The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has partnered with New York University Tandon School of Engineering to provide graduate students with real-world project management experience through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s (USMMA) Seawall Rehabilitation Project, one of the Academy’s highest-priority infrastructure initiatives.
On Friday Dec.5, members of the District’s Project Delivery Team (PDT) presented an in-depth project overview to a cohort of NYU construction management graduate students completing their final capstone course, “Leadership, Ethics, and Project Execution.” As part of the semester-long collaboration, the students are developing pre-construction management plans in response to a mock Request for Proposals centered on the USMMA seawall. Their work mirrors the real processes used by industry partners, federal agencies, and construction managers on major capital projects.
“The United States Merchant Marine Academy is thrilled to partner with USACE and having NYU graduate students join the effort is an added bonus,” said Rear Admiral John Shea, Director of Facilities & Infrastructure. “As an academic institution, the Academy is proud that the Seawall project offers these outstanding students real‑world experience that will endure for generations, while strengthening and preserving this historic institution. It is truly an all‑hands‑on‑deck effort.”
The seawall rehabilitation project, located along 2,800 linear feet of non-uniform shoreline at Kings Point, is central to the Academy’s long-term campus modernization strategy. Originally envisioned as a targeted repair, the seawall’s future design now incorporates considerations for sea level rise and impacts associated with a 500-year flood event. The goal is to restore structural integrity, prevent waterside erosion, and ensure compliance with modern safety and resilience standards.
A Full-Spectrum Learning Opportunity
During Friday’s session, subject-matter experts from USACE walked students through the complexities of coastal and structural engineering, geotechnical investigation, permitting pathways, environmental compliance, construction sequencing, and project controls. Presenters included:
- LTC Nicholas LoRusso – History and mission of USACE, and how the District executes federal construction programs
- Erik Gustafson – Overview of the existing USMMA seawall conditions and project scope
- Christine Smith – Structural engineering considerations and bulkhead inspection methodology
- Yousof Abdalijalil – Geotechnical engineering, surficial geology and expected subsurface stratification
- Audrey Fanning – Coastal engineering and storm risk management
- Carissa Scarpa – Environmental and cultural resource compliance
- Ryan Ferguson – Construction methods, mobilization challenges, and field execution constraints
Approximately 15 students and faculty members participated in the briefing and Q&A.
Earlier in the semester, teams submitted RFIs to USMMA and USACE as part of their analysis. Friday’s session served as a benchmark opportunity, allowing the cohort to compare their developing project plans against the experiences of senior federal project managers actively delivering similar infrastructure programs.
Bridging Academia and Federal Project Delivery
Dr. Frank DarConte, NYU Tandon capstone advisor and Principal Investigator at C2SMART, emphasized that this collaboration not only connects students with real engineering challenges but also exposes them to the leadership, ethics, and decision-making models used in major federal construction programs.
“Thank you to the USACE for being a willing and valued partner in supporting our students,” said DarConte. “The added value this industry/academia relationship brings to our graduate CE/CM students is what separates our curriculum from other university construction management programs.”
He noted that USACE brings exceptional relevance to the course’s mission of understanding how technical decisions intersect with policy, risk, safety, environmental stewardship, and public responsibility.
A Model for Future Collaboration
NYU Tandon’s capstone program is designed to simulate real-world conditions by pairing graduate students with active industry, academic, and federal partners. The USMMA seawall project is uniquely suited for this purpose: it combines structural engineering, coastal resilience, historical preservation, environmental review, and complex construction management under federal oversight.
As USMMA advances its broader Campus Modernization Program, opportunities for continued student involvement and academic–government partnerships are expected to grow.
NYU Tandon expressed enthusiasm for building on this year’s collaboration, providing future cohorts with unprecedented access to project delivery insights that can only be gained through engagement with real infrastructure challenges shaping the region’s future.