Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

How to Rid Your Campus of Rodents

Smart technology gives us new ways to address old problems in our homes, places of business, and in public spaces. One great example is a sensor, invisible to the eye, that fits in a waste receptacle and collects valuable data it can then transmit to users—be they facility management, civil engineers, or sanitation departments.

It measures everything from weight and fill level to temperature and landfill diversion. With GPS, it can track whether the receptacle has been moved and the location where it should be returned. The data, both real-time and historical, are used as a planning tool to optimize routes and make significant boosts in efficiencies, including labor costs, time and environmental impact.

The smart technology now features a user-enabled rodent detection mode. It looks for specific patterns in the measurements it records that indicate rodent movement within the container. The data that are collected can be used to uncover specific problem areas with dense rat populations and identify key surrounding contributors, such as discarded foods and litter in overflowing dumpsters, alleyways, restaurant trash cans, and the street. Over time, the data allow users to measure the success of a rat-abatement initiative.

What makes the new feature a huge benefit is that it gets to the infestation’s root causes and does not simply treat the symptoms.

Rats are smart. But this technology is smarter.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Emma Skalka is vice president of Sales and Marketing at Victor Stanley in Dunkirk, MD.

Featured

  • Auburn University Debuts $224M STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., recently opened its new $224-million STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex, the largest research construction project in the university’s history, according to university news. The facility measures more than 265,000 square feet and brings six departments from the College of Agriculture and College of Sciences and Mathematics together under one roof.

  • Phoenix High School Completes First Phase of Campus Renovations

    Metro Tech High School, part of the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) in Phoenix, Ariz., recently announced the completion of the first stage of a campus renovation project, according to a news release. The school reopened a series of public-facing business operations spaces including credit union, daycare, floral, cosmetology, and culinary services. It also includes new CTE learning spaces for the school’s nursing assistant, pharmacy, and sports medicine programs.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • University of Kentucky Reopens Scovell Hall

    The University of Kentucky recently reopened Scovell Hall, part of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), following comprehensive renovations to the 120-year-old facility in Lexington, Ky., according to a news release.