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photo of University of Maryland Hyperloop Pod
Photo Credit: University of Maryland
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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 13, 2017 / 3:30 PM, Building 8 Auditorium

Logo of University of Maryland Hyperloop Pod

Kyle Kaplan

"UMD Loop: The University of Maryland Hyperloop Pod"

ABSTRACT -- UMD Loop is an interdisciplinary design team of 50 engineering, computer science, physics, graphic design, and public relation students from the University of Maryland developing a one-third scale prototype of a new form of transportation known as a hyperloop pod. UMD Loop is a top performer in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Competition and won the Performance in Operations Award and placed 5th in the world in design and construction at the first competition in January of 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

The hyperloop consists of a steel tube and aluminum track with a guiding I-beam rail. The tube is sealed and a majority of the air is vacuumed out to reduce drag acting on the system. To allow for very high speed travel and general passenger comfort, the pods levitate off of the track using either passive magnetic levitation or air bearings.

UMD Loop is currently working on an improved pod, which will be entered in the second round of the competition in the summer of 2017.

SPEAKER -- Kyle Kaplan is a senior aerospace engineering major at the University of Maryland. In June of 2015 he founded UMD Loop, the University of Maryland design team competing in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Competition and has since served as the Team Captain.

Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov