WARR Hyperloop, a student initiative from the Technical University of Munich, has won Elon Musk’s third SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. According to Hawthorne, Calif.–based SpaceX, the team has set an all-time speed record with its high-speed pod WARR Hyperloop 3, which reached a final top speed of 290 miles per hour. That’s 50 percent faster than last year’s winning speed of 201 mph, but still slower than Musk’s vision of pods traveling at speeds exceeding 600 mph. This year’s competition placed its main focus on maximum speed and required all pods to be self-propelled. [WARR Hyperloop]
Team Zopherus/Courtesy NASA
NASA, in collaboration with Bradley University, has awarded five teams a total of $100,000 in the first level of the third phase of its 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. At this stage, the competitors were asked to design a 1,000-square-foot living space that would support four astronauts over a one-year mission on Mars. Using BIM software tools, the winning teams demonstrated the physical and functional characteristics of their proposed Martian habitation modules and split the prize based on scores assigned by a panel of subject matter experts from NASA, academia, and industry. [ARCHITECT]
Francisco Gomes
A citation winner in our 2018 R+D Awards, MineralBuilt is a new concrete masonry unit (CMU) form by Gomes + Staub Architects co-founders Francisco Gomes, AIA, and Dabney Staub. The low-cost product offers the strength of concrete and the design flexibility of wood framing. The modular unit accommodates wall reinforcement, insulation, wiring, plumbing, and telecom connections post-installation. [ARCHITECT]
David Pike
International design and innovation firm Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA), in collaboration with Toronto-based Sidewalk Labs, has designed Dynamic Street, a modular prototype of a reconfigurable paving system that, according to CRA, could potentially make streets safer and more accessible to pedestrians. Offering an alternative to the current traffic systems, signs, and street markings, this adaptable road structure uses embedded lights to distinguish various traffic zones. An installation showcasing this prototype is currently on view at 307, Sidewalk Labs’ central office in Toronto. [ARCHITECT]
A new, world-class #headquarters for America: thyssenkrupp announces new #elevator high-rise #testtower and #Innovation Complex in #Atlanta, Georgia, near the @BatteryATL. More: https://t.co/wWwCxFGNT9 #ResearchAndDevelopment pic.twitter.com/qIWT4lIUEf
— thyssenkrupp EN (@thyssenkrupp_en) July 27, 2018
German multinational company ThyssenKrupp has announced plans for a new headquarters in Atlanta. The new facility will feature a 420-foot-tall elevator test tower, making it the tallest testing site of its kind in the world, according to a PR Newswire Association press release. The 18-shaft tower will be the test ground for the company’s new concepts and product pilots, including Twin, a two-cabins-per-shaft elevator design, and Multi, a rope-free and sideways-moving elevator system. [PR Newswire Association]
