UF engineering students hope to welcome the future with a new club.
This Fall, the group called Gatorloop started designing a high-speed transportation system for the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.
Gatorloop is designing and building a Hyperloop, which is like a fast train. Unlike a train, a Hyperloop is a solar-powered capsule that runs through a tube, said 24-year-old co-founder of Gatorloop and UF aerospace engineering senior Sebastian Quesada.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed the idea for the competition, Quesada said.
Instead of creating the Hyperloop himself, Musk crowdsourced the design process, calling engineers from around the world to submit their projects, said 21-year-old Gatorloop co-founder and UF mechanical engineering junior Ben Duncan.
"On our team is only students, but the competition is open to anyone in the world, whether it’s a company or a guy in his garage," said 23-year-old Gatorloop co-founder and UF aerospace engineering master’s student Taylor Waber.
Although they’re unsure how much the project will cost, Duncan said another team has a $500,000 budget. The group is looking for financial sponsors.
Waber said the preliminary design is due next month.
