Fire protection engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to protect people, property, and their environments from the harmful and destructive effects of fire and smoke. It encompasses engineering which focuses on fire detection, suppression and mitigation and fire safety engineering which focuses on human behavior and maintaining a tenable environment for evacuation from a fire. In the United States 'fire protection engineering' is often used to include 'fire safety engineering'.

Dr. Milke is Professor and Chair of the Department. His principal areas of expertise involve smoke management, fire detection and analyzing the response of materials exposed to fire conditions. Milke is also director of the distance option for the Master of Engineering Program.

In 1991, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Aerospace Engineering. He received a Master of Science degree from the University of Maryland in Mechanical Engineering and is a 1976 graduate of the Fire Protection Engineering program. Dr. Milke also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Ursinus College.