Ruan Murison obtained his BEng Civil Engineering degree (cum laude) in 2020 and BEngHons Geotechnical Engineering degree (cum laude) in 2021, both from the University of Pretoria.

His undergraduate research involved using small-strain soil stiffness and stiffness degradation curves in a nonlinear-stepwise algorithm to predict load-settlement behaviour of strip foundations on sand, under both serviceable loads (allowable bearing pressure) and extreme loads (ultimate bearing capacity). He compiled a Python program called q-G₀ to predict foundation response, which was compared to experimental results obtained through physical modelling and 1g laboratory testing. He won the SAICE Geotechnical Division Barry van Wyk Award for the author of the best final year dissertation on a geotechnical topic at a South African University, and presented a  SAICE GeoDiv Evening Lecture on the topic, available at Youtube: SAICE GeoDiv Evening Lecture.

Ruan spent his Honours year interpreting field data for the WindAfrica project, for which he has authored papers for international conferences. For the ICSMGE in Sydney, he compared the measured heave of an expansive clay profile near Vredefort to empirical prediction methods and centrifuge tests. For the ICPMG in Daejeon, Korea, he compared the bending moment distributions determined using two types of strain gauge on large-scale laterally loaded piles founded in the same expansive clay profile.

Ruan completed a 6 month research visit to Durham University in 2022, whilst working toward his MEng degree at UP. He is  investigating the uplift forces and lateral stresses acting on pile foundations due to the swelling of expansive clays. Soil element testing will be conducted using a low-cost modified oedometer with lateral stress measurement. The determined vertical and lateral swell pressures will be used to analyse large-scale field test results and centrifuge test results, conducted at the Geotechnical Centrifuge Laboratory at UP.