At a June 17, 2017, event in the Mechanical Engineering Building atrium, Badgerloop team members showcased the latest iteration of their innovative Hyperloop pod. The team, which formed in 2015, has competed against more than 100 teams from around the world in multiple stages of the Hyperloop competition, which is sponsored by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. In January 2016, the team earned third place in the concept phase of the competition; in January 2017, the students’ 15-foot-long, 2,100-pound Hyperloop pod received one of two innovation awards in recognition of its creativity and inventive design, as well as a virtual reality Hyperloop experience they developed.
The team also earned a spot in the next phase of the competition, which will be held Aug. 25-27, 2017, at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. This time, the students’ goal is speed, and their sleek new pod is built for just that purpose.
During the reveal event, College of Engineering Dean Ian Robertson called the Badgerloop team members pioneers. “Think about Wilbur and Orville Wright, whose tireless efforts ultimately gave us ‘wings’ and opened the world of aviation,” he said. “Think about Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard, whose courage and determination led them to become the first humans to fly in space. You, our Badgerloop team members—both past and present—are pioneers in a unique form of transportation that, in a decade or so, we very well may enjoy as an everyday aspect of our lives. What an unprecedented and amazing opportunity you have to break this new ground!”
View additional photos from the pod reveal event here.