sae clean snowmobile challenge brings 14 schools to the up

he fourth annual Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge is set for March 19-23, and will be hosted by Michigan Technological University in Houghton. The event will actually be run at the Keweenaw Research Center.

All past champions will field teams again this year, including last year's co-champions, University of Idaho and Kettering University. Others in the competition include U. of Buffalo-SUNY, U. of Waterloo, Colorado State, Idaho State, McGill University, Michigan Tech, U. of Maine, Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin-Platteville and the U. of Wyoming.

The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge asks teams of engineering students representing universities from the US and Canada to take a stock snowmobile and reengineer it to reduce noise and emissions, while either maintaining or improving performance. The intent of the competition is to develop a fun, cost effective and reliable trail snowmobile that is acceptable for use in environmentally sensitive areas. Entries are judged on endurance, fuel economy, acceleration, noise and handling.

Past teams have implemented numerous solutions to garner the CSC top prize. Both four stroke and direct injected two stroke snowmobiles have won past CSC events. A wonderfully converted Road Warrior BMW motorcycle engine produced excellent results for the U. of Idaho team. Possibly the most revolutionary technology will be tested this year, when McGill University brings its electric powered snowmobile to the event.

The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association has donated $10,000 to the event, to kick off its 100,000 fundraising campaign. "The Manufacturers are very supportive of the Clean Snowmobile challenge, the students and the SAE," said ISMA President Ed Klim. "I think it's great to get all these talented people together to work on these machines that we all love to build and ride."