Gage's Support for SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge Continues for Tenth Year

FERNDALE, Mich., Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --  Gage Products Company is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its participation in the annual Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge taking place March 5-10 at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.

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A major program sponsor since 2001, Gage will provide specially blended fuels and technical support for the competition. The company is a leading supplier of custom blended formulations of test and reference fuels, calibration fluids, high performance purge solvent blends, paint line cleaning programs and specialty product solutions for various applications.

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 experiences," said Dan Finkiewicz, Chairman and President of Gage Products Company. "Gage is extremely proud to contribute in programs that promote environmental awareness and the use of alternative fuels through education.

"Participating in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge not only helps improve the environment, it demonstrates our dedication to providing reliable, environmentally-driven, innovated products and services to our customers."  

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.); McGill University (Montreal, Quebec); Michigan Technological University (Houghton, Mich.); 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 had Gage Products sponsor of the Clean Snowmobile Challenge for a decade now," 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 competition possible and successful a decade now."

The team with the most fuel-efficient snowmobile at the 2012 event will receive Gage's Best Fuel Economy Award at a banquet in Houghton. Last year, the Gage Products' award went to Clarkson University. In addition to the Gage fuel economy award, Clarkson University received the Land and Sea, Inc. Award for Best Performance; the Denso Award for Best Ride; the PCB Piezotronics, Inc. Award for Quietest Snowmobile; the BlueRibbon Coalition Award for Most Practical; the EMITEC Award for Best Value, and the Polaris Award for Best Handling, as well as placing first overall in the Internal Combustion Class.

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.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary and the 25th year of its closed loop recycling program, Gage Products Company is a leading supplier of automotive paint-system solvent-recycling programs. During the past 25 years, the company's closed-loop recycling systems have been used by Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Fiat, Jaguar/Land Rover, Mercedes, Nissan, Volkswagen, KIA and Hyundai to safely remanufacture nearly 100-million gallons of spent-paint solvent and waste material.

Gage also is a global leader in custom fuel-blending services for product development and emission-control testing. The company provides custom-fuel blends and reference test fuels for automotive manufacturers as well as for engine manufacturers and their suppliers throughout the world. In addition, Gage manufactures paint-related products and cleaners for a variety of automotive and industrial paint-system cleaning, maintenance and restoration programs.

Visit www.gageproducts.com or follow @gageproducts on Twitter 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.

SOURCE Gage Products Company