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Woodbury Finalist for Hyperloop One Global Challenge Competition

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(via The Architect’s Newspaper)

A proposal by a group of Woodbury University School of Architecture–affiliated architects has been named among one of the 35 semi-finalists for the Hyperloop One Global Challenge competition aimed at generating pilot projects to deploy the next-generation transportation technology.

According to the Hyperloop One website, competition organizers were seeking to teams that would “put forward a comprehensive commercial, transport, economic, and policy case for their cities, regions, or countries to be considered to host the first hyperloop networks.”

The Woodbury University team’s proposal—generated by a collective made up of Woodbury University adjunct faculty Rene Peralta, architect Alejandro Santander of Estudio Santander in Tijuana, Mexico, and Woodbury alumnus Juan Alatorre—aims to connect the Southern California region via Hyperloop. The team envisions utilizing the technology to cut travel times between Los Angeles and Ensenada, Mexico down to roughly 20 minutes. The trip currently takes about five hours to complete via automobile.

The Woodbury University team will present their work in Washington, D.C. on April 5th as part of the second round of the competition. Teams that make it to the final round will be announced in May of this year. Hyperloop One has received 2,600 competition submissions in the five months since the competition was announced. Teams representing 17 countries are among the other groups vying for the winning proposal, including 11 teams from the United States, five teams from India, and four from the United Kingdom.

Describing the submissions received for the competition, Rob Lloyd, CEO, Hyperloop One said, “The Hyperloop One Global Challenge unleashed ideas from some of the world’s most creative engineers and planners, who care as much as we do about the future of transportation.” Lloyd added that the potential for the technology went beyond fulfilling simple transportation needs, saying, “These are all solutions that can make a real and immediate social and economic impact.”

(via The Architect’s Newspaper)

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UNM and Woodbury's Plata Studio Develop 'Create You' Makers' Lab

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(via SC Sun News)

The members of the Silver City Arts and Cultural District Coordinating Council meet monthly to share information and sometimes feature special guests and reports.

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One set of speakers was from the Plata Studio, an effort merging students from Woodbury University’s Architecture School and from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture, using facilities at Western New Mexico University. This is the second year the students have spent in Silver City. Tim Castillo, who grew up in Grant County and went on to become an associate professor of architecture at UNM wanted to give back to the community that raised him, so he came up with the idea to help Silver City make some improvements, and asked his students to help and asked Woodbury students to join in the project.

Alex Rodriguez of Woodbury University said the group was in town just this week. “We got a lot of information last year. This year we wanted to take some more film footage. We are combining the students of film, photography and architecture to build a beneficial plan for Silver City and Grant County.”

Humbert Lopez, a student in the UNM School of Architecture, said it was exciting to be back. “We are focused on coming up with solutions for what we want to offer for education, people and the community. We call the project, ‘Create You,’ to have a makers’ lab for film-making, music-making and whatever ideas the community comes up with. We would like to use a food truck, with a makers’ lab inside.”

“It would be a mobile platform for the community to engage in,” Lopez said. “We want to make it engaging to the public. Because it will be mobile, it can plant anywhere in the city or county.”

Rodriguez said the idea of Create You came because of the art community in Silver City. “You have a lot of makers and tinkerers.”

Kel Cruz, studying film at UNM, said the group was not in Silver City to impose anything on anyone.

“Our proposition is the makers’ lab,” Rodriguez said. “We want to introduce the new lab and let people try it out. We want to teach teachers to hold workshops for kids. There are plenty more options.”

Because it would be a mobile platform for fabrication, the plan is to introduce to people 3-D printing and laser cutters, and how people can put them to work.

“We envision a partnership with the schools to set up a hub for workshops, for doing internships, say a teacher who can then teach her students,” Rodriguez continued.

[Read more on Silver City Sun-News]

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