Italy start-up in Hyperloop project

(ANSA) - Rome, May 18 - An Italian startup founded by engineering students will design the suspensions for a futuristic train that will reach 1,000 kilometers an hour, sources said Wednesday.
    The Hyperloop is a solar-powered, elevated, tubular transportation system with reduced-pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules ride on an air cushion driven by linear induction motors and air compressors. It is the brainchild of Canadian-American business magnate, engineer and investor Elon Musk, who founded the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) and Tesla Motors, among other companies.
    The students at Pisa University and the Tuscan city's Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna have founded a startup called Ales Tech, which will provide suspensions for the finalists of a global Hyperloop technological design competition called by Musk.
    Ales Tech now has a board of directors that includes some of the founding members' professors, and is reportedly headed towards a listing on the stock exchange.
    "We're planning a large-scale program we call Hyperloop Team Italy, which we want to launch in conjunction with all the major Italian universities in order to stimulate Hyperloop research," said Ales Tech member and law student, Antonio Davola.
    L'elenco potrebbe non finire qui: "siamo felici di constatare come numerosi studenti di tutta Italia ci contattino per collaborare con noi", ha osservato Perrotta. "Hyperloop - ha aggiunto - è una grande sfida che stimola ricerca e innovazione in numerosi settori e fa piacere vedere che a volerla cogliere siano tantissimi giovani, proprio come noi". E per diventare ancora ancora più grandi, ha detto Davola, "stiamo predisponendo un grande programma che abbiamo chiamato 'Hyperloop Team Italia' e che vogliamo lanciare con le più grandi università italiane per stimolare la ricerca su Hyperloop".