An Interview with John Schuring, Professor Emeritus

Question: How did you come to NJIT?

Answer: My journey to NJIT was both circuitous and wonderful.  It began during my junior year as a civil engineering student while taking courses from great teachers like Professors Sid Borg (Structures) and Richard Magee (Fluids). I admired their work and sat in class wondering how I might become a college teacher. After graduation, I worked in the profession for a number of years, first as a civil engineering officer in the U.S. Air Force and later as a design consultant in the New York Metro area.  I had recently completed my Master’s degree and heard about the strong graduate program at NJIT.  I started taking courses and found them to be outstanding and relevant to my work.  Then one night during class, Professor Walter Konon told me about an opening on the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) faculty. I applied and joined the team in September, 1982.  I am grateful to NJIT for giving me the opportunity to mentor students and help them become civil and environmental engineers over these last 35 years. 

Question: What research did you do initially?

Answer: My first major research initiative addressed an important environmental challenge:  How can one cleanup buried hazardous and toxic waste dumps in order to protect drinking water supplies?  Working with a great research team of CEE Department faculty members and students, we invented a novel technique known as “Pneumatic Fracturing” to treat contaminated soil and ground water.  Pneumatic Fracturing entered commercial use throughout the U.S and abroad, and it has been applied to decontaminate many hundreds of polluted industrial and government sites.  At the time, one of our student research assistants nicknamed our team as “The Earth Doctors,” because he said that we were “helping to heal the planet.”  We were all glad about that.

Question: Are there other highlights in your research career?

Answer:  More recently, my research interests crossed over into the infrastructure sector to focus on protecting bridges over waterways against scour damage.  Working under research funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), our CEE research team developed a new Scour Evaluation Model (SEM) for analysis of non-tidal bridges.  We were gratified when the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently approved the SEM method for application to bridges throughout New Jersey. 

In the course of all my research projects, I have worked with many excellent graduate and undergraduate students.  I will be forever grateful for their hard work and creative contributions.  It has been satisfying, indeed, to work with them, and later to watch as they apply the knowledge and skills gained at NJIT within their professional careers.

Question: Can you share some thoughts about your teaching?

Answer: I have always liked my chosen profession of engineering, and the only thing better than the practice of engineering is the opportunity to teach others how to become engineers.  I have been fortunate to teach a variety of subjects within the CEE curriculum including construction, hydraulics laboratory, engineering geology, and design.  Interacting with students both in and out of class was a joy.  Taking my class out for an engineering geology field trip in Northern New Jersey was the highlight of the semester.  Teaching is without question the part of my job that I will miss the most.   

Question: What about satisfying moments personally/professionally?

Answer: A very satisfying part of my years at the Institute was to advise the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter, as well as the ASCE Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe Teams.  This is because ASCE activities are educational, and they are also fun…where else will you see hundreds of civil engineering students cheering on their Bridge and Canoe teams at the top of their lungs?  ASCE also serves as a leadership and management laboratory for students.  I am a big believer in the ASCE chapter activities and competitions, because I too was an active student member during my baccalaureate days.   

Question: How has the campus changed?

Answer: The changes to the NJIT campus during my 35-year tenure have been in a word “amazing.”  Our transformation from being largely a commuter school to a residence campus with an expanded athletic program has been exciting.  And we have constantly created new research spaces across the campus.  It is especially satisfying to see the renovation of the Central King Building nearing completion to provide much needed quality classroom space.  All these changes have been accompanied by general improvements to the University Heights community.  As for me, I have my eye on the NJIT’s brand new Wellness and Events Center, where I plan to invoke my retiree privilege and use the fitness center for some workout sessions.  I hope to see you there.