to work on multiple large projects ranging from theatres, shopping centres and multistorey residential developments under the guidance of the Senior Engineers within Ignis Solutions. 

Through his knowledge in the systems engineering approach, data analysis and project management, Christopher provides strong support in developing performance-based fire engineering solutions and communicating with stakeholders.

Benjamin Hughes-Brown

Director – Australia

Benjamin is a well-known and respected fire safety engineer in Australia known for his work on occupant life safety
studies, design and application of fire safety systems for occupant life protection as well as establishing Australia’s first multi-function private fire safety testing and research facility.
Benjamin specialises in working with product manufacturers to establish their materials compliance with the Building
Code of Australia. Benjamin is a proactive engineer with good communication skills and an awareness of the importance of cost effective designs to achieve the required fire and life safety outcomes across a range of engineering projects. Benjamin has experience in communicating fire engineering issues to authorities, fire engineers, principle certifying authorities and design teams. Benjamin displays a high level of commitment to his projects and the clients, who have been impressed with his prompt follow-up and feedback on the relevant issues.

Mahmoud Ehab

Fire Consultant

Mahmoud is a graduate engineer with background in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computational Mathematics. He has been involved in preparation of fire life safety strategies of buildings to UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice and NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. He has previous experience in MEP as a site engineer, an MEP coordinator, and a project engineer. He is fluent in Arabic and English

Sheik Salahudeen

Senior Fire Consultant

Salahudeen has over 15 years’ experience in the Middle East and India.  His experience ranges from design, presentation, to execution and specification of several large-scale projects. 

Salahudeen’s expertise includes coordination of architectural design with MEP systems and building fire codes as per the project requirements.  He has been involved in the preparation of fire life safety drawings as per the local AHJ requirements.

Sheik Ibrahim

Senior Fire Consultant

Ibrahim is an Electrical Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in the construction industry in the Middle East and India. 

He has been involved in the design and execution of numerous projects in accordance with local and international codes and standards.

Oprite Bobmanuel 

Project Consultant

Oprite has over 2 years’ experience specializing in structural engineering. Having worked on projects across Nigeria, her experience ranges from analysing and designing reinforced concrete (residential, industrial and commercial developments) in accordance with the building code, retrofitting and rehabilitation of existing structures.

Heather Austin

Project Consultant

Heather has over 10 years’ experience specializing in fire protection engineering technology, building code and fire code consulting.  Having worked on projects across Canada, her experience ranges from building reviews and building condition assessments to code interpretation for alternative solutions.  

Armando Jr. Custado

Fire Consultant

Armando has more than 10 years of experience in drafting and designing fire life safety systems as per standards and local authority requirements. His experience includes airport, mixed-use buildings, hotels, commercial, schools, industrial and residential developments. 

Ashhad Siddiqui

Finance Manager

Ashhad has more than 13 years of diversified professional experience in finance, accounting and audit in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. 

His experience has included working across various industries and Big4 accounting firms.

His area of expertise is corporate finance, operational finance, financial reporting, budgeting, treasury and P&L management.

Yolybeth Doropan

Senior Fire Consultant

Yolybeth has more than 13 years of professional experience in passive fire applications and internal inspections in the Middle East and internationally. 

Her experience has included hospitals, hotels and airports for gap analysis, inspection and testing & commissioning of passive fire protection systems. 

Her area of expertise is undertaking inspections of passive fire protection systems as per local AHJ requirements. This includes reviews and approvals of details prior to application onsite, advising clients and liaising with the client and project team for site issues.

Arstella Joy Silva

Executive Assistant

Arstella Joy is a qualified Executive Assistant with over ten years of experience in Administration and Finance industry. She specialises in building client and vendor databases, billing & finance processes, preparing reports, standard documentation and managing front desk and other office operations. She is dedicated, resourceful and team player who is willing to work above and beyond the call of duty.
Arstella has been instrumental in developing and maintaining the Vortex’s ISO 9001 certification and ISO 17020 accreditation. She is one of the qualified auditors and responsible for ensuring Vortex’s Integrated Management Systems is being implemented.

• Certified Office Administrator (American Certification Institute)
• Computer System Technology (Japan School of Advance Technology, Philippines)
• Certified Office Administrator (Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai)
• ISO QMS 9001:2015 Foundation Training (Bureau Veritas, Dubai)
• ISO QMS 9001:2015 Internal Auditor Training ( Bureau Veritas, Dubai)

Firoz Khan

Fire Consultant

Firoz is a civil engineer with almost 14 years of design and drafting experience in UAE, Qatar and India including BIM. He has undertaken drafting works for several large-scale mixed-use buildings, commercial offices, healthcare, shopping malls, and residential developments to meet international and internal CAD standards.
Firoz is also knowledgeable in UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice, NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000 codes. He has been involved in design reviews of several buildings and preparation of fire strategy drawings.

• Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering, (Ram Manohar Lohia University India)
• Diploma in Civil Engineering, (Luna Institute, Kerala, India)
• AutoCAD (Autodesk)
• Revit MEP (Autodesk)

Abdalla A. F. Lozon

Fire Consultant

Abdalla is a mechanical engineer and conversant in UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice as well as NFPA 101, NFPA 5000, GCC Code, Saudi Building Code, etc. He has been developing fire strategies for complex projects within the UAE and Middle East in addition to undertaking inspections of passive fire protection systems as per Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) requirements.
Abdalla is also fluent in both English and Arabic languages and has been liaising with local Authorities to obtain building approvals. He is also familiar with AutoCAD and has been involved in drafting of fire strategy drawings for numerous projects.

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, American University of Sharjah, UAE
• NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, National Fire Protection Association, USA

Padmanabhan Kaushik

Senior Fire Consultant

Kaushik is a mechanical engineer who has over 13 years of experience in the field of fire protection systems. He has worked in a wide variety of projects including residential buildings, mixed use developments, office buildings, hospitals, airports, aircraft hangars, automobile plants, warehouses, food industry and, oil & gas plants.
Kaushik has in-depth knowledge on international and local codes and standards such as NFPA, IBC, NBC, SBC and UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice. He specialises in façade fire assessments, fire protection engineering and building fire & life safety code consulting.

• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering), Visveswaraya Technological University, India
• NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS)
• Certified Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) & Abu Dhabi Civil Defence (ADCD)
• House of Expertise (HOE) fire consultant

Gopi Kannan

Fire Consultant

Gopi is an electrical engineer with 18 years’ experience in the construction industry in UAE and India. He has expertise fire protection design of complex projects, review of workshop documentation and material submittals including final inspection and witnessing testing and commissioning of fire safety systems.
Gopi is familiar with NFPA codes and standards as well as UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice. He has been involved in several projects developing fire safety strategies, occupant load calculations, egress analysis, design reviews and preparation of fire strategy reports and drawings.

• Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (First Class), Manonmanium Sundaranar University, India, 2002
• NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, National Fire Protection Association, USA

Faimeen F. Shah

Managing Director

A Chartered Professional Engineer (Fire Safety) and Fellow with The Institution of Engineers Australia, Faimeen has been in the fire safety industry for over 20 years, offering his expertise in fire safety consultancy, complex fire engineering analysis and project execution.
Having previously worked with reputable multi-disciplinary engineering consultancies and fire testing organisations, Faimeen is currently the Managing Director and founder of Vortex Fire.
Faimeen helps developers and designers to prepare bespoke fire safety strategies to enhance life safety, protect property, improve business continuity, and reduce environmental impact. He contributes to many standards code committees such as NFPA, SFPE and ASTM.

• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering), University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Master of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering), University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Master of Fire Safety Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Australia
• Life safety code with focus on occupancies, National Fire Protection Association, USA
• Accredited certifier program, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
• Strategic leadership & service excellence, University of Melbourne, Australia

Jay A. Puno

Senior Fire Consultant

Jay has more than 15 years of professional experience in fire safety consultancy and inspection in the UAE, Qatar and KSA.
His experience has included commercial offices, residential buildings, malls, hospitals, hotels, warehouse, rail and airports projects.
He is an experienced fire consultant with thorough knowledge of international and local codes and standards such as NFPA, IBC, SBC, ASTM and UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice. He specialises in passive and active fire protection systems; façade fire inspections; witnessing testing and commissioning of fire safety systems.

• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering), Cebu Institute of Technology, Philippines
• Certified Firestop Specialist in Passive Fire Protection (UL/FM Standard)
• FCIA Special inspection for Firestop Systems
• FCIA Protecting of Perimeter
• FCIA Barrier Management System – New Construction to Existing Buildings

Ahamed Thoufeeq

Principal Fire Consultant

Thoufeeq is a mechanical engineer with around 17 years of fire protection systems engineering experience. He has experience working in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and UAE on many complex projects such as airports, power plants, commercial offices and residential buildings, malls and warehouses.
He is an experienced design engineer with a thorough knowledge of international and local codes and standards such as NFPA, SBC, IBC and UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice. Thoufeeq develops practical and cost-effective fire protection system designs which add value during project execution and life of the building.

• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering), Madurai Kamaraj University, India
• NFPA 13: Installation of Sprinkler Systems, National Fire Protection Association, USA
• NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signalling Code, National Fire Protection Association, USA
• NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, National Fire Protection Association, USA
• NFPA 92: Standard for Smoke Control Systems, National Fire Protection Association, USA

Tom J. Wood

Principal Fire Consultant

Tom is a Fire Engineering working professional with over 10 years working experience, and over 6 years based in the Middle East. His experience has included airports, rail, commercial offices and residential buildings, malls and warehouses.
He is an experienced fire consultant with a thorough knowledge of NFPA, SBC, IBC, EN and British codes and standards. He develops practical and cost-effective fire safety strategies and alternative fire engineered solutions using relevant guidance and present these to Authorities for final approval.

• Bachelor of Engineering – Fire and Explosion (2:1) University of Leeds, UK
• NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, National Fire Protection Association, USA
• Associate Member of Institute of Fire Engineers (AIFireE)
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) under process

Jack Keays

Principal – Canada
Professional Engineer

Jack is an accomplished fire safety engineer, building code expert and mass timber innovator with extensive project experience in Canada, Singapore, Middle East, and North Africa.

Jack has advanced analytical skills with the ability to recognize and address fire safety challenges while developing practical engineering solutions.

With each project, Jack engages both internal and external stakeholders in constructive and collaborative relationships. Jack brings value to each project by taking a holistic approach to fire and life safety and by working closely with a cross section of disciplines to deliver optimal solutions.

• Master of Science, Fire Safety Engineering, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, 2007
• Bachelor of Science, Manufacturing Systems, University of Limerick, Ireland

Sarah Curl

Toronto Lead
Professional Engineer

Sarah is a skilled engineer with over 20 years’ experience across Canada, specializing in fire and building code consulting. Her expertise at problem solving using alternative solutions is helping clients succeed in their specified project goals.

Sarah provides building and fire code consulting services from conceptual design through to construction completion.

With each project, Sarah helps by transforming building code requirements into valuable design approaches to prescriptive building and fire code requirements.

• Masters Certificate in Project Management, Gardiner Centre (through York University), St. John’s, NL, Canada
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

Samuel A. Boadi

Project Consultant

Samuel is a talented civil engineer, who specializes in building code consulting and fire safety engineering.

Over the years, Samuel has worked on various multi-disciplinary projects, providing building code assessments, conducting life safety audits, and completing third-party reviews for various industries such as healthcare, commercial, industrial, institutional, residential, and highly hazard facilities.

Samuel adds significant value through all stages of projects; he assists design teams with the planning of fire and life safety considerations for proposed design options.

• Master of Applied Science, Civil Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
• Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana
• Certified in Fire Evacuation Design, Lund University, Sweden

Hiren Patel

Project Consultant

Hiren is a fire and safety engineer who uses his methodical understanding of the Building Code to guide the project team to achieving the design intent.

Hiren adds significant value to projects with his expertise in fire and explosion engineering.

Hiren is committed to delivering a code compliant design by identifying smart alternative approaches while ensuring building permit approvals.

• Master of Science, Fire & Explosion Engineering, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
• Bachelor of Science, Fire & Safety, Gujarat University, India

Nishant Verma

Project Consultant

Nishant is a civil engineer who specializes in projects with performance-based structural analysis of various steel, concrete, masonry, and wood structures; he possesses strong analytical skills and specializes in Structural Fire Design.

Nishant assists design teams with the planning, fire, and life safety considerations of proposed design options. His project experience includes identifying building code design options, developing alternative solutions, and coordinating with the design teams.

• Master of Science, Civil Engineering, Lakehead University, Canada
• Bachelor of Technology, Civil Engineering, M.D.U Rohtak, India

Alina Nathan

Marketing Specialist

 Alina is a marketing specialist who focuses on developing and delivering the responses to requests for proposals and managing the firm’s marketing functions, both traditional and digital.

Alina adds value to both internal and external stakeholders, with her vast experience in marketing and an in-depth knowledge of real estate development.

• Bachelor of Administration Studies, Honours Degree Marketing, York University, Toronto, Canada
• Certificate Digital Marketing, Camp Tech, Toronto, Canada

Ishraat Masood

Project Consultant
Professional Engineer

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Biosystems – Specialization: Sustainable Building Systems),              University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada
• Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Professional Engineer

Danielle LaFleche

Financial Controller

Danielle has been providing executive administrative support for the past 12 years, while focusing on maximizing business performance through creating and maintaining strategic operating procedures.

With an educational background in Business & Administrative Studies and a keen detail for numbers, she holds several years of experience in a variety of finance roles. Danielle specializes in billing procedures, payroll, job costing & account management.

• Business & Administrative Studies, Certificate with Honours, The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• Canadian Certified Administrative Professional Designation Program, CCAP – Association of Administrative Professionals – Canada