San Diego, CA – In a world grappling with the urgency of the climate crisis and a surging demand for mobility, a group of engineering students from Germany is determined to revolutionize how we move. At Autodesk University in San Diego last month, Johannes Anton Mootz, the Lead Structure and Packaging engineer for mu-zero HYPERLOOP, shared a bold vision: a transportation future where high-speed, low-emission travel could seamlessly connect cities and reduce the carbon footprint of short-distance flights. Mootz, a PhD candidate at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and former lead structural engineer for the mu-zero Hyperloop team, provided a captivating look at how his team is leveraging cutting-edge technology and an innovative collaborative approach to make that vision a reality.
A Vision for Sustainable Travel
Opening his presentation with a call to action, Mootz emphasized that the climate crisis demands an urgent overhaul of our current mobility systems. The mu-zero HYPERLOOP project, now in its fourth year, is rooted in the idea that mobility can and must evolve toward sustainability. “One solution to the climate crisis could be the Hyperloop,” Mootz explained, describing the concept as a high-speed, near-supersonic transportation mode operating in a vacuum-sealed tube to eliminate friction and drastically reduce energy consumption. With the mu-zero HYPERLOOP prototype, his team has shown that short-haul transportation could be transformed by this technology, minimizing emissions while maintaining, or even exceeding, the speed of air travel.
The Hyperloop’s appeal lies in its efficiency and speed. By operating in a low-pressure environment, Hyperloop pods encounter almost no drag, allowing them to travel at speeds three times faster than traditional trains, with significantly lower energy requirements. This radical approach, Mootz highlighted, has the potential to make intercity travel as fast and convenient as short-haul flights, while consuming only a fraction of the energy and producing zero direct emissions. The mu-zero Hyperloop team, with more than 50 members across engineering disciplines, is working to bring this vision to life one prototype at a time.
The Team Behind the Pod
Mootz’s presentation underscored the essential role of teamwork and collaboration. Mu-zero HYPERLOOP is a student-led initiative comprising over 50 members from four German universities, including KIT, all of whom share a mission to develop a fully functional Hyperloop pod. Representing a blend of diverse backgrounds, the team includes students from fields like mechanical engineering, software, electronics, finance, and marketing. Their work is divided into two main sectors: technology and operations. On the technology side, there are specialized teams focused on key aspects of the pod, such as structural design, propulsion, aerodynamics, guidance, software, and electronics. The operations teams handle marketing, finance, event management, and sponsorship, keeping the business aspect of the project running smoothly.
This cross-functional collaboration allows the team to tackle the immense technical challenges of the Hyperloop project while managing complex logistics, budgets, and outreach efforts. “Each team member brings a unique skill set to the table,” said Mootz. “Our organization is structured to mirror a tech startup, giving students real-world experience in both engineering and business.”
A number of companies over the past several years have proclaimed that they have the answer for resurrecting manufacturing in the U.S. Unfortunately, several of these efforts have turned out to be little more than chest beating without much real substance. Then, a company came along about four years ago that really had a concept and plan for making a difference for the future of manufacturing in the U.S. – Xometry.
Xometry, the largest on-demand manufacturing platform, announced earlier this month that it has acquired MakeTime, another leading on-demand manufacturing company. This acquisition brings together the country’s two top manufacturing network platforms. The combined company will operate under the Xometry brand name and have offices in Maryland and Kentucky.
The acquisition will allow Xometry to grow its national partner network of manufacturers from 1,100 to more than 2,300 while gaining MakeTime’s enterprise product expertise and features including their Autodesk Fusion add-in and Shop Advantage program. Drura Parrish, MakeTime Founder and CEO, will join Xometry as Executive Vice President for Platform.
Foundry Group, one of MakeTime’s investors, will lead a new $25 million round of funding for the newly combined company. Almaz Capital, BMW i Ventures, GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Maryland Venture Fund will also contribute to the round. Xometry has now raised a total of $63 million to date.
Xometry and MakeTime: The Future of Manufacturing
“We’re thrilled to combine Xometry’s online manufacturing platform with MakeTime’s proven success in building a distributed network of over 1,000 manufacturers,” said Randy Altschuler, co-founder and CEO of Xometry. “This acquisition will provide our customers with access to massive capacity through the industry’s largest distributed manufacturing network as well enhanced product features.”
“We’re excited at the prospect of joining forces with Xometry,” said Drura Parrish, CEO and Founder of MakeTime. “We’ve both been building the future of manufacturing, and now we will be able to offer small- and medium-sized manufacturers access to more jobs, more opportunities for growth and advanced products to power their businesses.” (more…)
Along with SpaceClaim being acquired by ANSYS earlier this year, the CAD consolidation train moves to its next stop with Stratasys announcing that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held GrabCAD in an all-cash transaction.
Stratasys Ltd, of course, is one of the leading global providers of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but is rumored to be in the $100 million range. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September (that’s today!), subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, GrabCAD will operate as a unit within the Stratasys Global Products and Technology Group. Hardi Meybaum, co-founder and CEO of GrabCAD, will continue to lead GrabCAD within the group.
The company’s flagship product, GrabCAD Workbench is its cloud-based PDM for sharing and managing CAD files. The video provides a quick overview of GrabCAD Workbench.
What IS GrabCAD Workbench?
For those new to GrabCAD, it’s unique in that it’s more of a 3D CAD collaboration platform than it is a traditional CAD product. Launched earlier this, GrabCAD Workbench is a unique cloud-based collaboration hub designed to manage and share product development CAD files and other design data. In other words, a PDM system.
Founded in 2010 and led by Mr. Meybaum, a visionary entrepreneur and pioneer in 3D CAD cloud collaboration tools, GrabCAD is helping engineers get products to market faster by connecting people, content and technology. GrabCAD offers GrabCAD Workbench, a cloud-based collaboration tool that enables engineers and designers to share, view and manage CAD files and other design data. GrabCAD is also home to a community of more than 1.5 million global members who can access a large public CAD file library, as well as connect with other designers and engineers.
The acquisition should enable Stratasys to provide its customers with enhanced collaboration tools and improved accessibility relating to 3D CAD content. The addition of GrabCAD Workbench provides Stratasys with an opportunity to drive communication and collaboration throughout the 3D printing process and grow its technology solutions and user communities.
“The addition of GrabCAD provides Stratasys with a leading cloud-based collaboration platform for engineering teams to manage, share and view CAD files,” said David Reis, Stratasys Chief Executive Officer. “By increasing the collaboration and accessibility of 3D CAD files, we believe we can further accelerate the adoption of 3D printing solutions and Stratasys’ product offerings. Together with GrabCAD, we believe that we will accelerate innovation and provide increased value to a growing universe of customers seeking to utilize 3D printing solutions. We also welcome GrabCAD’s active and important community to the Stratasys family. The potential within our 3D ecosystem is very exciting.”
“GrabCAD was founded to bring the world’s engineers together and help them collaborate to bring better products to market faster,” said Hardi Meybaum, Chief Executive Officer of GrabCAD. “By joining forces with Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, we believe we can extend the reach of one of the most exciting and innovative design collaboration technologies available. With its broad and growing customer base and worldwide presence, Stratasys can provide more customers around the world with exciting new solutions to meet their design needs.”
Prior to the acquisition, GrabCAD had a number of relationships with CAD vendors for making it easier for users of products, such as Autodesk Fusion and Siemens Solid Edge to use the cloud-based service. It seems that the cloud-based nature of GrabCAD is what especially interested/enticed Stratasys for the acquisition.
The potential benefits are many, and through its acquisition of GrabCAD, Stratasys expects to gain:
Knowledge: With the addition of GrabCAD, Stratasys gains a team of software professionals with a deep understanding of the needs of designers and engineers.
Products: GrabCAD’s cloud-based collaboration platform, Workbench, will enable Stratasys to offer customers a solution to drive communication and ease of use throughout the design and 3D printing process. GrabCAD also provides Stratasys with the opportunity to further partner with CAD vendors and other ecosystem partners while offering innovative collaboration tools related to 3D CAD.
Community: GrabCAD has built a global, leading and fast growing community of mechanical engineers and designers, with 1.5 million users who are passionate about design. This includes a large online community of M-CAD users and a significant public online repository of free CAD files, with more than 500,000 CAD designs available for download and nearly 50,000 file downloads per day.
