Collaboration Benefits the Nation

Leaders of the Corps’ Civil Works Research, Development and Technology programs bring together federal agencies, academia and industry to optimize solutions with the greatest benefits to the Nation. These partnerships have leveraged ongoing research, applications and technologies to amplify impacts of the subsequent projects. Many of the projects with the greatest impact were a result of those partnerships.

Collaborations were used to advance models and activities, such as the ADvanced CIRCulation model, Joint Airborne LIDAR Bathymetric Technical Center of Expertise, and the U.S. Coastal Research Program. The ERDC Field Research Facility has provided a venue for researchers to work together on field studies, and the Coastal Engineering Manual resulted from shared development of guidance.

Meanwhile, the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System and other models developed by the Corps’ Institute for Water Resources benefited from the input of a number of outside experts. Other examples of successful collaborations include Engineering With Nature ® , the Lock Operations Management Application, research into composites and other innovative materials, dredging optimization, and the movement and management of threatened and endangered species.