Los Angeles-based HyperloopTT, a transportation technology company that was founded in 2013 with a mission to ‘transform mass transportation for passengers and freight’, has won the ‘iF Design Award’ for ‘Professional Concept’ for its HyperPort ‘sustainable cargo transportation system’.

HyperPort is designed to increase capacity and efficiency for cargo and freight while decreasing pollution and congestion at ports worldwide. Consisting of an electric-powered cargo transportation system, autonomous electric trucks and hyperloop capsules, it is being developed in partnership with terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), along with the design and innovation consultancy Mormedi.

The ‘iF’ accolade was originated in Germany in 1953. This year, 132 high-profile design experts from over 20 countries made up the iF jury panel, which evaluated winners based on the criteria of idea, form, function, differentiation and impact. The competition was intense, with almost 11,000 entries from 57 countries submitted.

Andres De Leon, HyperloopTT’s CEO, said: “HyperPort is a sustainable, high-speed cargo and freight solution fit for the modern age. We are delighted to be recognised by the creative minds at iF Design and we want to thank our partners HHLA and Mormedi for their detailed approach to the designs, models, and optimisations that have helped bring the HyperPort concept to life.”

HyperloopTT — a global team of more than 800 engineers, ‘creatives’, and technologists in 52 multidisciplinary teams, with 50 corporate and university partners — is focused on ‘realising the hyperloop’, a system that moves people and goods safely, efficiently, and sustainably by bringing aircraft speeds to the ground.

HyperloopTT’s European Research and Development Centre in Toulouse, France, is home to the world’s first and only full-scale test system. In 2019, HyperloopTT released the first comprehensive feasibility study analysing a hyperloop system, which found that ‘the system is economically and technically feasible and will generate a profit without requiring government subsidies’.