The Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportation system, for both goods and people. Hyperloop systems comprise three essential elements; a pressurized Pod, a tube in a partial vacuum, and a series of terminals along the length of the tube. The high-level idea is that the tube removes air resistance from the path of the Pod, allowing near-supersonic terrestrial travel, all while achieving significantly better energy economies of scale than competing modes of transport.

In its modern form, the Hyperloop was introduced as a unified concept in a White Paper by Elon Musk and the Advanced Projects Research teams at Tesla and

SpaceX

Though popularized by Elon Musk & Co. in 2013, the underlying concepts that constitute a Hyperloop System are significantly older. Preliminary theories of a pneumatically-driven pod through a sealed tube first appear in 1799, in a patent for a wind pump compressing air to obtain motive power filed by George Medhurst. Other sources list William Murdoch as the originator of this concept, but no definitive provenance information exists. Medhurst went on to describe a system of transportation involving pressurized tubes in the following century, while Murdoch made significant contributions to the engineering of early pneumatic tubes.

General advances in engineering, particularly in the domain of hypersonic technology (both terrestrial and extraterrestrial) during the early 20th Century, led to advances in the study of fundamental Physical concepts at these speed and pressure regimes, including the Kantrowitz Limit, and other stress-related mechanisms. It was a combination of these advances, as well as general strain on the transportation systems in the state of California that led to Musk and his teams iterating the Hyperloop concept in 2012 and 2013.

To encourage research and development of the Hyperloop Concept,

SpaceX

This was divided into two key phases: the first was a Design Phase (with open submissions for teams from across the world), and the second was the Prototype and Build Phase. Only teams that had satisfactory proposals at the end of the first phase were allowed to proceed to the second. In practice, this meant that the first Design Weekend in 2016 had 1,700(!) submissions, with only 30 selected to build and test their pods at the newly constructed mile-long SpaceX Hyperloop Test track facility in Hawthorne, CA the following year.

The University of Washington’s Hyperloop team was started by David Coven, Malachi Williams, and Michael Chamerski in the Fall Quarter of 2015. Before I joined the team, David, Malachi, Michael, and nearly 40 others designed and simulated an initial version of a Hyperloop Pod, the Mark I. They went on to pitch this design at Texas A&M University for the first SpaceX Hyperloop Design Weekend.

The team performed exceptionally well at Design Weekend in 2016, and successfully qualified to build one of the first Hyperloop Pods for the 2017 competition. To top that all off, they also brought home the

Safety Subsystem Technical Excellence Award

I joined the team during the Design phase of the Mark II Pod, a few months after Design Weekend. My role on the team was to get a handle on all the business functions (funding, procurement, human resource management, project management, business development, publicity, resource management, etc.), as the team’s operational capacity had not scaled with the engineering organization. Soon after I joined, we downsized the team from an inflated 80+, to a more appropriately sized 30. At this time, we also recruited Paul Gentsch, who co-led the Business Management Team with me.

During this time, my group spearheaded funding efforts, and ensured that the team had sufficient working capital to complete the Pod in time for Competition Weekend in January 2017. This included DTC fundraising efforts, and direct engagement with materials suppliers to source fabrication materials and services for the Pod. Notably, we organized a fundraising campaign across individuals, and various Departments at the University (including the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astroanutics, the Paul G. Allen Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the

Michael G. Foster School of Business

In parallel to this, the Engineering functions of the team were pushing ahead at full steam. During this time, the team overhauled the propulsion system from the proposed system in Competition I. Specifically, the team pivoted to a contactless propulsion system driven by powerful neodymium magnets arranged in circular Halbach Arrays. A combination of dynamic (from the rotors) and static Halbach arrays provided sufficient resultant force to enable levitation at high speed. This, in combination with Eddy current braking delivered a fully contactless propulsion and braking system for the Pod.

The Pod went through many design iterations, but after much review, the team settled on a final design and began fabrication. The procurement team got to work securing building materials (including $50,000+ worth of Carbon Fiber for the shell!), and the team began final Pod fabrication in various team members’ garages in the Seattle area.

The months that led up to Competition Weekend in January 2017 were full of late nights, intense design discussions, and near misses when fingers were mixed with hundreds of powerful Neodymium magnets.

In addition to traditional engineering challenges, we were also faced with the unique problem of trying to unload nearly 2,000 lb (~900 kg) of Carbon Fiber from a U-Haul (without a fork-lift).

With an almost literal ton of carbon fiber, many attempts were made at laying out the shell. Unfortunately, we did not have access to an Autoclave. This forced us to use a wet lay-up process for the shell. Despite many failed attempts, the final version came out absolutely awesome.

Another highlight of this intense period was getting to work with Controls Systems Team Lead Jonathan Lundlee on wiring and integrating the Control Systems for the Pod. We completed this effort just hours before it was due to be driven down to Hawthorne for Competition Weekend.

Through this effort, the team remained focused, and delivered a track-ready Hyperloop Pod in time for our launch the week before the Competition in January 2017.

We had the privilege of hosting a large unveiling event for the Pod, the week before Competition Weekend. While this was a ton of fun for the team, we consciously held this event before the competition to attract continued support from our diverse group of donors and funding sources at the University of Washington.

Following an extremely successful launch, some of the team got started on the long drive down from Seattle to Hawthorne in a U-Haul, carrying precious cargo. In tandem, the team also prepared and delivered a detailed design review of the Pod Mark II as a part of the competition requirements.

At Competition Weekend, the team performed exceptionally - we achieved

Global 6th Place

Given the competition started with over 1,700 teams, this result exceeded our wildest expectations. We successfully completed a vacuum test with the Pod in the test track, and the team got to show off Pod Mark II to a panel of judges, including Elon Musk and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

After an extremely successful performance at Competition Weekend, the my group secured significant funding from nearly every related department at the University of Washington. The UW Hyperloop Team was fully funded until the last Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2019.

The team enjoyed a (much needed!) break after the first competition. We celebrated at the Lab in Seattle, and got to dispose of some of the first prototypes of our design. We even made it on the front page of the UW website! The success of the first Hyperloop Pod Competition led to a second one being scheduled for the subsequent Summer.

In the months that followed, the team re-grouped to conduct handoff operations to the team that would be taking over leadership efforts in the next year. At this time, I created the Impact Development group, dedicated to exploring the economic feasibility of a Hyperloop system in the Pacific Northwest (Portland - Seattle - Vancouver) corridor.

Shortly after, most of the team (myself included, being a Senior) graduated and went our separate ways! Mitchell, Nicole, and Paul (being Juniors at the time of the first competition) went on to lead the Team for the following competitions, and went from strength to strength. They went on to place highly in the subsequent competitions, until they ended in 2019.