SEAS Students Design Improved Snow Removal for Harvard

In an effort to change the way snow is removed on campus, students from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences collaborated with Facilities Maintenance Operations to engineer solutions, including a robotic snow blower, icicle removal tool, and snow-melting mat.

The 18 students who worked on the projects all enrolled in the fall junior tutorial, Engineering Sciences 96: “Engineering Problem Solving and Design Project,” which gives students the ability to solve the real-world problems of specifically selected clients.

“The idea of this class is that it mimics real life situations and real working situations for engineers,” course instructor David J. Mooney, professor of bioengineering, said.

Students in the course work with a different client each semester. Following last winter’s record-breaking snowfall, snow-removal surfaced as a possible design project, according to Mooney. Given their role in removing snow on campus, Mooney approached FMO as possible clients.

Following a presentation by representatives from FMO, the students began identifying the three most promising challenges they could address over the semester, eventually deciding on icicle removal, snow-blowing, and snow-melting.

Currently, workers must climb on rooftops to knock down potentially dangerous icicles. The new icicle removal prototype consists of a wire that can heat up to extremely high temperatures in a short amount of time, attached to a pole, to sharply remove icicles from rooftops while allowing workers to remain on the ground.

“If we could keep people off of the roofs with the icicle cutter, that’s a safety factor and it’s less strainful [than being] strapped up there and tied in,” Friedman said.

Several students praised the hands-on nature of the course and the ability to directly apply their designs to issues facing the Harvard community. Throughout the semester, feedback on design was solicited from Facilities Maintenance Operations.

“They got some very important feedback and it helped them hone in,” Mooney said.

At the end of the semester, students displayed their prototypes in presentation to representatives from FMO.

“We saw great potential in all three projects and we would be excited to pilot them in the future,” said Jeffrey L. Smith, Director of Facilities Maintenance Operations.