Accelerating Britain – HYPED on Elon Musk’s Hyperloop

Start date and time

Thursday 30 November 2017

Location

Edinburgh

At this event hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers, Edinburgh University Hyperloop team, HYPED, presented on the success and challenges of their pod prototype and UK route proposal in International competitions run by SpaceX and Hyperloop One.

Richard Llewellyn, Lecturer in Transportation engineering was a member of a three person expert panel, assigned to quiz the Hyperloop team on their proposals. Richard was joined on the panel by former Institution of Civil Engineers president, Professor Gordon Masterton along with Mark Connelly, Chief Engineer and Professional Head of Highways at Atkins.

The panel debated the feasibility of the technology in technical and economic terms, with specific reference to the team's stated aim of linking Edinburgh and London with the new technology. The engineering challenges of achieving the targeted 45 minute journey time between the two cities was discussed, along with other considerations from motion sickness to terrorist attack.

The event was attended by over 100 delegates who enjoyed a thorough and thought provoking debate.