Left to right: After presenting their plans for a new American River Otter exhibit to zoo officials, Dalton Shaughnessy, Daniel Scolaro, Josef Pappas, Manuel Nuno, and Colin Roach pose for a team photo.

Left to right: Peter Courtney, Nathan Boudreau, Claire Laurentius, Charlotte Low, and Lloyd H. Ketchum Jr. stand at the back of the current flamingo exhibit at the Potawatomi Zoo. It borders the patio of the zoo’s refreshment stand, a very busy location.

Although its inhabitants are real animals, a zoo is like a city, with many of the same needs. “When you think about it,” says Lloyd H. Ketchum Jr., associate professor emeritus of civil engineering and geological sciences, “a zoo, with its roads, bridges, and other built environments, offers many of the same engineering challenges as a cityscape. It’s a great place for our students to exercise their skills, while helping a community organization.”

Students in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences have been “engineering” at South Bend’s Potawatomi Zoo since 2004. As in other years, this past semester two student teams focused on specific needs. One team prepared a preliminary plan for a proposed American River Otter exhibit, and one developed plans for an expansion of the flamingo exhibit.

Just as with any project they will encounter in the human world, the student engineers needed to pay close attention to the inhabitants, the creatures that will live in the environment they are creating. This means they had to research the animals, talk to zookeepers, and study the guidelines for animal care set forth by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They also visited other zoos that house the same animals.

According to Terry DeRosa, director of the zoo, whether there are two birds or 20, flamingos act with one mind. They don’t mix well with other birds. They like their space open and airy, and they don’t particularly care to have humans around. Add this to the fact that, like most zoos, Potawatomi is on a limited budget, and students find that the simpler and more flexible their solutions are, the better. In other words, they have to be very creative.

The students’ suggestions included the addition of a circular pump in the wading pool to make it self-cleaning and decrease the number of times zookeepers have to enter the exhibit. They also suggested installing mirrors, re-positioning the zookeeper’s entrance, and evicting the other birds currently sharing the space. After reviewing bids from professional contractors and obtaining additional funding, the zoo hopes to be able to implement the students’ designs.

Ketchum is the faculty adviser for the Civil Engineering Service Projects program. For information on the different projects, visit www.nd.edu/~cegeos/Service/Local.htm.