arctic cat snowmobiles

Snowmobiles have long endured controversy from scientists and environmentalists on impact of snowmobiles to the environment. As technology advanced, snowmobiles replaced dog sleds for transporting people and cargo to polar regions throughout the world. Although their utility is unmatched, advancement in environmental friendliness still has some ways to go. Snowmobilers must now look for solutions to be able to enjoy their sport as well as use their snowmobiles for utility AND enjoy and protect environment around them.

So, leave it to our youngest and brightest to tackle this issue. This year, the engineering students from North America came together to tackle this issue at the annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge ™ in Houghton, Michigan. The event is organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International and the Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) of Michigan Technological University. This event is an intercollegiate engineering design competition that challenges engineering students to reengineer an existing snowmobile for improved emissions and noise while maintaining or improving the performance characteristics of the original snowmobile.

The 2007 winner in the Internal Combustion Class was University of Idaho, dominating in 10 different categories including Best Performance and Best Design. In the category of Zero-Emmissions, McGill University of Quebec, Canada wins the honors with their electric snowmobile.

The competition grew out of a need for cleaner snowmobiles in national and state parks and forests. The modified snowmobiles are also expected to be cost-effective. The challenge attracts teams of undergraduate engineering students from across North America with the goal of designing a snowmobile with lower environmental impact, less noise, fewer emissions and a lighter footprint--all without sacrificing the performance snowmobile enthusiasts love.