How young Hyperloop teams made it in Vegas
People do not go to Las Vegas only to get married. It was a tight race, and only two got through. The “Swissloop Tunnelling” research team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich was one of only two teams from the final twelve teams to qualify to complete the “Not-A-Boring Competition” in Las Vegas.
The idea behind the Hyperloop project, based on a concept developed by Elon Musk, is to transport people and goods over longer distances through tunnels under or above the earth’s surface to their destination at high speed. The drilling robots must be as fast, compact and automated as possible to make tunnelling financially viable.
Supported by global logistics company Gebrüder Weiss, the group of more than 40 students was awarded high laurels from The Boring Company for Innovation. "Our success as an award winner in the ‘Not-a-Boring Competition’ would not have been possible without the support of their organisation,” said Stefan Kaspar, founder and co-president of Swissloop Tunnelling.
As an official logistics partner, Gebrüder Weiss was responsible for the safe and timely land and sea transport of the Swissloop team’s critical drilling technology from Dübendorf, Switzerland, to Las Vegas for the competition. "We have a group of extraordinary students on our team and we are exceedingly proud of their success in the category of innovation,” said Lothar Thoma, managing director air & sea at Gebrüder Weiss. (sh)