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Hyperloop Team on a Mission: Build Pod for SpaceX’s Final Round of Competition

April 17, 2018

Hyperloop Team with President Rao
Hyperloop at VCU leadership team: (From left) Samantha Kaputa, Charles Cartin, Ph.D., John Naylor, Patrick Welch, Arthur Chadwick, Brendan Fisher, Michael Rao, Ph.D., Matthew Kozak, Jay Khandpur, Tyler Brayton, Harrison Powers, Radha Kapadia, L. Franklin Bost, M.B.A., ISDA, FAIMBE

After advancing through two preliminary rounds to become one of only 11 teams in the United States and one of only 20 teams across the globe earning the honor to compete in the final round of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition, the Hyperloop at VCU team is now in the final sprint to make their pod design a reality and get it to the final competition in California.

As part of their sprint to the finish line, Hyperloop’s leadership team recently met with VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., and is working hard to raise enough money to buy the parts and build the pod they have designed and proposed to SpaceX. The team will use Build, RVA, a makerspace community, to build the pod, drawing on the skills across the full Hyperloop at VCU student organization which includes Engineering students and students from VCU’s schools of Business and the Arts.

Hyperloop is a high-speed ground transportation concept being advanced by SpaceX founder Elon Musk. The competition takes place July 22 in California and focuses on just one criterion: maximum speed.

Learn more about the team and follow their journey to the finals in California.

Related story: https://egr.vcu.edu/news-events/news/hyperloop.html