Team Avishkar aims to build world’s largest vacuum testing facility for Hyperloop, the 5th mode of transportation featuring a high-speed train that travels in near-vacuum tube at speeds of 1,200 Km/Hr

INDIA, MAY 11, 2022 (GPN): Indian Institute of Technology Madras Students’ Team Avishkar Hyperloop has received investment from global pure-play engineering services provider L&T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) to develop innovations in the Hyperloop landscape.  LTTS is providing funding & technical support to Team Avishkar on their Hyperloop project.

LTTS will enable Team Avishkar to further gain traction on its breakthrough disruptions in the emerging domain of Hyperloop-based transportation solutions for futuristic commuting experience.

The Hyperloop model proposed by Team Avishkar can achieve a top speed of over 1,200 kilometres per hour. It is completely autonomous, safe, and clean. The team is spearheading Hyperloop Tube research in India and has already patented a novel and cost-effective tube design.  Hyperloop has been a buzzword in India for the last few years. Several companies have proposed routes including Mumbai-Pune and Chandigarh-Amritsar.

Commenting on this project, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The vacuum tube, when developed, will be the first of its kind in academia anywhere globally and would be on par with the test facility of the commercial entity, Virgin Hyperloop One in the U.S.A. As such, ours would be the only one of its kind available in public, which we intend to utilize to organize international Hyperloop competitions.”

Avishkar Hyperloop is a student team from the Centre for Innovation, IIT Madras, focusing on revolutionizing transportation with Hyperloop technologies. It is a 70-member strong interdisciplinary team, drawing members from 11 different academic disciplines.

Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, said, “CSR funds invested in developing sustainable technology solutions is the only way to be ready for tomorrow’s challenges. We are excited that LTTS has chosen this route.”

Team Avishkar is aiming to build the world’s largest student-developed Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras and is hoping to complete the construction of this 500-metre-long Hyperloop facility by this year. This facility will be constructed at Discovery Campus, the Satellite campus of IIT Madras located about 35 km from the main campus.

Speaking about this Project, Mr. Amit Chadha, CEO and Managing Director, L&T Technology Services Limited, said, “The future of everyday commuting will be determined by the innovations and disruptions that we as a human race pursue today. LTTS, with its focus on ER&D and digital engineering, is committed to pushing the boundaries of modern transportation. As an engineering organization, we always look forward to rendering support to academic institutions on R&D activities in upcoming technologies.”Ends

About L&T Technology Services Ltd

L&T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) is a listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited focused on Engineering and R&D (ER&D) services. We offer consultancy, design, development and testing services across the product and process development life cycle. Our customer base includes 69 Fortune 500 companies and 57 of the world’s top ER&D companies, across industrial products, medical devices, transportation, telecom & hi-tech, and the process industries. Headquartered in India, we have over 20,800 employees spread across 17 global design centers, 28 global sales offices and 89 innovation labs as of March 31, 2022. For more information, please visit https://www.ltts.com/