Swissloop

Sometimes, the best design is the one that couldn't be made a few years ago. For our pod Lia Wälti, we partnered with Feramic AG to manufacture two components that take full advantage of metal additive manufacturing. The first is a set of aluminium heatsinks for our power electronics. Rather than machining a solid block with external fins, Feramic printed them with an internal gyroid lattice; a complex 3D structure that dramatically increases surface area while keeping weight to a minimum. The result is 32% more cooling surface than a conventionally machined equivalent, helping us keep our levitation and motor drives performing under demanding conditions. The second is a set of topology-optimized mounts for our emergency suspension system. If our primary levitation system were ever to fail, GFRP leaf springs safely absorb the load. The mounts connecting those springs to the chassis were optimized so material remains only where it contributes to carrying those loads, reducing weight without sacrificing strength. Both components share the same philosophy: design around the physics, not around manufacturing constraints. A huge thank you to Feramic AG for helping turn our simulations, FEM analyses, and optimization results into hardware we can rely on. It's partnerships like these that allow us to keep pushing the boundaries of student engineering. #Swissloop #Engineering #Hyperloop #AdditiveManufacturing #Metal3DPrinting #TopologyOptimization #ETHZurich #Feramic

We are very grateful to have someone so supportive through the years! Your ideas, connections and expertise have been invaluable in our journey🫶. We're excited to introduce you to the new team!

10 years. One defining milestone. 🚄🏆 This year, Swissloop celebrated its 10th anniversary with the strongest result in our team's history at European Hyperloop Week 2026. Competing against 20 teams from 11 countries across 3 continents, we returned to Zurich with six awards: 🏆 Overall First Place 🏅 Best Integrated Hyperloop 🏅 Best Propulsion 🏅 Best Levitation & Guidance 🏅 Best Engineering Design 🏅 Best Technical Research Beyond the awards, we're especially proud to have successfully demonstrated our levitation and propulsion systems in full operation; validating years of engineering development across our HEMS levitation, LSM - LSRM propulsion, and control systems. Our pod, Lia Wälti, also laid the foundation for pod coupling; a key milestone toward safe multi-pod operation on the same track and an essential capability for scaling hyperloop systems to real-world, high-throughput transportation. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our members, alumni, partners, sponsors, and supporters over the past decade. This achievement reflects ten years of relentless iteration, technical challenges, and persistence—and the trust so many of you have placed in our vision. To everyone who has been part of this journey: thank you. Here's to the next decade of pushing the boundaries of sustainable, high-speed transportation. A New Journey in Transportation. #Swissloop #ETHZurich #Hyperloop #Engineering #Innovation #Transportation #EuropeanHyperloopWeek #EHW2026 #FutureOfMobility #SustainableTransport

Leadership. Determination. Consistency. Three words that define the captain of Switzerland's women's national football team — and three words that define how we built our newest pod. Meet Lia Wälti. Named after one of Swiss sport's most respected leaders, our 2025/26 prototype carries her name into European Hyperloop Week, and with it, the same mentality: push further, perform under pressure, and bring the team with you. Lia Wälti the pod is the first in Swissloop's history designed for pod coupling; two vehicles on the same track, operating together, wirelessly coordinated. One giant step toward a scalable Hyperloop system. We're honoured by the inspiration. See you in Groningen. 🇳🇱 #Swissloop #LiaWälti #Hyperloop #EHW2026 #SwissFootball

10 years of Swissloop. One giant step closer to Hyperloop. Ten years ago, we unveiled our very first pod, Escher. Since then, Swissloop has grown from an ambitious student project into a team pushing the boundaries of transportation technology. This Tuesday, we had the privilege of sharing just how far we've come. To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we unveiled our newest prototype: Lia Wälti. Named after the captain of the Swiss women's national football team, Lia Wälti embodies the qualities we value most as a team: leadership, determination, consistency, and the ability to inspire others to achieve more together than they ever could alone. This year's prototype represents a major milestone for Swissloop. Lia Wälti has successfully demonstrated stable levitation throughout our two-phase propulsion architecture, consisting of our LSM booster and LSRM cruise motor. During the rollout, we were able to showcase the performance and power of our propulsion system to our guests and supporters. But the biggest leap lies in what comes next. For the first time in Swissloop's history, our pod has been designed for pod coupling: enabling two vehicles to operate simultaneously and safely on the same track while communicating and coordinating wirelessly. This concept brings us one step closer to realizing a scalable Hyperloop system and marks a significant advancement in competition-level Hyperloop technology. Behind Lia Wälti stand countless hours of dedication: - 1,000+ crimped cables - 60,000+ lines of code - 40,000+ hours of work None of this would have been possible without the incredible commitment of our team members, alumni, partners, and sponsors. Your support enables us to turn ambitious ideas into reality, and we are deeply grateful for your trust in our vision. After the presentation, we invited our guests to join us for dinner, dessert, and conversations around the pod—a perfect way to celebrate a warm summer evening together with the people who make projects like this possible. Now, our focus shifts to the next challenge: European Hyperloop Week in just two weeks' time. We are excited to demonstrate the full capabilities of Lia Wälti and continue pushing the limits of Hyperloop technology. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this journey. Here's to the next decade of innovation. #Swissloop #Hyperloop #Engineering #Innovation #StudentEngineering #EuropeanHyperloopWeek #FutureOfMobility