BYU engineering students partnered with the Belgian nonprofit APOPO to equip rats—yes, rats—for search and rescue operations. APOPO trains African giant pouched rats, small enough to explore hard-to-reach areas and strong enough to carry information-relaying technology in tiny backpacks, to locate survivors in collapsed buildings. BYU engineering capstone students improved the cameras and added a sensor to track location underground, adding only five grams to the existing design. Project lead Hyrum N. Mangum (BS ’26) says the team was inspired “to see that there are people out there who are thinking creatively and working intentionally to solve real problems.”
