Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineering students won the first round of the design and build category at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Weekend at Texas A&M that took place January 29 – 30, 2016. Over 100 teams participated in the design weekend. The event was co-sponsored by Hyperloop Technologies and SpaceX.
The MIT team was awarded $50,000 toward building a prototype of their pod to test on the Hyperloop Test Track now under construction in California. Runners up received $20,000 toward building their prototype. The Delft University of Technology team came in second, University of Wisconsin third, Virginia Tech fourth and the University of California, Irvine, fifth.
Over twenty other teams will be joining those listed above in California for the “build” phase of the design-build competition. Several other teams won awards in different categories which can be found on the event website.
It is speculated that a hyperloop could connect passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes.
For more information about the competition and its participants: http://hyperloop.tamu.edu/