Russ Alger is the Director of the Institute of Snow Research (ISR) at Michigan Technological University (MTU). The parent center for ISR is the Keweenaw Research Center at MTU. A major emphasis of the center's research over the last 30 years has been in the field of deicing and anti-icing of pavements. This work has involved numerous projects to assess the performance and application of chemicals in the field and laboratory, development of new methods to evaluate chemicals, and pavement coatings for use as sealers and anti-icers. More information on KRC can be found at www.MTUKRC.org. Russ has patented a new deicing pavement system called SafeLAne. Check out www.CargillSafeLane.com for more info.Russ has also been involved in numerous vehicle mobility studies and has a patent on a novel snow grooming and milling system. He has been to Antarctica six times as a team member of the South Pole Traverse Team. He recently completed a short visit to Greenland and Summit Station.Some recent projects are listed in the next sections.

Snow Test Consulting specializes in snow and ice related projects including litigation, winter maintenance, snow roads and trail development, and winter vehicle mobility.

Russ Alger has been at KRC for over 30 years, all of which has been spent working with vehicles and terrains. This work has been conducted both in soils and over snow covered terrain. Russ has performed numerous studies of the deformation of soil and snow particles under vehicle loads. He has characterized these terrains using standard physical property measurement techniques as well as through the use of bevameters, automated penetrometers, calorimeters, high speed imaging, and a number of other methods to extract data in harsh environments. They have been working on the terrain side of the current mine detection and removal research underway at KRC by performing the needed soils characterization. Russ has been involved in dozens of vehicle evaluations for both military and commercial applications. These studies have included a full analysis and modeling of terrains ranging from soil to snow. Specific tests have included mobility development in semi-fluid iron tailings for a local mining company, wheeled vs tracked vehicle comparisons for TACOM, traction and sinkage prediction for both wheeled and tracked vehicles for USACRREL, modeling of pressure bulb and sinkage in deep snow for USACRREL, route development and mobility assessment for heavy hauling in Antarctica for NSF, and others.Russ is active in the development of methods to alter the strength and friction parameters of terrain surfaces to enhance mobility. He has a patent on a method to “manufacture” snow pavements by mechanically altering the internal snow properties and developing high strengths in the snow pack. He has another patent on a method to enhance surface friction of pavements with thin overlays. He has performed several studies involving the measurement and development of both macro and micro surface friction.

Some Mobility Related Projects“Trail Condition Assessment and Re-Construction Analysis ”, M.D. Osborne and R.G. Alger, United States Forest Service, In progress. “Snow Paver Proof-of-Concept Antarctica”, R.G. Alger, USACCREL, April 2011. “ATV, UTV, Motorcycle, and Snowmobile Braking and Sign Recognition”, M.D. Osborne and R.G. Alger, United States Forest Service, April 2011. “Effect of Varied Snow Conditions on Heavy Vehicle Mobility in Antarctica”, R.G. Alger, USACCREL, May 2004. “A Study of Snowmobile Generated Bumps on Snow”, R.G. Alger and S. Gruenberg, Yamaha Motor Corporation, May 2004.“Mitigation of Crevasse Hazards, Shear Zone, Antarctica”, R.G. Alger, USACRREL, January 2003. “Snowmobile Trail Grooming Research and Demonstration”, R.G. Alger and S. Gruenberg, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, July 2002.“Snowmobile Trail Grooming Handbook”, R. G. Alger, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Text, September 2000.“Snowmobile Trail Bump Formation Analysis, Prediction, and Modeling”, R.G. Alger, S. Gruenberg, and G. Gwaltney, National Park Service - Yellowstone National Park, August 2000.“Development and Construction of a Hard Surface Runway at the South Pole”, R.G. Alger and G.L. Blaisdell, US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, June 2000.“Low Temperature Power Consumption Changes in the Goodyear Trackman Rubber Track”, R.G. Alger, P. Quenzi, and J.C. Vizanko, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, June 1999.“Snow - Tire Finite Element Analysis”, R.G. Alger, S. Shoop, R. Haehnel, K. Kestler, K. Stebbings, Tire Technology International, June 1999.“Fostering Rural Economic Development Using New Concepts in Snowmobile Trail Grooming - Phase II”, R.G. Alger, P. Quenzi, and A.F. Wuori, US Department of Agriculture, May 1999.“Evaluation of the Caterpillar 35-55 for C-130 Deployment in Antarctica”, R.G. Alger, US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, June 1998.

Some Winter Maintenance Related Projects“Development of Manuals of Practice for use of Commercial Deicers by Contractors ”, R.G. Alger and Nolan Osborne, Morton Salt, July 2011.“Field and Laboratory Performance Evaluation of Five Common Commercial Deicers ”, R.G. Alger and Nolan Osborne, Morton Salt, July 2011.“Field and Laboratory Performance Evaluation of Four Highway Products ”, R.G. Alger and Nolan Osborne, Morton Salt, June 2011.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation – Urea Variations”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, December 2010.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation”, R.G. Alger, CryoTech Deicing Technologies, October 2010.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation – 3 Variations”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, August 2010.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation – Sub-Zero Testing”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, July 2010.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation - Additives”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, May 2010.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation”, R.G. Alger, CryoTech Deicing Technologies, January 2010. “Liquid Anti-Icer Performance Tests”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, May 2009.“Concrete Scaling Tests”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, March 2009.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation”, R.G. Alger, Redmond Minerals Inc, February 2009.“Installation of SafeLaneTM Overlay at Detroit Metro Airport”, R.G. Alger and J. Kunnari, Detroit Metro, October 2008.“Deicer Spalling of Concrete”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, June 2008.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation and Comparison of Common Deicing Compounds”, R.G. Alger, DOW Chemical, June 2008.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation and Saab Friction Tests” ”, R.G. Alger, Battelle Research, May 2008.“Laboratory Deicer Performance Evaluation”, R.G. Alger, FMC, February 2008.“Dilution Effect on Deicer Performance”, R.G. Alger, BfB Oil Research, December 2007.“Environmental Aspects of Consumer Deicing Products”, R.G. Alger, Morton Salt, November 2007.