Our Crowdfunding Groups
We are Berkeley Hyperloop (bLoop), a team of UC Berkeley engineering students selected by SpaceX to compete in the Hyperloop Pod Competition this Summer 2018. We hope to revolutionize transportation, develop cutting-edge technologies, and inspire Berkeley students to take on innovative challenges. Please join us in our efforts to raise $10,000, which will be used to build our levitating Hyperloop Pod!
Imagine a world where you could go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes. That is the innovative vision behind Elon Musk's original Hyperloop transportation concept, and is also the inspiration behind the work of the Berkeley Hyperloop team as we seek to contribute to new transit technology by designing and building our pod.
Both the highest possible velocity and passenger safety will be central to bLoop’s model of the Hyperloop pod, which will be tested at SpaceX’s mile-long test track in Hawthorne, CA. We will be competing against engineering teams from top universities, as well as independent teams, to collaboratively create an indelible impact on the future of transportation systems.
Funding is essential to taking our renders off the drawing board and making them a reality. We aim to have our pod fully machined and assembled so as to fully prepare ourselves for the competition. Berkeley Hyperloop's high-profile project is not only transformational for the transportation industry, but also an opportunity to further showcase the spirit of entrepreneurship and scientific creativity here at UC Berkeley. Our project will draw the attention of the media and high-profile industry giants, and we want UC Berkeley to be at the forefront of an engineering competition as unprecedented and unique as this.
In the summer of 2015, in a modest underground library, five UC Berkeley students passionate about technology decided to compete the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. Six months later, at the end of Texas A&M Design Weekend, they were one of the only twenty-two teams on their way to revolutionizing the face of global transportation.
What started as a humble initiative gradually grew into a robust team of engineers, designers, and logisticians all driven by a single radical idea. Berkeley Hyperloop’s approach to designing the Hyperloop pod is a unique one – while Hyperloop is inherently an eco-conscious, affordable and unprecedented challenge to conventional transport, bLoop believes that safety comes above all with an idea as sweeping as Hyperloop. Hence, in Summer 2018, passenger safety will be central to bLoop’s model of the Hyperloop pod.
Apart from external pride, bLoop is also about celebrating the culture of problem-solving and innovation that has been part of Berkeley's fundamental values since its inception. Our engineers and designers are directly applying the skills they learn in their classes to real-life problems while working on the pod, while our logisticians and marketers work their way around daily problems that arise in large corporations and technology firms. Our mission is to simultaneously establish UC Berkeley as the premier institution for innovation, creativity, and engineering efficiency, and sustain the distinct culture of scholarship at UC Berkeley.
Berkeley Hyperloop is sponsored by the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. (Letter of Support: https://goo.gl/AQQTN2) We have faculty sponsorship from Professor Tony Keaveny, Professor David Rich, and Professor Dennis Lieu. We also have corporate sponsorships from Autodesk, GM, Ford, Northrop Grumman, Modus Advanced, National Instruments, ANSYS, and Samsung.
Using the software of our generous sponsor Autodesk, we've designed our pod structure from the ground up in Autodesk Fusion 360. In the same interface, we've analyzed stresses via FEA and been able to ensure that our pod is safe and has backup systems in the event of any failures. The support of Autodesk and our other industry partners have given us the tools to develop our ideas, and now it's up to all of us to get it built and launched!
For more information about our pod, you can find our renders, blog updates, and technical information here: http://www.berkeley-hyperloop.com/
Explore the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition here: http://www.spacex.com/hyperloop
One (1) 2" x 3.5" sticker featuring the Berkeley Hyperloop logo.
Two (2) commemorative Berkeley Hyperloop Tickets.
Two (2) commemorative Berkeley Hyperloop tickets personally signed by our engineering team leads!
Two (2) laser-cut wooden coasters featuring the Berkeley Hyperloop logo.
One (1) exclusive poster featuring a high-resolution rendering of Berkeley Hyperloop's pod design, signed by engineering team leads.
One (1) 3D-printed scale model of the Berkeley Hyperloop pod.
bLoop Bundle: Receive one (1) signed ticket, one (1) coaster, one (1) poster, and (1) one 3D-printed pod.
Meet Berkeley Hyperloop's Engineering Team Leads on campus and learn more about the pod design in terms of structure, levitation, acceleration and braking, and signals and controls. Great for corporate supporters.
Receive a tour of Berkeley Hyperloop's engineering workshop and build site, the Richmond Field Station. Great for corporate supporters.
Become an official sponsor of Berkeley Hyperloop and have your logo added on our pod! Optimal for corporate sponsors.
