Newswise — Tempe, AZ – April 14, 2017 – SpaceX has announced that an Arizona State University-led team is invited to participate in the private space company’s Hyperloop Pod Competition II.

More than 100 students are involved in AZLoop, representing disciplines that include engineering, robotics, physics, astrobiology, marketing and business management. In addition to ASU and its Thunderbird School of Global Management, students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Northern Arizona University are part of the group that meets each week at ASU’s Polytechnic campus to test their high-speed train concepts. 

AZLoop is one of 24 teams from colleges and universities around the world advancing to the final round, which will be held on August 25 through 27 at SpaceX’s Hyperloop track in Hawthorne, California. U.S teams include the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Purdue (which is collaborating with Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain), the University of Michigan and the University of Texas at Austin, and international teams represent, among others, Scotland, Poland, Japan and Germany.

The competition’s goal is to accelerate the development of functional prototypes and encourage innovation by challenging teams to design and build the best high-speed pod. In January 2017, student teams took part in the first Hyperloop Pod Competition at the SpaceX track. Hyperloop Pod Competition I was the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Hyperloop Pod Competition II will focus on a single criterion: maximum speed. The competition will include new and returning student teams, some of which have already built and tested their pods during the first competition.

“The Competition II finalists have proven to be incredibly talented with many brilliant minds behind their work. Actually, the lead faculty advisor from the Colorado School of Mines was my Senior Capstone instructor from the ASU Polytechnic Campus. I did research with her before she went to CSM, and was excited to learn her team also made it through as finalists,” said Lynne Nethken, co-team lead for AZLoop. “We all have our work cut out for us and can't wait to see the final builds from each of teams in August.“

Follow AZLoop on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo as the team prepares for the finals.