by AutoCom Detroit on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 12:18pm
FERNDALE, Mich. –The Gage Product’s award for best overall fuel economy in the annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge has gone to Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
Thirteen universities from the U.S. and Canada participated in this year’s competition which was held recently at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. The University of Wisconsin-Platteville took second place in the fuel economy portion of the event. Third place went to the University of Idaho in Moscow.
“The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge is a great way for college students to apply classroom knowledge to the real-world challenges they will face in the future,” said Dan Finkiewicz, president and chairman of Gage Products Company. “Gage is proud to participate in educational programs that promise to improve fuel efficiency, promote environmental awareness and foster the use of alternative fuels.”
A leading supplier of test fuels, paint solvents and paint-system recycling products, Gage has been a Clean Snowmobile Challenge sponsor for nine consecutive years. The Ferndale-based company also provides alternative fuels to participating college and university teams.
In addition to the Gage Products award for Best Fuel Economy, Clarkson University received the Land and Sea, Inc. Award for Best Performance; the Denso Award for Best Ride; the PCB Piezotronics, Inc. Award for Quietest Snowmobile; the BlueRibbon Coalition Award for Most Practical; the EMITEC Award for Best Value, and the Polaris Award for Best Handling, as well as placing first overall in the Internal Combustion Class.
Schools that participated in the 2011 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge included: University of Alaska-Fairbanks (Fairbanks, Alaska); University at Buffalo (Buffalo, N.Y.); Clarkson University (Potsdam, N.Y.); Ècole De Technologie Superieure (Montreal, Quebec); University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho); Kettering University (Flint, Mich.); University of Maine (Orono, Maine); McGill University (Montreal, Quebec); Michigan Technological University (Houghton, Mich.); University of Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth, Minn.); South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (Rapid City, S.D.); University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario); University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wis.), and University of Wisconsin-Platteville (Platteville, Wis
Held in Michigan since 2002, the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge is hosted by Michigan Tech’s mechanical engineering department and the school’s Keweenaw Research Center. The event, an engineering competition for SAE student members, attracted more than 200 student competitors from colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
Student teams were challenged to re-engineer existing snowmobiles for improved fuel economy, lower emissions and reduced noise levels without sacrificing performance. Schools entered in this year’s competition competed in a variety of events rating emissions, noise, fuel economy, endurance, acceleration, handling, static display, cold start and various design factors.
“Gage blends the fuels used for our indoor lab emissions tests and all of the other outdoor events,” said Jay Meldrum, lead competition organizer for the Clean Snowmobile Challenge. “Gage’s expertise and generosity have made this event a huge success. I do not know how we could do this without their support.”
Gage’s Test Fuel Division maintains an inventory of more than 250 custom-blended gasoline fuels for use in automotive test programs, including SAE fuels, ASTM fuels and OE-specific fuels. Gage also offers more than 25 different calibration fluids needed to meet testing requirements for a variety of automotive products, including oil and fuel pumps, fuel injectors and transmissions.
Gage has provided its customers with more than 1,000 different blends of gasoline for automotive-test uses over the last five years. These fuels not only represent regional fuel configurations from North America, Europe, South America and the Asia/Pacific region, they also include gasoline alternatives such as ethanol and gasoline with additives like MTBE.
A family-owned business, Gage will mark the 75th anniversary since its founding later this year. The company today is a leading supplier of closed-loop, automotive paint-system recycling programs. Over the past 25 years, Gage’s closed-loop recycling systems have been used by Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Kia, Magna, Mercedes and Nissan to safely remanufacture nearly 100 million gallons of spent paint solvent and waste material. Gage also manufactures paint-related products and cleaners for a wide variety of industrial uses. Visit www.gageproducts.com for more information.
Further details about the 2011 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge may be found at http://students.sae.org/competitions/snowmobile/ or http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm
