Your Mission

Environmental engineers design and monitor systems to improve the environment. On a hog farm, engineers improve the efficiency of raising hogs by improving the hog’s environment. In modern-day pork production, keeping piglets warm and healthy is key to success. Piglet loss due to poor temperature control accounts for approximately 65% of the losses in the first 4 days after birth.

Smaller piglets are less likely to survive than larger piglets. The average piglet nurses for 24 seconds every 52 minutes, so it grows quite quickly. Within its first day, a piglet chooses its permanent nipple. Smaller piglets tend to get less desirable nipples, so they don’t grow as fast. Smaller piglets also have more heat loss than larger piglets, due to higher surface area-to-volume ratio. 

As an environmental engineer, your job is to study the behavior of healthy piglets and evaluate the effectiveness of a heated mat designed to keep piglets at a comfortable temperature. The area at the center of the mat maintains a temperature of 95°F. Other parts of the mat are slightly warmer or cooler. Piglet discomfort can be determined by the distribution of sleeping piglets on the mat. If the piglets are piled on top of one another, they are struggling to stay warm. Larger piglets may get too warm and seek the cooler spots on the mat. First, you will observe the distribution of comfortable piglets. Then, you will examine piglets sleeping on the new matting system and write a report for the United States Department of Agriculture explaining your findings. Your work will help hog farmers all over the world! Good luck!