Steve KowkabanyPE
Executive Vice President, Fire Protection Engineering
Steve Kowkabany leads the fire protection engineering and life safety consulting practice area at VERTEX. Mr. Kowkabany has been a practicing engineer for over 25 years and began his career as a project engineer and process system designer in the pulp & paper, power generation, and photographic film manufacturing sectors. He transitioned into the field of fire protection after working closely with a variety of industrial fire protection systems in a manufacturing environment. In addition to his extensive experience in heavy industrial and petrochemical fire protection, Mr. Kowkabany has considerable experience in the arenas of residential, military, and commercial fire protection, and has designed fire protection systems for over 500 facilities, as well as provided expert witness and third-party review services for a wide variety of complex projects. Mr. Kowkabany is a licensed fire protection engineer in the states of Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Outside of his corporate efforts, Mr. Kowkabany is passionate about advancing the field of fire protection and civic involvement. He serves as the President of the Florida Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and has been appointed to the Florida Code Advisory Council, the Building Code Adjustment Board of Jacksonville, and the Existing Building Inspection Working Group of the State of Florida.
Education & Certification
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Professional Engineer (PE), State of AL, CO, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MN, NC, OR, SC, TX, WA, WI
OSHA 10
Associations
President of the Florida Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
Board Member of the Florida Engineering Management Corporation (FEMC)
Member of the Florida Fire Code Advisory Council (FCAC)
Board Member of the Building Code Adjustment Board of Jacksonville, FL
Member of Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association (FFMIA)
Member of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
Member of National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA)
Expert Witness Services
Damages, Fire Origin and Cause Investigations
Damages, Fire Protection Engineering
Forensics Technical, Mechanical
Forensics Technical, Plumbing
Forensics Technical, Safety
Standard of Care, Fire Protection & Life Safety