Two University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) student-built snowmobiles swept the 2009 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge, winning both competition divisions: the National Science Foundation Award for the best sled in the zero-emissions division and the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association Award for first place in the internal-combustion division. The annual event, hosted each year by the Keweenaw Research Center on the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton, Michigan, tests teams’ abilities to operate a conventional snowmobile on flex-fuel, with varying ratios of ethanol and gasoline. The sleds compete for design, noise, emissions, acceleration, handling, weight, cost and fuel economy.

Although the weather turned unseasonably warm during the competition March 16th – 21st, the UW-Madison snowmobiles excelled in the less-than-ideal snowmobile trial conditions. The teams plowed through slush and splashed through standing water during the 70-mile endurance event.

The team would like to acknowledge its major sponsors, which allow the students to apply their engineering fundamental in a real-world application: Polaris Industries, United Wisconsin Grain Producers, Weber Motor AG and Woodward-Mototron Control Solutions.

For more information, visit University of Winsconsin-Madison News online.