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The University of Edinburgh’s Hyperloop team HYPED recently travelled to Delft in the Netherlands to take part in European Hyperloop Week (EHW).
The event is an international gathering for those working on Hyperloop technology, from university students to industry experts, and was co-founded by HYPED and three other top European student Hyperloop teams – Delft Hyperloop, Swissloop and Hyperloop UPV.
This was the second edition of the event after the successful inaugural EHW in Valencia last year.
What is Hyperloop?
Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transport system for people and cargo, which would see magnetically levitating pods travel through a network of near-vacuum steel tubes between terminals.
Popularised by entrepreneur Elon Musk, the technology’s proponents believe it could shorten a journey between London and Edinburgh to around 50 minutes.
HYPED is the University of Edinburgh’s student team dedicated to the technology. Although primarily based in the School of Engineering, it has a large and diverse membership of 130 drawn from across the University.
The team is currently working on the UK’s first 100-metre Hyperloop test track at the University’s King’s Buildings campus, which is due to be unveiled this autumn.
Event highlights
Some highlights of the conference included:
- talks from companies, organisations and industry professionals on the development of Hyperloop and approaches to scaling up the burgeoning transport technology, plus daily expert and student panels exploring diverse Hyperloop topics. HYPED’s 2021/22 President, Stella Antonogiannaki, spoke on cross-border challenges to implementing the technology and opportunities for environmentally sustainable systems.
- opportunities for the Edinburgh team to present their latest Hyperloop pod prototype, Greyfriars Poddy to industry experts and a technical jury during the Design Competition. The Technical Team, led by Bertie Whiteford and Eralp Calhan, presented and defended their subsystem designs, while the Research Team, led by Vivian Owusu, explored the feasibility of four suspension and levitation systems for Hyperloop, focusing on mechanisms, costs, and commercialisation.
- chances to engage with the public on the application of STEM subjects to transport challenges, the Hyperloop concept, and most importantly, the technology’s feasibility as the fifth mode of transport. During a final exhibition, several teams demonstrated their Hyperloop pod prototype concepts on test tracks in the city of Hilversum and assessed for their reliability and ingenuity.
- an awards ceremony in which HYPED were named Top Three Finalists for the Full-Scale Award in Technical Aspects of Hyperloop Systems, and Top Five Finalists for the Mechanical Subsystem Award of 21 participating teams.
Commenting on the experience, current HYPED President Gregory Dayao said “The knowledge and experience gained during this week places the team in a privileged position to continue researching and developing the technology necessary to make Hyperloop a reality.”
“HYPED is proud to be one of the co-organising teams of the European Hyperloop Week, furthering Hyperloop development and creating an ecosystem in Europe. EHW was not only an opportunity to compete with world-renowned university teams, but also a chance to interact and learn from other counterparts.”
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