Clarkson SPEED teams
The Electric Snowmobile SPEED Team
Tom Masse
Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: Features
The Electric Snowmobile is one of the SPEED teams at Clarkson. The team has existed for three years and has competed in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge for the last two years. Each year, during spring break, the team competes against schools from the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, and IE&M students have traditionally made up the team. The team has approximately ten members, which allows for plenty of hands-on opportunities. However, the team is always looking for more students and other disciplines. There are many activities within the team. Some activities aside from the actual construction of the snowmobile include: budget management, finding sponsors, and website management.
The team's first electric snowmobile was an Arctic Cat that ran on nickel-metal hydride batteries, enabling the team to start off strong. Currently, Electric Snowmobile is working on a 2008 Polaris 600RR that runs on lithium-polymer batteries. This snowmobile is the same that was used in the 2007-2008 competition, so the team is working to install a battery management system to perfect the current setup.
The competition, sponsored by the Society for Automotive Engineers, is a week-long event that tests the snowmobile's endurance, acceleration, handling, sound emissions, and a variety of other categories. The event provides students with the opportunity to interact with students from various schools and present their designs to judges from different industries and the community. The winning electric snowmobile is then taken to Summit Station on the Greenland Ice Cap and used for research purposes by the National Science Foundation.
Everyone is welcome to join the team as Electric Snowmobile is always looking for new members. The team provides exciting opportunities, experience, and looks great on a resume! Interested parties should contact Tom Masse at massetl@clarkson.edu.
Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, and IE&M students have traditionally made up the team. The team has approximately ten members, which allows for plenty of hands-on opportunities. However, the team is always looking for more students and other disciplines. There are many activities within the team. Some activities aside from the actual construction of the snowmobile include: budget management, finding sponsors, and website management.
The team's first electric snowmobile was an Arctic Cat that ran on nickel-metal hydride batteries, enabling the team to start off strong. Currently, Electric Snowmobile is working on a 2008 Polaris 600RR that runs on lithium-polymer batteries. This snowmobile is the same that was used in the 2007-2008 competition, so the team is working to install a battery management system to perfect the current setup.
The competition, sponsored by the Society for Automotive Engineers, is a week-long event that tests the snowmobile's endurance, acceleration, handling, sound emissions, and a variety of other categories. The event provides students with the opportunity to interact with students from various schools and present their designs to judges from different industries and the community. The winning electric snowmobile is then taken to Summit Station on the Greenland Ice Cap and used for research purposes by the National Science Foundation.
Everyone is welcome to join the team as Electric Snowmobile is always looking for new members. The team provides exciting opportunities, experience, and looks great on a resume! Interested parties should contact Tom Masse at massetl@clarkson.edu.
Be the first to comment on this story