Designing tomorrow’s travel

A group of University of Florida engineering students has made it to the finals in an international competition to come up with the best design for the next big thing in transportation: super-fast ground travel.

“Hyperloop” is a high-speed transportation design concept introduced by engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk. In 2013, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla challenged the world to develop the concept from his open-source designs. In the first round of competition in Texas in late January, over 120 teams from around the world presented plans for moving forward – specifically on designs for the pods that will carry passengers and cargo.

Only 29 college teams were selected to build prototypes for a final round of competition this summer. The University of Florida’s Gatorloop team was one of them. 

“When they said our name, it was so surreal,” said Taylor Waber, captain of UF’s Gatorloop team. “There were so many great designs presented, we really weren’t sure that we’d make the cut.”

The students represent six different majors, all housed within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.