Houghton , MI provided extremely cooperative weather from March 7-12th for this years Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) event. A record number of 20 teams have entered this year’s competition featuring 7 all electric sleds. Traditional internal combustion powered sleds will focus on fuel efficiency.
The SAE International Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) is an engineering design competition for college and university student members that challenge engineering students to reengineer an existing snowmobile to reduce emissions and noise. Their modified snowmobiles will compete in a variety of events including: emissions, noise, fuel economy/endurance, acceleration, handling, static display, cold start and design.
This year’s 1st place winner overall in the internal combustion (IC) class was Clarkson University (New York). Milwaukee Section’s UW-Madison followed close behind for a 2nd place overall. UW-Madison’s IC sled also won awards for Best Emissions, Lowest In-Service Emissions, and Best Design. Their Zero Emissions(ZE, battery operated) sled won 1st place overall in the ZE class. Michigan Tech University won Rookie of the Challenge award for their pioneered ZE sled entry. UW-Madison’s ZE entry also won awards for Best Range Event and Drawbar Pull Event. Congratulations to the Milwaukee Section collegiate participants!
Find more info on this year’s competition at MTU’s CSC website: http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm
Be sure to visit http://blizzard.mtukrc.org/~csc2011 vid/index.htm to review videos of the event action!