PAWS

PAWS is a new EWB project connected to the Franklin County Dog Shelter (FCDS) in Columbus, Ohio. The team’s goal is to locate, design, and assist in the construction of an enrichment and recreation area for the 100+ adoption-ready dogs at the FCDS over the course of the coming year. Students involved with this project group are combining engineering techniques for facility layout design, ergonomics, cost-benefit projection, and materials analysis in a multi-disciplinary team and putting them to use to create a play area that is both fun and practical for dogs and humans to navigate and learn from together.

The PAWS team made a visit to the FCDS in October 2022. During this visit, the team worked together to take key measurements of the area and build a working, editable layout for the available area using AutoCAD software. The next focus area for the PAWS team will be deciding on the form of the contents of the play area (stairs, puzzles, textures, etc.), and deciding where within the available yard area is the best to locate the enrichment zone.