A group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineering students has won the first round of a competition to design transport "pods" for Elon Musk's ultra-fast Hyperloop. Selected from more than 100 other university teams, the top teams will now have the opportunity to build their pods for a trial run on the Hyperloop Test Track (now under construction) by April 2016. If successful, the pods will be able to transport up to 30 people at speeds of 700 miles-per-hour through the Hyperloop's 12-foot diameter tube.
Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands finished second in the competition's first phase, the University of Wisconsin third, Virginia Tech fourth and the University of California, Irvine, fifth.
Construction on the pods will begin this month (February). An ultimate winner will be announced after the trial runs.
News via Phys.org, The Guardian
