Steve Dwyer, a former University of Southern California instructor and current USACE Los Angeles District Operations Branch Chief, recently had the chance to assist his alma mater. The twist? Students from USC's School of Architecture may have uncovered some solutions that may help the Corps enhance the Los Angeles River area.

In September, the Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California hosted a Los Angeles River Watershed Forum for Federal, State, City, and County officials and other interested parties. As a graduate, Dwyer attended and ended up meeting with Eui-Sung Yi, the interim director of the graduate program in Architecture at USC. Dwyer discovered the students were working on projects related to the L.A. River. Professor Yi asked Dwyer if he could give students an overview of the river system as part of their curriculum.

"I am a graduate of the School of Architecture at USC and taught there for 12 years, so I am always interested in the School’s activities," Dwyer said.

The week after the forum, Professor Yi brought all 16 of the Graduate Students to the Corps' downtown Los Angeles office. There, Dwyer explained the Los Angeles County Drainage Area (LACDA) System. He discussed what the system does, how it works, and why it looks the way it does, as background information for their projects to alter the River’s configuration. He also provided the topographic data, a copy of the LACDA Operation and Maintenance Manual, which has detailed drawings of all the channels in the System, including the LA River, and copies of the Corps’ numerous studies in this and related areas. Over the next weeks, several of the groups came back to the office for more briefings and information.
 
"I was in frequent communication via e-mail to answer questions and offer advice," explained Dwyer. "I got to know them well over the course of the semester."

Professor Yi invited Dwyer to sit in as a member of the jury to review the students' projects and provide counsel to them at mid semester and at the end of the term. In October, during the mid-term review at the school, Dwyer offered students advice on how to proceed for the balance of the semester.

"I thought the overall quality of work was excellent and said so, but the Jurors pointed out weaknesses and areas of work not fully developed, with suggestions on how to correct the problems," said Dwyer. “I have to say, the presentation tools which today’s Architecture students have available to them are far more sophisticated than the ones available when I was a student."

By December, the work was complete and Dwyer returned to serve once again on the jury for the final review. The students pinned their drawings up in the two-story presentation space in the new third floor addition to the Architecture building. The jury sat in front of the drawings with the students behind them. Professor Yi introduced each of the Jurors to the students When he came to me he said, 'This is Steve Dwyer from the Army Corps of Engineers. He is your technical and spiritual advisor,' I was flattered beyond words," Dwyer said. "I guessed that Yi was acknowledging all the time I had spent with the students over the course of the semester."

Dwyer said the work done by the students was every bit as good as anything I had seen previously. When the presentations were complete, Dwyer took the time to address the students and told them, "I want you to know what a pleasure it has been meeting you and working with you this semester. You should know that I’ve worked on a half dozen Studio projects involving the River and your work is every bit as good as anything I’ve seen. No, let me re-phrase: this is the best work I’ve ever seen."
 
Several of the students said they hoped to see Dwyer again and he reciprocated the feeling. Dwyer said the Water Resources Act of 2007 contains an authorization of $25,000,000 for the Corps to perform studies and pilot projects on the River, so he feels there may be opportunities to utilize the students’ ideas and possibly the chance to offer them jobs with the Corps. Over all, Dwyer said the experience is a positive one for the Corps and the students involved.
 
"Aside from the 'feel good' experience of working with so many young and talented minds and the satisfaction of helping them, there is another aspect to this work," Dwyer said. "All 16 students and the dozen or so faculty who participated in the Studio realized that a Corps of Engineers official freely gave of his time and experience in order to help the students. That kind of positive publicity for the Corps couldn’t be bought at any price."