NJIT in the News

A few days ago, the remnants of Hurricane Noel traveled northward to New York and New England with wind speeds approaching 80 miles per hour in Massachusetts. The storm caused significant damages, especially there.

A closer look at how people react during emergencies, the role of computers and technology and what really happened during Hurricane Katrina number among the topics to be discussed at the third annual meeting of the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM). New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will host the event May 14-17, 2006.

Three New Jersey Institute of Technology experts are available to discuss levee rebuilding, sewer and underground utilities and waste water management -all issues facing rescuers and future reconstruction efforts in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Just days after Hurricane Katrina deluged the Gulf Coast, NJIT President Robert A. Altenkirch invited students whose colleges were damaged by the hurricane to enroll at NJIT. Now, NJIT has its first student from New Orleans: Sean Kirkland, who would have been a senior at Tulane University, is enrolled at NJIT’s New Jersey School of Architecture. “Everyone at NJIT has been extremely kind and welcoming and I’m really grateful to be studying here,” Kirkland said.

“It appears that the levee failures in New Orleans were induced by subsurface seepage through the soils, not by overtopping,” said John Schuring, PhD and PE, professor of civil and environmental engineering at NJIT. “Given the fact that the levees were built and retrofitted many times over the years, and also given the fact that other weaknesses in the soil may exist, care must be taken when the city is dewatered to avoid another failure.”

“The flood waters in New Orleans are potentially infectious.  Removal and treatment will be slow and difficult, and even after the water is pumped out, the infection hazard will remain for some time to come,” Hsin-Neng Hsieh, PhD, PE, professor of civil and environmental engineering at NJIT.

In an effort to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina, NJIT has established the Campus Center Office as a collection point for American Red Cross donations to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Red Cross collection tables will be present at all major events

NJIT will offer “visiting student” status this fall semester to students attending colleges and universities in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Such status means that students will have the option of attending classes at NJIT and then transfer credits to their home institutions. “We understand that it may be some time before the universities are back in full swing,” said Robert A. Altenkirch, PhD, president of NJIT and former vice president for research at Mississippi State University. "I lived and worked in Mississippi for many years and my heart goes out to the people who are suffering as a result of the devastation this storm has delivered."