Shoreview, Minnesota, resident recognized with national engineering award

James Schneider of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, and Shoreview, Minnesota, resident, is the recipient of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2023 Timothy Skeen Geotechnics Professional of the Year Award for his commitment to excellence and contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession.

This past year, Schneider actively supported Corps of Engineers geotechnical guidance updates, negotiated software agreements, innovated by creating a script to plot pile driving records and share the data through web-based maps, and led the advanced geotechnical modelling committee.

Schneider, currently serving as the Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division regional technical specialist, has contributed greatly to the engineering profession by presenting at conferences, teaching courses, giving university lectures, contributing over 60 journal and conference publications, and serving as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals.

“James is certainly well known in the Corps of Engineers and within the geotechnical engineering profession for his technical expertise,” said Jason Foss, levee safety and geotechnical design section chief and Schneider’s supervisor. “It is his willingness to always help and his kind, collaborative nature that set him apart from most others.”

Schneider completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Georgia Tech, followed by four years of geotechnical engineering consulting practice in Georgia and California. He then spent five years in Australia, where he completed his PhD in geotechnical engineering, followed by a post-doctoral appointment. He taught at the University of Wisconsin – Madison before working for the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command in California, and finally coming to the Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, in 2016.

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