End of Season Address: Ashley Robb

For Queen’s Hyperloop Design Team (QHDT), this year was full of accomplishments, excitement and major milestones. We competed at two international competitions, and did not walk away empty handed—we proved that QHDT is the team to be and the team to beat.

Taking home five of nine awards from Hyperloop Global surely shows that we are ahead of our competitors in North America—but that's not enough for QHDT. When we crush one goal, we’re already looking at what’s next. Our next step after Hyperloop Global was taking on the biggest Hyperloop conference in the world: European Hyperloop Week. Even as a novice team to the European playing field, made up of undergraduate students competing against teams commonly consisting of graduate students, we proved that QHDT came not just to participate—but to compete. We showcased our technical subsystems, were nominated for the full-scale technical research award, and brought home the full-scale socio-economic research award.

It’s clear that much of our success was recognized and awarded, but these awards were just the tip of the iceberg this year. The success and growth that the team had this year was dependent on many factors, and only made possible through our dedication, passion, and collaboration. I want to recognize that, while we’re an engineering design team, we’re made up of members from nearly every faculty at Queen’s. Working as a multi-disciplinary team has proven to help the team succeed as a whole, but also help our members grow and prepare for their careers ahead. I’d also like to make note of our growing diversity—two years ago, when I joined QHDT, I was the only female executive member. This year, we had five females on our executive team, and partnered with various EDII-AS groups to support their initiatives and help our team grow.

Needless to say, while we won many awards that showcase our success, we achieved great successes in many ways that may go unrecognized; the true prize is not the trophies in our bay, but the growth in each of our members. The countless days and nights that our members put into all aspects of the team, the blood, sweat and tears sacrificed for our vision, and the possibly concerning number of energy drinks consumed all paid off and proved to be worth it in the end.

Last year, Kevin Liang (QHDT Co-Captain 2022/2023) said, “We've already reached the mountain tops of Edinburgh, and now, it’s time to go even higher.” This year we climbed thousands of meters higher to the Alps of Switzerland, and grew tremendously along the way. I’m eager to see where the team will go next season and in the years to come.

Congratulations Queen’s Hyperloop Design Team, every single one of you should be immensely proud of yourselves. I’m grateful to have been apart of this team that grew into my family, and to know and work with each of you.

Ashley Robb

2023/2024 Co-Captain

Queen’s Hyperloop Design Team