Gage Products: University of Maine Wins Gage Fuel Economy Award at Fifth Annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, UW-Madison Places Second, UW-Platteville Fifth

HOUGHTON, Mich., March 24 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Maine took first place for best overall fuel economy in the fifth annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge held here March 15-20.

The Gage Products “Best Fuel Economy” award was presented to the university’s seven-member team by Robert Patzelt, director of quality control of Gage Products Company, at a recent honors banquet in Houghton. The University of Maine is located in Orono, Maine.

University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison) took second place in the fuel- economy event, followed by Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY), Minnesota State University (Mankato), and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (Platteville).

The winning entry was equipped with a 660-cc 4-stroke stock Arctic Cat engine, which averaged 18.8 miles per gallon during the 89-mile endurance test run.

Members of the University of Maine team include team leaders Jason Byrd and Steve Schaub and team members Aaron Desjardins, Joshua Higgins, Christian Bushnell, Dan Bennis and Shawn Rossignol, along with faculty advisor Dr. Mick Peterson.

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

“At Gage, we enjoy the opportunity to help increase the skills of these talented engineering students. The real plus is that they’re also helping create a future with a cleaner environment,” said Donald Dixon, president of Gage Products Company.

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 www.gageproducts.com.

Further details about the 2004 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge may be found at www.sae.org

Source: Gage Products Company

CONTACT: Company Contact: Tim Wing of Gage Products Company,
+1-248-691-6758, E-Mail: twing@gageproducts.com ; Marcia Goodrich of Michigan
Tech University, +1-906-487-2343, E-mail: mlgoodri@mtu.edu ; or Media Contact:
Chip Drake of AutoCom Associates, +1-248-647-8621, E-Mail: cdrake@usautocom ,
for Gage Products Company