Josh Giegel
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Virgin Hyperloop One
Josh Giegel is co-founder and CTO of Virgin Hyperloop, where he leads a team of engineers making the hyperloop a reality. His background is in thermodynamics, heat transfer, compressible fluid mechanics, power cycles, turbomachinery, and nonlinear structural analysis, and he has a history in hardware-based development. Previously, Giegel led research activities at Echogen Power Systems, a start-up in the waste heat-to-power energy sector, where he was the sole inventor of four critical CO2 power cycles that significantly improved efficiency and lowered cost. Prior to Echogen, Giegel worked at SpaceX as lead analyst on six different successfully tested rocket engines, including the Merlin 1D and Super Draco family of engines.
Highlights
Imagine traveling at the speed of an aircraft, but just a couple of feet off the ground. This is the easiest way to think about Hyperloop One, says chief technology officer Josh Giegel. Hyperloop vehicles travel autonomously through a system of low-pressure tubes, using electric propulsion to accelerate and magnetic levitation to float above a track. Because Hyperloop operates inside a closed tube, Giegel explains, weather hazards aren’t a problem and the aerodynamic drag is low, which makes it more energy efficient than other high-speed modes of transportation.
Previously
How we get around fundamentally shapes the way we live, work, and play. From carriages and sailing ships to steam locomotives and propeller planes, methods of moving people an...