In this interview, Taha Marhaba, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, talks about civil engineering, as both a major and as a career. Marhaba is an esteemed civil engineering professor who focuses his research on water quality. He’s developed a technique that is used to test water quality, and he’s also an expert in droughts. He directs the university’s New Jersey Applied Water Research Center, whose mission is to research the state’s drinking water supply.
He’s a gifted teacher. In 2008, he received NJIT´s Excellence in Teaching Award. More recently, Rutgers University, from which he has three degrees, gave him the 2010 Distinguished Engineer Award.