I wasn’t paid to write this article. In fact paying a lot is what led me to write this article.
For the past 4 years my youngest son Nick has been studying for his Mechanical Engineering degree at Clarkson University in Potsdam New York. We will celebrate the achievement of his success in May of this year and he will once again make me a very proud Dad.
Nick is a lot like me in several (hopefully all positive) ways. We are particularly similar in the way that the attraction to and passion for snowmobiles touched our souls at an early age. One of the reasons that Nick selected Clarkson University was for their successful Speed Team programs, which offer practical hands on experience in the application of Engineering ideas, principals and process.
As per the Clarkson University SPEED programs description “The Heart of the SPEED program Teams lies in solving open-ended problems that require research, creativity and risk-taking. Team competition, hands on problem solving and relevance to real world application is an overwhelming student motivator. This approach also allows you to integrate research activities into your curriculum. Given the multi disciplinary nature of the design projects, you’ll gain the knowledge, skills and experience highly sought by global corporations”
I have witnessed Nick’s dedication and involvement with Clarkson’s Clean Snowmobile Speed Team to be incredibly positive in many important ways. Among many things that will serve him well in his future, it has given him a higher level of personal confidence and impressive team building and leadership skills.
2015 Clarkson CSC IC Team
The camaraderie, shared commitment, creative problem solving, professional interaction and team work that this program offered has added not only to Nick’s Mechanical Engineering education, but to education experience of every SPEED Team member.
Beginning in 2000 SAE International has sponsored the Clean Snowmobile Challenge. The Challenge is an engineering design competition that invites University SPEED team students to reengineer an existing snowmobile to effectively and reliably reduce emissions and noise.
Modified snowmobiles compete in a variety of competition events including acceleration, ride quality, handling, durability, fuel economy, emissions and sound testing, overall design, practicality, value and innovation.
Starting line preparation, 2015 CSC Competition
Each competition category results in an individual winner as well as combining for an overall Clean Snowmobile Challenge Grand Champion.
The SAE was initially established as a Society of Automotive Engineers. Currently the SAE International organization is a global association of 138,000 engineers in the fields of aerospace, automotive and commercial vehicles (including off road vehicle) industries.
SAE International’s vision is to be the leader in connecting and educating engineers while promoting, developing and advancing aerospace, commercial vehicle and automotive engineering.
Over the years the Clean Snowmobile Challenge has been primarily an "engine" competition and the general theme to engineer a cleaner and quieter trail sled has remained consistent. While all manufacturers of modern snowmobiles currently use higher technologies with significantly increased efficiencies, it is always possible to achieve more. Many technologies currently used in the snowmobile industry have been based on innovations of Clean Snowmobile Challenge SPEED Teams.
To keep the competition fresh the Clean Snowmobile Challenge Rules Committee makes changes to the competition rules in early August to present new engineering challenges. For the 2016 competition the fuel used will be an unknown mix of gasoline and ethanol which could be anywhere from 0-85%.
From March 7-12 The Keweenaw Research Center in Houlton Michigan and the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics of Michigan Tech will once again proudly host the 2016 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge.
2015 CSC Competitors
The 2016 Clean Snowmobile Challenge Internal Combustion competition teams include
- Clarkson University, Winter Knights
- Ecole De Technologie Superieure, Team Quiets
- Iowa State University, Iowa State Clean Snowmobile Challenge
- Kettering University, Snow Dogs
- Michigan Tech University, Michigan Tech
- Northern Illinois University, NIU Clean Snowmobile
- Rochester Institute of Technology, RIT Clean Snowmobile Team
- University of Idaho, UI SC
- University of Minnesota-Duluth, UMD Clean Snowmobile Team
- University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, UMN Clean Snow
- University of Waterloo, University of Waterloo Clean Snowmobile team
- University of Wisconsin – Madison, BAGR 670
- University of Wisconsin – Platteville, 2 + 2 Stroke
For the ‘15-16 academic year there are 14 members of the Clarkson CSC/IC SPEED Team, including officers
Eric Gleich – President
Nick Gilbert – Vice President
Brett Swan – Treasurer
Dylan Kloster – Secretary
Past Clarkson SPEED Team officers and members have gone on to successful engineering careers with many of the snowmobile industries premiere manufacturers.
The Clarkson Team would like to thank their 2016 supporting sponsors
- BRP Skidoo
- Ingles Performance
- KLIM
- Camso (formerly Camoplast)
- NYSSA New York State Snowmobile Association
- Snap-On tools
- BiteHarder.com Carbide runner and stud sharpening tools
- Woody’s traction products
- Rox Speed FX
- Emitec
- 139 Designs
- Wiseco
- DynoJet
- Evans Coolant
My son, Nick Gilbert in 2015 CSC Endurance Competition
SledMagazine.com and this very proud Dad, wish the Clarkson SPEED Team and all participants the very best in results and experiences during the 2016 Clean Snowmobile Challenge Competition.
