With hands and clothes covered in engine grease, the Iowa State SAE International “Clean Snowmobile” team was proud to announce its return to Houghton, Mich., last weekend to compete in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge.

Twenty-three teams from the United States’ “snowbelt” met in Michigan to show off their snowmobiles designed to be environmentally friendly.

Twelve Iowa State SAE International members traveled to Michigan on Sunday and will be there until Saturday to have their snowmobile judged in different areas.

“The background of the competition started from the national parks like West Yellowstone,” said Nicholas Winter, technical director for SAE and senior in mechanical engineering. “[Their goal was to] create cleaner, quieter sleds for parks that have stricter regulations.”

Winter added that the purpose of this competition is to promote innovation from engineering students, to promote clean air and to promote awareness of emissions and the carbon footprint humans leave behind.

SAE currently has four vehicle teams within the club, but Clean Snowmobile is the most recently established team at two years old. This year will mark the second time the team travels to Michigan.

The team started with the donation of its snowmobile from Polaris. It was a test sled that wasn’t in the greatest condition, and it needed repairs. Even though the team didn’t have the best sled in 2015, it still finished eighth out of 13 teams and won “rookie of the year.”

“It’s a really great experience,” Winter said. “You get to converse with other teams. We’re in a huge airplane hangar, and all the teams are in that area.”

For the team, the experience is bittersweet. The competition will be handed off to the younger members of the team after this week as the seniors go on to graduate at the end of the spring semester.

“It’s nice to get some younger guys in there,” said Jesse Rhodes, public relations chair for SAE. “That way they know what it’s about for next year. If they’re still on the team, they know what the competition is all about, what it’s like.”

Through teamwork and some careful innovation, the team members all have their individual goals for this competition as well as goals for going into next school year.

“A main goal of mine is to learn more about the engineering of snowmobiles,” said Nick Begley, team leader for SAE. “I’m a junior, [and I] look up to the seniors to see what I need to do next year to be a better leader in the club”

Meanwhile, seniors in SAE are looking back on what the club has done for them as individuals. For Cameron Pomeroy, project director for SAE Clean Snowmobile and senior in mechanical engineering, the experience of being on the team will last into his life after college.

“When I’m interviewing for full-time jobs, I speak more about this club than I do about my year of experience in the industry” Pomeroy said. “It’s one thing to stand up in front of a group of people and present, and it’s another thing to manage people and time and resources.”

The team hopes to see the Clean Snowmobile Challenge grow as it gets older. SAE also encompasses three other teams, including Baja, Supermileage and Formula. All four race under the name Cyclone Racing.