• November 01, 2018

    University of Washington Hyperloop team earns #1 in the U.S. in SpaceX competition

    Earlier this year, UW’s Hyperloop team, sponsored by PacTrans, journeyed to Hawthorne, California and placed fourth and #1 in the U.S. in the most recent running of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Pod Competition.

    UW’s Hyperloop team saw its beginnings three years ago with a handful of hopeful students who dreamed of improving transportation. Since then, the group has grown in size and experience, but continues to work towards a future that utilizes new, innovative technology and develops its engineers.

    The team has seen great success in previous SpaceX competitions, winning the Subsystem Safety Technical Excellence Award at Design Weekend, placing fourth in the U.S. and sixth in the world in their first race, and competing in the final round of their second.

    This SpaceX competition aims to encourage students to work on and invest in Hyperloop-style engineering projects, supporting the idea of a world that features high-tech modes of transportation.

    The competition consists of rounds of design analysis and safety checks, allowing those who power through these tests to the tube for open-air runs, and finishing off the race with the top three finalists participating in a series of depressurized runs.

    Additionally, UW’s team had the opportunity to meet with Musk to discuss their invention and designs.

    Congratulations to the UW team for their success in this round!