SUNY Buffalo Wins Gage Fuel Economy Award at Sixth Annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge

HOUGHTON, Mich., March 22 -- The State University of New York at Buffalo took overall first place as well as first place for best overall fuel economy in the sixth annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge held here March 14-19 at Michigan Technological University (MTU).

The Buffalo team recorded 18.2 mpg fuel economy in its winning performance and was presented with the Gage Products "Best Fuel Economy" award by Robert Patzelt, director of quality control for Gage Products Company, at a recent honors banquet in Houghton.

Gage, a leading global supplier of test fuels, paint solvents and paint- system recycling programs for the automotive industry, provided specially blended fuel for the event. The company has been a Clean Snowmobile Challenge sponsor for three consecutive years.

Kettering University (Flint, MI) took second place in the fuel economy competition at 18.0 mpg, followed by the University of Maine (Orno) at 17.8 mpg and the University of Wisconsin (Madison) at 17.5 mpg.

The winning SUNY Buffalo entry was equipped with a turbocharged Honda Silverwing, 600-cc, four-stroke engine mounted in a Polaris chassis for the 100.1-mile endurance test run.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison, which competed with an innovative gas-electric hybrid engine, earned the award for lowest emissions.

Held in Michigan for the third time, the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge was hosted by Michigan Technological University, its mechanical engineering department and the school's Keweenaw Research Center. Thirteen university teams from the U.S. and Canada took part in the competition, which is designed to encourage the development of environmentally friendly snowmobiles.

Other teams in the competition included Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY), Michigan Technological University (Houghton), Minnesota State University (Mankato), Montana Tech (Butte), University of Idaho (Moscow), University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Ecole de Technologies Superieure (Montreal), McGill University (Montreal) and the University of Alberta (Edmonton).

"The real significance of this competition is that these students are helping to create a future with a cleaner environment," said Donald Dixon, Gage president. "At Gage, we're proud to be able to help increase the skills of these talented students."

A specialist in the production of test fuels for the automotive industry, Gage has provided its customers with more than 1,000 different test-fuel blends over the past five years. The company's custom-fuel customers include Bosch, Visteon, TI Automotive, Inergy Automotive Systems, Eaton Corporation, Detroit Testing Services Group and Delphi.

The company's products and services help customers reduce costs, while positively contributing to their environmental initiatives. Gage's major automotive customers include DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Nissan.

Headquartered in Ferndale, Mich., Gage also has operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Brazil and Mexico. The company is a leader in the field of sustainable manufacturing and solvent remanufacturing systems.

In addition, Gage manufactures paint-related products and cleaners for a wide variety of industrial uses, as well as calibration and test fuels for use in the auto industry. Additional information on Gage is available on the Internet at http://www.gageproducts.com/ .

Further details about the 2005 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge may be found at http://www.sae.org/