The NIU Clean Snowmobile Team is back in action this year with the hopes of creating two new vehicles for competition next March in Houghton, Mich.
The team is working on a 2007 Yamaha Phazer as well as a 2011 Polaris Rush. The Polaris Rush was donated by Polaris to the team this year for use as its competition sled.
“We will be working on the sled at the same time as the Phazer to hopefully have them both done before competition,” said A.J. Martineck, president of the NIU Clean Snowmobile Team. “Then we’ll choose the most efficient of the two to compete with.”
Like many other student organizations, the Clean Snowmobile Team welcomes all majors.
“Even though we are an engineering team, we have members from departments all over the university from education to history. We won’t turn anyone away that can contribute to the team,” Martineck said.
The team is currently accepting new members, and encourages those with prior snowmobile experience to attend a meeting. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. Mondays in the Still Gym Basement Lab.
Being part of a team is a great opportunity for students to network and connect with others who share their interests from this university, as well as other institutions across the nation.
“The team has given us the chance to meet and learn from people in the industry who can help us find careers after we graduate,” Martineck said. “I would encourage anyone interested in the sport to join for the experience, because you won’t learn the ins and outs of the industry anywhere else.”
