He received his Ph.D. in Fire Protection Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2001. While at WPI he developed an innovative model of the actions of intervener’s using Discrete Event Simulation (Till, 2001; Till & Strong, 2001; Till, 2007). It is one of a handful of models used to determine times for intervener intervention in fires. Professor Till served as the chief fire/life safety engineer for a new subway system in New York City from 2001 to 2005, and is a special expert member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems (NFPA 130) Committee. He is also a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Fire Department Operations Task Group.