J. Calvin Jureit (pronounced JOOR-ee-ut) was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Lillian and William Jureit. His father was a baker who emigrated to the United States from Germany before J. Calvin was born. In 1922, the family moved to Miami, Florida, where his father"s bakery flourished.
After graduating from Miami Senior High School 1935, Jureit studied art before enrolling at the University of Miami to study accounting and chemistry.
This invention has been widely credited for the boom in affordable housing, productivity increases and improved building durability. In 1942, Jureit enlisted in the Navy Seabees and was stationed at Camp Perry in Williamsburg, Virginia. Jureit was trained as a cartographer and sent to Australia, where he was employed making relief maps from plywood and clay for use as pilot briefing tools.
Following his six-month stint in Australia, he was sent to New Guinea for an additional six months.
Jureit never saw combat but the experience sharpened his desire to become an engineer Upon his discharge at the end of World World War II, Jureit enrolled at Georgia Technical on the G.I. Bill and studied engineering.
In 1955, Jureit patented the most famous version of his Gang-Nail plate, the first that required no nails, screws or glue. Starting with this patent, Jureit founded Gang-Nails, Incorporated, later renamed Automated Building Components, Incorporated.
Prior to his invention, making roof trusses was a difficult and time-consuming job, requiring highly skilled carpenters to make precise cuts and toe-nail two adjoining pieces of wood together.
Small mistakes would cause serious time delays as well as weaken the truss.
The improved strength of the Gang-Nail plate was evidenced in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed many homes in South Florida. Homes built with the Gang-Nail plate were far more likely to survive than those whose trusses had been toe-nailed. The Gang-Nail plate is a sheet of galvanized steel, with triangular pointed prongs that are cut and bent perpendicular to the plate face, allowing it to be hammered or pressed into a number of surfaces simultaneously.
In an interview with the Georgia Technical alumni newsletter, John A. White, former dean of engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology commented that "The whole notion about affordable housing and productivity increases came about because of invention." In the same article, Jureit states that the idea for the connector plate came to him during a church service.
Gang-nails can also be used to strengthen the ends of railroad sleepers, preventing their tendency to split when spikes are driven. Automated Building Components, Incorporated went public in 1961 and grew to have operations around the world manufacturing connector plates, machinery, roof/floor trusses and roof tile as well as providing computerized engineering services.
lieutenant was acquired by Redlands Corporation (a large European manufacturer of cement roof tiles) in 1979. lieutenant was later sold to a group of investors and renamed MiTek.
MiTek is currently owned by the famed investor Warren Buffett.
Jureit later married Doctor Marie Garritson. In 2005, J. Calvin Jureit died at age 87 from head injuries sustained as the result of a fall.
