This blog was written by the University of Edinburgh Hyped Team:

HYPED, The University of Edinburgh’s Hyperloop Team have been invited to compete in California this summer at the finals of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition IV.

So what is Hyperloop?

Hyperloop is a new type of transportation being developed internationally which aims to be able to shorten a journey from Edinburgh to London to just 45 minutes. The idea was initially proposed in a 2013 white paper by Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, and involves a magnetically propelled levitating ‘pod’ traveling at speeds close to 760mph inside a vacuum tube.

Who are HYPED and what do they do?

We are The University of Edinburgh’s Hyperloop team, a student society with over 200 members and each year we design and develop a Hyperloop ‘pod’ to compete in the SpaceX competition in California. We are a successful team, having finished 6th, out of 600 international teams, in the finals of the 2018 SpaceX Pod Competition, where we were the only UK team to have designed and constructed a functional prototype pod – ‘Poddy II’. Our first pod, ‘Poddy’ also garnered success, coming in the top 24 at the 2017 SpaceX Pod Competition and is now at the National Rail Museum billed as the UK’s first Hyperloop prototype. We are also winners of the Virgin Hyperloop One Global Challenge, having proposed an Edinburgh-London route, which included an in depth feasibility study. We were one of 10 winners of this challenge, out of 2600 entrants, and are the only student team to have won. HYPED is also actively expanding our outreach program, which engages the next generation in STEM, through events and competitions.

We are now building our 3rd prototype, ‘The Flying Podsman’ to compete at the 2019 SpaceX competition, where we will once again be the only UK team. On this year’s pod we are prototyping a revolutionary new type of magnetic propulsion not yet in the public domain – and very well could be a world first. Additionally, this year we are continuing our feasibility study into Hyperloop technology and its benefits to the UK economy, transport system and quality of life.

How can you help us?

Sending a Pod to America isn’t easy! We have started a fundraising page to help raise the funds required to send our new prototype to California. We would be incredibly grateful for any donations you make to help get our third pod across the Atlantic and into the SpaceX Hyperloop Test Track! www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hyped2019

We rely on our sponsors to fund the design and manufacture of our pod and would to extend a special thank you to The University of Edinburgh, and our Gold sponsors; RS Components, Cirrus Logic and Skyscanner. If you are interested in finding out more about sponsoring HYPED, visit the sponsorship page on our website for more information, and feel free to contact us.

How to find out more?

Visit our website, www.hyp-ed.com  for more information about HYPED, Hyperloop and more, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with our progress and trip to California!