Participant Support for the Zero Emissions Category of the Clean Snowmobile Challenge

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) of Michigan Tech University (MTU) has hosted and will continue to host the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) event for the next three years at its 500-acre test track near Houghton, Michigan. University Teams from across the US and Canada compete for the title of cleanest and quietest snowmobile. This project sought NSF funding to encourage University teams to participate in the challenge by reimbursing travel expenses and other participant costs associated with the competition?s Zero Emissions category. CSC's are consistent with those of the National Science Foundation Arctic Research and Education Program in terms of developing vehicles that have a reduced impact on the environment. Conventional snowmobiles are suitable as transportation in extreme polar locations, however due to their higher carbon emissions may not be used in areas where their output would skew the research results. The Zero Emission category of CSC challenges undergraduate students to look for solutions to this problem. In doing so they learn the needs of the Polar Program research engineers and they also learn about electrification of transportation vehicles, a timely topic as we search for alternatives to the use of fossil fuels for energy. The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge provides a venue for students to search for solutions to the needs of the Arctic Research and Education Program and at the same time provides a conduit for public dissemination of the work of the Polar Program. Continued support of this competition will lead to further improvements in Arctic zero emissions transportation needs.