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Tech Second in Clean Snowmobile Challenge
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PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE AT
http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/snowmobile/photos.html
March 21, 2004 -- Victory is always sweet, but for the
University of Wisconsin at Madison, Saturday's win in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge was a moment to savor.
The Badgers climbed from last place in the 2003 Challenge to take the gold this year, rising a dozen places in the
standings. Inspired by team members who had participated in
FutureTruck automotive competitions, Wisconsin-Madison built a totally new (and probably unique) modified hybrid gas-electric engine, which included an electric motor for power assist on acceleration.
"We decided to try something completely radical, so we did a lot of work with hybrid integration," said team captain Eric Schroeder.
"I'm just overwhelmed, he added. "I was here last year when we finished absolutely last and blew up our engine twice."
The Wisconsin-Madison team also received the Best Design
Award, presented by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Teams from 14 U.S. and Canadian universities competed March
15-20 at MTU's Keweenaw Research Center. This is Michigan
Tech's second year hosting the event, which was organized by the Keweenaw Research Center and MTU's Department of
Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.
The Clean Snowmobile Challenge is the Society of Automotive
Engineers' newest collegiate design competition. Teams of
engineering students from participating schools take a stock snowmobile and then reengineer it to reduce emissions and noise while maintaining or improving performance.
Michigan Tech held onto it's second place status in the
Challenge rankings, despite a gas-tank failure that forced
their sled out of the endurance run. "It was a bad first day," said team captain Brian Barr. "Everybody was pretty down, but I said we have a great sled, we'll do well." And they did, earning the Quietest Snowmobile and Best Performance awards, as well as the Blue Ribbon Coalition Award for Most Practical Solution.
The University of Maine finished third and also received the Gage Products Award for Best Fuel Economy and tied with the University of Wisconsin at Platteville for the Emitec Award for Best Value.
Finishing fourth was the State University of New York at
Buffalo, which also earned the Lotus Engineering and Horiba
Instruments Award for Lowest Emissions. Clarkson University
finished fifth.
Other specialty award winners were the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, which shares the Best Value award with the University of Maine and also earned the International Engineering and Manufacturing Braking Award.
The Ecole de Technologie Superieure, in Montreal, earned
honors in two categories, the Dana Long Manufacturing Award
for Best Acceleration and the U.S. Army TACOM/National
Automotive Center Award for Best Handling.
The University of Waterloo received the Founders' Trophy for Most Sportsmanlike Conduct.
Volunteers from the Michigan Snowmobile Association praised
the efforts of all the teams. "You are building the future of snowmobiling," MSA president Rick Brown said. "Please don't stop." |
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