Element A: PRESENTATION AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

Due 1/21

The purpose of the Project Proposal is to determine if the problem you have identified is worth pursuing. The Project Proposal is also an indication on whether you and your team have researched the problem thoroughly enough that you can be considered an expert on the problem.

Is seeking a solution to the problem justified when the effort is balanced against the cost and effort?
Is the problem you identified valid (recognized by a credentialed source)?
Are you an expert on the problem?

Your instructor will ultimately decide if you have provided enough evidence that the answer to these questions is yes and If you will proceed with this project based on your proposal.

For this review your team will develop a project proposal that either:

Academically / ethically justifies the need to solve the identified problem
Would convince potential investors it is a project worth pursuing

Include:

Problem statement
Problem background/statistics
Validation of problem
Experts who say it’s a problem (what are their credentials?)
Consumers, users – surveys, interviews
Scholarly articles
List sources (in APA or MLA format)!

Delete this section ONLY after it is graded and all edits have been made

Problem Statement

Squirrels cause 10-20% of all power outages and 20% of house fires throughout the United States by chewing through insulation .

Problem Background/statistics

(Use information from your research market research to give statistics about the problem. How many people think this is a problem? What exactly do they say the problem is? Is there a demographic for whom this is a greater problem?)

In 2018, Squirrel Index reported 1.6298 squirrel-related outages for every 1,000 customers. This means that, since the start of the report, 244,137 power outages across the nation have been caused by squirrel attacks. (EEWeb)
CenturyLink reported that 17% of their aerial fiber outages were caused by squirrels. (CircleID)
Home inspectors estimate that 20 percent of house fires in the United States are caused by squirrels chewing on electrical wires. (Barksdale Air Force)
Below is a terrifying and hilarious map of squirrel attacks on the U.S. power grid. (The Washington Post)
In Austin, Tex., squirrels have been blamed for 300 power outages a year. Other utility companies have claimed that between 7 and 20 percent of all outages are caused by some sort of wild animal, and a 2005 study by the State of California estimated, hazily, that these incidents cost California’s economy between $32 million and $317 million a year. Feral cats, raccoons and birds are also nuisances. (NYTimes)

Validation

Sell the audience on why this is a problem worth pursuing. Is money wasted because this is a problem, is safety or the environment a concern? How would a solution to this problem make lives better?

Electrical disruptions caused by squirrels are widespread across the United States, though most people aren't fully aware of the damages caused by squirrels. A capsaicin-based coating, implemented on utility and power lines, prevents squirrels from chewing through insulation. Furthermore, preventing house fires and power outages will increase productivity via less power and data outages. Capsaicin, an active component found in hot peppers, poses no safety concerns to squirrels, or any other animals, and would ultimately serve as the most effective repellent.

Experts

List the people who you can contact to justify that this is a problem and who might be an expert on some facet of the solution. Your end user might be an expert, you may need a mechanical, structural, materials engineer to advise you. A local university engineering department may be a great place to start. Current manufactures of existing products could help as well. This list should include contact information such as names, positions, addresses, phone numbers and emails. Replace the spreadsheet below with one of your own creation in Google sheets.

Consumer Surveys and/or Interviews

Insert pictures from your market research surveys. Each picture should have a title and a brief explanation. Insert your three most significant charts or graphs below. Be sure to add a text box beneath each image explaining HOW this image supports the fact that this is a problem worth solving.

Chart 1: Amount of power outages experienced per year

Expert List - Cap-Cable

Roughly 67.2% of responses previously experienced at least two power outages each year, and more than a third of our responses witnessed exactly two outages caused by squirrels chewing through power and utility lines. Clearly, a majority of our responses witnessed this problem on an annual basis.

Chart 2: Importance of Squirrel Damage

75.4% of respondents indicated squirrel damage having a moderate to high (5-10) importance. Because the number of power outages for the people surveyed are relatively normal, and the target audience of the survey is a student demographic, the surveyed importance may be skewed.

Chart 3: Knowledge of power outages caused by squirrels

To address the importance of this problem, we included an informative question specifying the amount of damage (Percentages of power outages) squirrels cause each year. Clearly represented in the pie chart above, the majority of responses were unaware of the amount of power outages caused by squirrels each year.

Scholarly Articles

"Additionally, when squirrels run along utility power wires and cables, they can short out the transformers" (Lupo)

"squirrels have four front teeth that never stop growing so they don't wear down from the constant gnawing" (National Geographic)

"... like bears, squirrels are undergoing population growth due to weather conditions" (National Geographics)

"“The woodlot next to my house is overrun with squirrels,” added Curtis, who lives near Syracuse" (Karlin)

Citations (use easybib.com)

1) Squirrels are the number one culprit for animal damage to aerial fiber. CircleID Master. (2019, June 6). Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://circleid.com/posts/20190606_squirrels_number_one_culprit_for_animal_damage_to_aerial_fiber.

2) Covey, L. (2019, May 31). Squirrels and security - it's a thing! EEWeb. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.eeweb.com/squirrels-and-security-its-a-thing/.

3) Prevent Squirrel Damage to Your Home, Garden, and Bird Feeders. (2021, October 14). The Spruce. https://www.thespruce.com/answers-to-squirrel-control-2656298#:%7E:text=Like%20%E2%80%8Brabbits%2C%20squirrels%20can,also%20dig%20for%20planted%20bulbs.

4) Ingraham, C. (2016, January 12). A terrifying and hilarious map of squirrel attacks on the U.S. Power Grid. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/12/a-terrifying-and-hilarious-map-of-squirrel-attacks/.

5) WATCH: Cute Squirrels Get a Second Chance At Life in This Rehab Center. (n.d.). Animals. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/squirrels

6) Karlin, R. (2020, June 12). Nutty weather sparks a squirrel boom. Times Union. https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Favorable-weather-sparks-a-squirrel-boom-15333603.php

Individual research (A3.1)

7) Squirrel damage in your yard and garden. The Humane Society of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/squirrel-damage-your-yard-and-garden.

8) Mooallem, J. (2013, August 31). Squirrel Power! The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/opinion/sunday/squirrel-power.html.

9) Lupo, L. J. (2021, September 28). Prevent squirrel damage to your home, garden, and Bird Feeders. The Spruce. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.thespruce.com/answers-to-squirrel-control-2656298.

10) Thomas, C. (2021, January 19). Cyber squirrel 1. CyberSquirrel1.com. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://cybersquirrel1.com/.

11) Braband, L. (2014). Controlling Squirrel Problems in Buildings. Cornell University Library. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/43845/squirrels-buildings-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

12) Solutions, O. F. C. (n.d.). Squirrel problems - squirrel removal: AAA Wildlife Control. AAA Wildlife Control Vancouver. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.vancouverwildlife.com/squirrels/squirrel-problems/.

13) Why should you love squirrels? here are six reasons. News. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://news.ufl.edu/articles/2018/01/why-should-you-love-squirrels-here-are-six-reasons.html.

14) Jackson, L. L., Heffner, H. E., & Heffner, R. S. (1997). Audiogram of the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 111(1), 100–104.https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.111.1.100

15) Pineo, J. (2021, September 27). Easy tricks to squirrel-proof your garden. Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from ht==tps://www.farmersalmanac.com/keep-squirrels-out-garden.

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