Gage Continues Support for SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge

(2/11/2011)

Gage Products Company will supply fuel and serve as an official sponsor of the annual Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge scheduled for March 7-12 at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.

The Ferndale-based company will provide specially formulated fuels to college and university teams participating in the annual snowmobile competition. A leading supplier of test fuels, paint solvents and paint-system recycling products, Gage has been a Clean Snowmobile Challenge sponsor for nine consecutive years.

Student teams from more than 15 schools in the U.S. and Canada are expected to enter snowmobiles “re-engineered” to improve fuel economy, lower emissions and reduce noise levels without sacrificing performance. Teams entered in this year’s competition will compete in a variety of events which rate emissions, noise, fuel economy, endurance, acceleration, handling, cold start and design factors.

The program — an engineering design competition for college and university SAE student members — is jointly organized and hosted by SAE, the Keweenaw Research Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics at  Michigan Tech.

“The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge gives college students an excellent way to apply classroom knowledge to real-life challenges,” said Dan Finkiewicz, president and chairman of Gage Products Company. “Gage is especially proud to participate in educational programs that promote environmental awareness and the use of alternative fuels.

“We’re an environmentally-driven, customer-focused company. The Clean Snowmobile Challenge helps improve the environment and demonstrates to our customers our dedication to providing reliable as well as innovative products and services.”

Schools expected to participate in this year’s competition include: University of Alaska (Fairbanks, AK.); University of Buffalo (Buffalo, N.Y.); Clarkson University (Potsdam, N.Y.); Ecole De Technologie Superieure (Montreal, Quebec); University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho); Kettering University (Flint, Mich.); University of Maine (Orono, Maine); McGill University (Montreal, Quebec); Michigan Technological University (Houghton, Mich.); University of Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth, Minn.); North Dakota State University (Fargo, N.D.); Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Ill.); South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (Rapid City, S.D.); University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario); University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wis.), and  University of Wisconsin-Platteville (Platteville, Wis.).

“We are proud to have Gage Products as a Gold Level sponsor of the Clean Snowmobile Challenge,” said Jay Meldrum, lead-competition organizer for the event. “Gage’s contribution of fuel and the company’s expertise in blending fuels have made this a better competition for the past nine years.  I don’t know how we would do it without them.”

The team with the most fuel-efficient snowmobile at the 2011 event will receive Gage’s Best Fuel Economy Award at a banquet in Houghton. The Gage Product’s award last year went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In addition to the Gage fuel economy award, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s entry received the AVL Award for Best Emissions, the Sensors Inc. Award for Lowest In-Service Emissions and the BlueRibbon Coalition Award for Most Practical Solution.

Gage’s Test Fuel Division maintains an inventory of more than 250 custom-blended gasoline fuels for use in automotive test programs, including SAE fuels, ASTM fuels and OE-specific fuels. Gage also offers more than 25 different calibration fluids needed to meet testing requirements for a variety of automotive products, including oil and fuel pumps, fuel injectors and transmissions.

Gage has provided its customers with more than 1,000 different blends of gasoline for automotive-test uses over the last five years. These fuels not only represent regional fuel configurations from North America, Europe, South America and the Asia/Pacific region, they also include gasoline alternatives such as ethanol and gasoline with additives like MTBE.

A family-owned business, Gage will mark the 75th anniversary since its founding later this year. The company today is a leading supplier of closed-loop, automotive paint-system recycling programs. Over the past 25 years, Gage’s closed-loop recycling systems have been used by Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Kia, Magna, Mercedes and Nissan to safely remanufacture nearly 100 million gallons of spent paint solvent and waste material. Gage also manufactures paint-related products and cleaners for a wide variety of industrial uses. Visit www.gageproducts.com for more information.

Further details about the 2011 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge may be found at http://students.sae.org/competitions/snowmobile/ or http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm.