Indian Institute of Technology, Madras’ (IIT-M) Avishkar Hyperloop Team has made rapid strides as a debut finalist and as the only Asian team to qualify for the finals of SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.
A global competition organized by SpaceX, the American aerospace manufacturer
and space transportation company, Avishkar team was one of the Top 21 teams out
of 1,600-plus teams participated globally in this event.
In this competition, the final round (testing and evaluation of the actual prototype),
took place at the SpaceX Headquarters in California, US, on July 21.
The team cleared more than half of the more than 120 tests held during the final
round, placing itself over several other finalists from various countries, a release
from IIT-M on Friday said.
The team also interacted with Mr Elon Musk, Founder of SpaceX and explained
their ideas to him. He also told them that this year’s finals featured only a 1.25 km
vacuum tube and next year will probably feature a 10-km vacuum tube with a turn,
which will be more challenging.
The team asked Elon Musk when he is planning to bring his company Tesla to
India, to which he said it is probably going to happen in a year’s time.
While it did not make it to the top four teams this year, the students of Avishkar
Hyperloop gained exposure during their first-ever final that will help them in the
coming editions of this event, the release said. (UNI)
