University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Photo: Nicholas Mills

Let it snow

Matt Wetzel, a junior mechanical engineering major, takes a spin on UB's "clean" snowmobile, an environmentally friendly model designed by Wetzel and other engineering students. the students will compete in the Society of Automotive Engineers' Annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge, being held March 19-24 at Keweenaw Research Center at Michigan Technical University in Houghton, Mich. UB's machine, a 1999 V-Max Yamaha, features a 500cc intercooled, four-stroke, fuel-injected engine and a three-way catalytic converter designed to significantly reduce, if not make negligible, the amounts of hydrocarbon emissions and other pollutants released into the environment. The snowmobile also features a custom-designed silencer, aimed at reducing engine noise.