Bowers had to assemble a team and within a week had to design a system to impact torpedoes at 24 knots into targets at various angles and begin tests.

The study was successfully completed and Bowers won the Collingwood award for this research;[3] however, due to political reasons, modernization did not happen for the next 50 years.

Bowers then joined the Bureau of Reclamation in Denver designing and testing spillways for Bradbury, Heart Butte and other dams.

Subsequently, he joined the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory of the University of Minnesota where he worked for the next thirty years.

[4] In 2000, the University of Minnesota created an award in Bowers' honor, to annually recognize an outstanding computer science and engineering (CSE) professor who has demonstrated exceptional interest and commitment to teaching.

[5][6] Bowers conducted a wide variety of studies, including testing the design for Taconite Harbor in Lake Superior.

Since the stilling basin must dissipate many millions of horsepower before the flow enters the river channel, very violent eddies are generated.