From SpaceX Hyperloop Winner to Swisspod Technologies Co-Founder | Denis Tudor Interview

TL;DR

Denis Tudor explains how winning the SpaceX Hyperloop competition led him to co-found Swisspod, which uses onboard linear induction motors to make hyperloop infrastructure affordable.

Key Points

• 1.Denis Tudor's path began with winning the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. He co-founded two teams — one in California, one in Switzerland — winning the innovation award, then completed a PhD linking hyperloop propulsion, vacuum, and tube pressurization before founding Swisspod in 2019.
• 2.Swisspod's key differentiator is a fully passive track with all propulsion onboard. Competing systems embed expensive electromagnets or coils in the track; Swisspod places the linear induction motor coils on the vehicle, dramatically reducing infrastructure cost and improving reliability.
• 3.Iris 1 reached nearly 70 mph on 7,700 ft of track at the November 2024 Pueblo, Colorado demo. The 600 lb prototype ran in front of 150 people using a single-sided linear induction motor powered by onboard batteries, despite a battery pack sparking incident the night before.
• 4.The core engineering breakthrough is canceling the 'end effect' of the linear induction motor. Normally, thrust drops sharply above ~100 mph; Swisspod's power electronics and converter control linearize the thrust-speed profile, achieving 7x thrust improvement at 300–400 mph.
• 5.Iris 1's battery pack uses 300 lithium-polymer NMC cells (100 series, 3 parallel) with a 50C nominal discharge rate. The tradeoff is low energy density (~140 Wh/kg, roughly half Tesla's), but hyperloop is power-intensive rather than energy-intensive, making peak discharge more important than energy storage.
• 6.Iris 2 targets 130 mph with 5x more thrust, full contactless levitation, and an Optimus robot co-pilot. Using two side guideways for magnetic levitation and a doubled linear motor, it will run on 2,500 ft of track, with a possible human passenger if consecutive tests succeed.
• 7.Iris 3 aims to unify propulsion, levitation, and stability into a single device on a single reaction plate. Inspired by Falcon 9's three-legged stability, the patent-pending design targets a three-rail maximum system (two guideways plus one reaction plate) at speeds approaching 700 mph.
• 8.Tudor advises young engineers to chase excitement over salary and commit long-term. He has worked in hyperloop for 11 years straight and values 'gut feeling' and mission-driven passion over impressive CVs when hiring at Swisspod.