Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2009-11-04
Invested on: 2010-09-03
As a researcher with the National Research Council of Canada, Guylène Proulx won international recognition as a leader in the fire safety field. Her landmark studies on human behaviour during emergencies, smoke alarms, and photoluminescent material (PLM) emergency way-guidance systems greatly contributed to developing safer emergency evacuation strategies. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, she was invited by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to lead the scientific study on the occupants' response to the attack, and the Center's evacuation process. She served on the board of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, and was an adjunct professor at Carleton University and at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.