Matt Freije
Matt Freije has been studying Legionella prevention since 1993. Synthesizing findings from scientific studies led to the publication of his first book, Legionellae Control in Health Care Facilities: A Guide for Minimizing Risk, which has been distributed in more than 30 countries. His second book, Protect Yourself from Legionnaires’ Disease: The waterborne illness that continues to kill and harm, was published in 2011.
Matt earned a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a post baccalaureate certificate in epidemiology and biostatistics from Drexel University. He also completed a water treatment certificate program at California State University, Sacramento, and a graduate course in Microbiology at Montana State University. He is a Certified Water Specialist and an approved instructor for ASSE/IAPMO/ANSI Standard 12080 (Professional Qualifications Standard for Legionella Water Safety and Management Personnel) training. He is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Association of Water Technologists (AWT), American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), and Water Quality Association (WQA).
In 1995, Matt founded HC Info with the mission of protecting health and life by providing information and services that help people reduce the risk of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens. Through HC Info, he helped operators of hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, and other large buildings prevent and solve Legionella problems. He investigated hundreds of building water systems, recommended remedial strategies for plumbing systems, designed sampling programs, and wrote Legionella water management plans. He also served as an expert in more than 60 legal matters pertaining to Legionnaires’ disease, with deposition and trial testimony for both plaintiffs and defendants.
Since the late 1990s, Matt has been a frequent contributor of industry articles related to Legionella and water management and has also served as a peer reviewer for scientific papers.
Since 2001, thousands of professionals have gone through Legionella and water management training that Matt presented or wrote including facilities management personnel, water treatment specialists, infection preventionists, health department personnel, industrial hygienists, engineers, and consultants.
From 2001 to 2011, Matt taught more than 30 classroom courses on Legionella prevention at many locations in the United States and in 5 other countries including classes hosted by a South African environmental health agency in Johannesburg, the US Navy in San Diego, NSF in Ann Arbor, and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers in Boston. He also conducted private training for prestigious hospitals and large resorts.
Since transitioning to online learning in 2012, Matt has written and narrated more than 15 e-Learning courses including ones approved for ASSE 12080 and EOCP BWS certification and for continuing education units with the Water Quality Association and the Association of Water Technologies.
Matt has also spoken at more than 50 national conventions and presented more than 75 webinars.
Matt’s experience, education, and research culminated with the development of LAMPS, HC Info’s cloud-based application for water management plans , water quality monitoring and benchmarking, and training. LAMPS is used by thousands of professionals including facility managers, water treatment specialists, industrial hygienists, consultants, engineers, infection preventionists, and health officials.
Matt continues to serve as CEO of HC Info, overseeing the LAMPS software and providing technical support to LAMPS Partners.