Students take up snowmobile challenge

Shop talk: a team of Colorado State University students majoring in mechanical engineering prepare for the snowmobile design competition.

February 9, 2000
Web posted at: 9:15 AM EST (1415 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

Midterm exams are not on the minds of students from seven universities who've taken up the Clean Snowmobile Challenge 2000. There are tests, and there is The Test: how to design a cleaner, quieter snowmobile in a matter of months.

The intercollegiate competition, slated for March 28-31, in Jackson, Wyoming, and neighboring Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, challenges the young designers to retool a snowmobile in ways that reduce noise and pollution without compromising performance.

The modifications can't be extravagant. The revamped snowmobiles must also be affordable.

"It's real easy to reduce emissions but you would sacrifice performance," said Lori Fussell, an environmental engineer and co-founder of CSC2000. "The real engineering challenge is maintaining performance and keeping costs low."

Students from the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Michigan Technological University, Minnesota State University, State University of New York at Buffalo and two Canadian universities The University of Waterloo and the Ecole de Technologie Superieure are competing in the great snowmobile challenge. All of the students are members of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

"I feel fully confident we can get a dramatic reduction in emissions and noise and still maintain adequate power and performance," said Bryan Willson, faculty advisor for Colorado State University's team. "As a matter of fact, we'll probably improve performance of the machine we're building,"

The CSU team entered the challenge for several reasons. "This competition is near and dear to the hearts of the students because we have avid snowmobilers and we've been doing work over the years in trying to reduce the pollution that comes from engines of all types," said Willson, who also directs the university's engines and energy conversion laboratory. "There are several students who enjoy outdoor sports like snowmobiling and also recognize the environmental costs."

Trevor Smith, a senior at Colorado State University, assembles a suspension modified for improved performance in the snowmobile challenge.

Willson's team, made up mostly of mechanical engineering students, has been working on improving the standard two-stroke snowmobile engine. Only 70 percent of two-stroke engine emissions are burned; the remainder is spit out in blue clouds of pollution.

"We're applying some advanced technology to make the two-stroke engine cleaner," said Willson.

"One thing these projects teach students is time management and we are learning a very critical lesson in that right now," he added. "We will be ready for the competition but we're not ready now."

The retooled snowmobiles will undergo a safety inspection and an emissions test at the competition. Each snowmobile must be able to travel at least 100 miles without running out of fuel, an ethanol blend that burns cleaner than regular gasoline.

The snowmobiles will be put through their paces on a hill climb in Jackson. They'll also be tested for handling, acceleration, noise and their ability to start in cold temperatures.

Judges will rate the machines on practicality of design, cost and aesthetics. "They can't just get by by reducing emissions," said Fussell. "The snowmobiles have to be practical."

The two national parks support the competition. "There are a lot of snowmobilers who think it's on the agenda of the park service to ban snowmobiles," said Fussell. "But the fact that the park service has been so supportive of this competition to develop cleaner, quieter snowmobiles shows they are open to solutions.

"I hope the industry will be able to take advantage of the technology. I hope the students feel their participation has been valuable and I expect they'll make contacts for future jobs. I also hope the general public realizes there is technology for cleaner, quieter snowmobiles and that they will help encourage the industry to go in that direction."

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