Meet Delft Hyperloop XI
Delft Hyperloop is a multi-disciplinary team which consists of 44 students of the Delft University of Technology. Delft Hyperloop is structured as a multi-departmental team with a management overseeing all of the departments.
Delft Hyperloop is a multi-disciplinary team which consists of 44 students of the Delft University of Technology. Delft Hyperloop is structured as a multi-departmental team with a management overseeing all of the departments.
Management has the purpose of overseeing all the departments in the team. In doing so, management coordinates and optimises the efforts of team members, aligning them with the project's overall strategy and goals.
“Our goal as management is to lead the team towards winning the European Hyperloop Week 2027 by providing the team with direction, structure and an environment in which everyone can reach their full potential.”
The Team Captain holds the final responsibility for the project. The Team Captain is ‘the face’ of Delft Hyperloop and, together with the rest of management, determines and safeguards the top-level strategy of the team. The Team Captain is also responsible for the human resources side of the team, making sure that the team is motivated and fit.
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The Project Manager oversees the allocation of resources of the team. This means they are responsible for our planning and finances and the allocation of tasks among the team members. The Project Manager also plays a critical role in identifying and mitigating potential risks to the project, ensuring that we achieve our goals within the year and within budget.
The Chief Engineer oversees and manages all technical aspects of the project, ensuring a successful demonstration at the European Hyperloop Week!
This department establishes and executes the business strategy of Delft Hyperloop. We ensure that the team obtains all resources needed to develop the newest hyperloop technology, achieved by interacting with partners as well as the public, while maintaining a professional and engaging image.
As Delft Hyperloop is non-profit, acquisition goes through building strong partnerships and collaborating with relevant companies. These offer the team cash, material and expertise so that the team can build a pod that is ready to compete at the European Hyperloop Week (EHW). Moreover, many resources are needed for the operational side of the team, like managing the testtrack, logistics to or accommodation at the EHW. The business department is therefore always seeking out new partners, offering them a chance to invest in the future of sustainable high-speed transportation.
Furthermore, this department is in charge of the publicity of Delft Hyperloop. While the team is working on the technological side of the system's implementation, we strive to make the public familiar with the hyperloop concept. This is done by managing PR strategies and organising big events, in order to bring hyperloop closer to society. Thus, as Delft Hyperloop pushes the boundaries of technology, the business department ensures that these innovations do not go unnoticed, obtaining the recognition needed for future partnering and collaboration.
The lead oversees the business side of Delft Hyperloop, managing resources to maximize collaboration potential. They are responsible for the department's quality and organization, ensuring alignment across the business functions. Additionally, the lead manages the team's operations, including the logistics of transporting the hyperloop system to the European Hyperloop Week.
The Partnerships Managers play an important role in maintaining relationships with both existing and prospective partners of Delft Hyperloop. Their primary objective revolves around acquiring new partnerships, particularly with companies that align with Delft Hyperloop's mission. By successfully securing financial resources and valuable assets through their efforts, the team can realize the construction of a functional pod and, optimistically, achieve their overarching goals.
Public Relations Managers have a broad set of responsibilities like press management, internal and external event coordination, team exposure, and communication with external interested parties. Their primary objective is to increase public awareness of Delft Hyperloop and the Hyperloop concept. Throughout the year, PR Managers work diligently to maintain a professional and appealing image for Delft Hyperloop. Additionally, they are responsible for organizing events like the Design and Pod Reveal.
Whilst the technical engineers are constantly improving hyperloop technology it is also important to look at the visualization of the hyperloop system in the future when it is fully implemented. The design engineers are considering the passenger experience in their concepts in animations, VR-experiences, models and videos. If you want to see the results of their projects over the years, take a look on the research page!
The scalability department devotes their time to researching problems in a full-scale hyperloop system. Instead of designing and building a prototype pod, they look at the bigger picture of the transportation network and try to solve critical issues for hyperloop to become reality.
Each year the scalability department performs two researches where they brainstorm and choose the most relevant topics to contribute to hyperloop knowledge: one into the technical challenges and one into the socio-economic challenges that occur when implementing an actual hyperloop system. They investigate all the challenges of hyperloop and start discovering novel solutions to the most relevant ones. Due to scalability research, new discoveries and innovations can be discovered to come one step closer to hyperloop. If you want to see the results of their projects over the years, take a look on the research page!
The Mechanical department is the core of our tech division, responsible for designing the hyperloop pod's critical components: the chassis, emergency braking system, aeroshell, vacuum box, and track. This multidisciplinary team integrates various engineering and physics disciplines to ensure the pod's fundamental functions.
The chassis, our primary structure, provides mounting points for all subsystems with a focus on high stiffness-to-weight ratio, modularity, and adaptability. The fail-safe emergency braking system stops the pod in emergencies, ensuring maximum reliability and efficiency. The aeroshell enhances aerodynamic performance while maintaining an appealing design, optimized through CFD simulations.
The vacuum box maintains the right pressure for non-vacuum-compatible components, preventing critical failures. In full-scale hyperloop systems, passengers are also housed in vacuum boxes. Finally, the track, a crucial infrastructure element, guides and propels the pod, presenting challenges in cost-efficiency, scalability, and future implementation.
The Magnets department is responsible for all magnetic systems of the pod: the motor that propels it and the modules that make it levitate. The engineers design, simulate, optimize and help produce these systems, aiming for a design that is efficient, stable and scalable.
Because the pod never touches the track, both propulsion and levitation have to work completely contactless. That makes magnetic design one of the core challenges of the pod, and working on it means working at the forefront of magnetic motor and levitation technology.
The Magnets department works closely with the Control department and the rest of the team to make sure the magnetic design meets all requirements. It also contributes to the safety wheels that complement the levitation system.
The Control department designs, implements, simulates and tests the algorithms that control both propulsion and levitation. Its job is to make sure the pod accelerates and levitates in a stable, safe and efficient way.
Besides developing and optimizing the control software, and where relevant the supporting hardware, the department applies machine learning to improve the tuning and performance of the pod's control systems, instead of tuning every parameter by hand.
Control works closely with the Magnets and Embedded Systems departments to integrate sensing, actuation and control into one reliable system.
The Powertrain department supplies the pod with power. Every sub-system requires specific voltage levels with a wide range of current requirements. This requires batteries, safety systems for every load and voltage converters. This year, powertrain is also working on custom high-power electronics to drive the propulsion system. Due to the levitating nature of the pod, it must be able to supply its own power. To do this, high power and high energy density Li-ion batteries are used, just like in state-of-the-art electric cars. These battery packs must meet high safety standards while being lightweight, powerful and reliable.
The Embedded Systems department builds and maintains the pod's embedded electronics, sensors and on-board control infrastructure. Its engineers design and test the PCBs and hardware that control the pod, select the sensors, and make sure the important data is available to everyone in the team.
The Hardware Engineers create custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) essential for pod control. Two critical PCBs they develop are the Main PCB, which collects sensor data and calculates pod actions using an STM32 microcontroller, and the braking PCB, responsible for deploying emergency brakes in potentially hazardous situations.
Software Engineers in the department create the software infrastructure running on the pod's control system. The core of this infrastructure is the Finite State Machine, defining the pod's states (e.g., levitating, accelerating, braking) based on environmental measurements. Additionally, the ground station interface displays all data, ensuring the team has a comprehensive overview of the pod's status.
Given its central role in connecting all subsystems with each other and with the control stack, the Embedded Systems department is crucial for the successful development of a functional hyperloop pod.
In 2025-2026 a new department was introduced to the Delft Hyperloop team: the thermal department. Its mission is to ensure that all components of the pod remain within safe operating temperatures, safeguarding both performance and endurance during operation.
Critical systems such as the magnetic motor, the (hybrid) electromagnetic suspension, and the battery generate substantial heat during operation. If left unmanaged, this heat could quickly push components beyond their failure limits. To prevent this, the thermal department develops and implements an advanced cooling system. Multiple liquid-cooling loops extract the heat from these critical components, maintaining their efficiency and reliability.
The unique challenge lies not in collecting heat, but in rejecting it. Because the Hyperloop pod operates in a vacuum and has no physical contact with the track, conventional methods of heat dissipation through convection or conduction are not possible. Instead, the department pioneers innovative solutions for storing, dissipating, and recycling heat. By researching and applying novel thermal management strategies, the team ensures that the pod can safely and efficiently complete its run.
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