Dylan Kloster of Harrisville was among a team of Clarkson University students who recently won second place overall at the annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge.

The "Winter Knights" team traveled to Michigan Technological University to compete against 13 other universities with the goal of developing a clean snowmobile.

Clarkson Clean Snowmobile Challenge President Eric Gleich said the team participates annually in the internal combustion category of the competition, where the objective is to take a basic snowmobile that is available to consumers and increase the fuel economy and decrease the emissions and noise harshness of the vehicle.

The snowmobile endures a series of tests throughout the week of the competition to test each element, and the team is given an unknown flex-fuel mixture of ethanol that they must be able to adjust for on the fly through the mapping of the engine, according to a press release from Clarkson.

Gleich said the Winter Knights must also consider the overall consumer appeal of the vehicle, such as the handling and acceleration. The team assesses the price of the project to determine if it would be viable to the market, the release said.

To complete the project, the team worked with several industry sponsors including Ski-Doo, Ingles Performance, New York State Snowmobile Association (NYSSA), Camso the Road Free Company, Dynojet Research Inc., Biteharder, Snap-on, Woody's Tracton, Klim, Emitec, 139designs, REM Engineering Services, Wiseco, Solidworks, Evans Cooling Systems Inc. and Rox Speed FX.

Gleich said the industry sponsors are a major asset to the success of the team, providing technical assistance, products and financial support for the project, as well as professional connections.

"This is a great networking opportunity for members of the team as the two former presidents of the team are now working within the snowmobile industry in part because of the contacts they developed through the team," he said.