Polyurethane and Fire

Franz H. Prager gained his diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Darmstadt in 1960 and his doctorate from the Technical University in Aachen in 1985. He joined Bayer in 1961, where he originally worked in Fire Performance Testing, and later became head of the Fire Technology Group, which he founded within the Central Research Department in Leverkusen. He was a member of numerous national and international committees (VDE, DIN, ISO and CEN) in the various fields of construction, transportation, furniture and electrical appliances, as well as the relevant German and international association fire committees (VKE, VCI, APME, IVPU/BING, ICUP/III and ISOPA). In 1990 Dr. Prager received the Otto Bayer Medal for his commitment to large scale testing under extreme conditions and for his initiation of the Bayer Fire Test House.

Helmut Rosteck received his diploma in Mechanical Engineering after studying at the Technical University of Magdeburg and Dresden. Following this, he worked at the testing station for flow machinery in Dresden, before joining the dynamo plant of Siemens Schuckart in Dresden. He moved to Bayer in Leverkusen in 1964, where he was originally a member of the planning construction section and in 1976 joined the Fire Technology Group in the Central Research Department. In Fire Performance Testing he was responsible for fire reaction testing in the laboratory as well as on a large scale in the construction sector, transportation and the furniture and furnishings field.