A team of University of Wisconsin College of Engineering students will compete in the next phase of the Hyperloop competition Aug. 25-27 at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., the department announced recently.

According to its website, the competition’s goal is to accelerate the development of functional prototypes and encourage innovation by challenging teams to design and build the best high-speed pod. The UW “Badgerloop” team is one of 23 teams currently entered in Hyperloop Competition II, which focuses solely on maximum speed.

“Our Badgerloop team members—both past and present—are pioneers in a unique form of transportation that, in a decade or so, we very well may enjoy as an everyday aspect of our lives,” UW-Madison College of Engineering Dean Ian Robertson said in a statement. “What an unprecedented and amazing opportunity (they) have to break this new ground!”

In January 2016, Badgerloop took third in the concept competition, and in January of this year, it received one of two innovation awards in recognition of its creativity and inventive design.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Miller/University of Wisconsin–Madison