Recently we spoke about Elon Musk's dream project, the Hyperloop, making travel possible at the speed of sound. To make this happen, Musk's space program, Space X, hosted a Hyperloop Pod Competition giving students the opportunity to build, what is being touted as, the future of transportation. The University of Cincinnati is one of the universities to make it to the finals of the competition, and that makes it worth reading about because it has been made possible by an Indian team! To bring you up to speed, the idea of travelling at the speed of light was conceived by Elon Musk, the CEO, CTO and founder of Space X, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors, and a very cool guy, back in 2013, when he was stuck in traffic. He thought of this pod being propelled through a tube 12 feet in diameter, transporting 20-30 people faster than anyone could ever imagine. The tube would have low air pressure in order to minimise the air resistance, making it possible for the pod to go that fast. Hyperloop would make a journey from Delhi to Mumbai possible in 1 hr 14 mins, making it the fastest mode of travel for man.

Currently, Hyperloop UC is preparing for the final round of the competition to be held at the Space X one-mile track in California. Born in Chennai and raised in Delhi, MBA and chemical engineering graduate and Hyperloop UC team member Sid Thatham said,"Our team has focused on every aspect of the Hyperloop, from the station design to the minute details of levitation, aerodynamics, control systems, etc. Moreover, we have incorporated many unique features into our final design. The shear technical challenge involved in such a project could not have been overcome if we didn’t have a strong engineering education as a foundation — our time at UC CEAS provided us that foundation! The quality of engineering courses at CEAS is second to none. Additionally, we have developed a great network of fellow engineers while working on projects, thesis and courses at CEAS. This very network was the catalyst for the formation of our core team.”

Adding to Sid's comments, Shiyani said,"We have managed to find the perfect balance between the SpaceX competition design and the ultimate scalable version of the Hyperloop which will one day carry humans between cities, forever revolutionizing the transportation industry as we know it.”

“Imagine the prospect of living in Chennai and going to Bengaluru in 20 minutes to work on a daily basis, imagine how much it would change life! Maybe it’s too ambitious to even imagine such a thing at this point, but that is exactly what everybody said about Elon Musk’s previous endeavors. The world saw his ability to make others believe in big dreams and turn them into reality with SpaceX and Tesla Motors. Hyperloop might just revolutionize the way people travel in future and Elon himself once said, we can either watch it happen or be a part of it." Sid added.

We'll have to wait till June to know whether our Indian contingent representing the University of Cincinnati actually ends up winning it when they produce the final design for the world to see. Either way, it'll be a day to mark on your calendars, for the future of transportation will be redefined come June.

Until then, we shall wait with bated breath.