Hyperloop Talks with Clive: Why Hyperloop?
Hyperloop Talks is a series of social media events in which the Canadian Hyperloop Conference organizers interview an experienced individual in the hyperloop space.
If you ask anyone in the Canadian hyperloop space about Clive Chan, be it a university team member or sponsor, they most likely have heard of him. A recent Software Engineering grad from the University of Waterloo, he’s been a member turned project manager and advisor at the University of Waterloo’s hyperloop team, Waterloop, since 2017. He also is one of the founders and advisors of the Canadian Hyperloop Conference, abbreviated as CHC.
Defne, a Director on the CHC team, sat down with him to discuss why he joined hyperloop, and why you should too.
How did you get involved with Waterloop?
“I initially got involved in my first year. I heard about this hyperloop unveil event that some of my friends were taking part in, so I was like, okay sure I’ll come. There was lots of news coverage. I asked people ‘Hey, do you know who the software lead is?’ And they told me to show up, and I showed up on that day and the Technical Lead told me `Welcome to the team.’”
This turned out to be a significant advantage for him; since the Waterloop (the University of Waterloo’s hyperloop team) team was quite young, he was the only non-graduating member on the team with software experience at the time, which led to him becoming a Technical Lead along with Jason Pan. During his time there, his team has grown from a casual gathering of hyperloop enthusiasts — as told by the casual onboarding Clive had — to an accomplished group.
I had a lot of interest in a mix of hardware, software and electrical skills, all of that.
This turned out to be a significant advantage for him; since the Waterloop (the University of Waterloo’s hyperloop team) team was quite young, he was the only non-graduating member on the team with software experience at the time, which led to him becoming a Technical Lead along with Jason Pan. During his time there, his team has grown from a casual gathering of hyperloop enthusiasts — as told by the casual onboarding Clive had — to an accomplished group.
How did the Waterloop team become so tight knit?
Waterloop’s success was also due to the fact that the members are really self motivated and able to adapt quickly:
Each term there would be a whole new batch of people because of my school’s co-op/internship program, so organization was complicated. More recently, in the past year, we have had relatively well-structured teams.
He also notes that this helped the team adapt well despite the pandemic:
[COVID] set us back somewhat, but it has also given us a lot of time to mature as a team. So I believe that there have been trade-offs there. We have grown a lot during the pandemic and we are a much stronger organization than ever.
What does it take to be a successful member in a hyperloop team?
Clive comments that a wide range of skills, both hard and soft, are necessary:
My technical experience from internships and personal projects definitely helped. Communication skills are necessary to communicate well with managers and team members.
Why is hyperloop technology exciting?
Clive recounted it took him a while for him to be sold on the new transportation proposal, but was finally convinced it would be a big player in the transportation technology industry:
I think hyperloop has a few interesting key advantages. Number one, it is quick, and two, it can replace short haul air transport so it has huge environmental benefits. If you have a hyperloop where you can just board it and be in the next city within 15–20 minutes, that’s much better than taking a plane and going through security wait times. We’ve definitely come a long way from horses to cars to trains to planes; hyperloop seems like that natural next step.
Now graduated, Clive is considering working on hyperloop technologies at companies in the future.
What is your most memorable hyperloop experience at university?
The SpaceX Hyperloop Competition was definitely the single most enjoyable event. I definitely got a lot out of meeting international teams and living in LA for 10 days.
Where do you see hyperloop technology being in 20 years?
Are we still going to use cars to travel 6 hours from city to city? I don’t think so. Even though a considerable change in the way we travel feels inevitable, it doesn’t have to happen now. Some hyperloop companies will succeed in implementing hyperloop technologies. However, an infrastructure project like this is expensive and needs government approval.
In fact, the expenses coming from parts like the tube are the biggest obstacle holding the hyperloop technologies from really taking off. Clive estimates that for the technology to be really successful we need to decrease the costs by a factor of “5–10” times what it is now in 2021.
How did CHC come about?
As Clive hinted, at the current rate of hyperloop technology development, there is usually only one pod per team being produced. This means that a lot of the parts are outsourced and niche.
By ensuring that hyperloop becomes less of a matter of the future, teams across Canada can leverage their newfound connectedness to make a cheaper and more viable vehicle.
This was why Clive started the Canadian Hyperloop Conference (CHC):
The goal of CHC is to build a larger Hyperloop community in Canada and in North America as a whole.
Clive will act as an advisor until the current founding team can run on its own.
He also envisions the future of CHC to be an organization which fosters innovation and information exchange:
There are many races for car technologies but there aren’t any for hyperloop. As hyperloop technologies are developed, implemented, and proven to be working; there will be a lot more research going on. We will start thinking about how it can be cheaper or safer and how we can solve the problems that keep coming up year after year. Once we get everyone interested in solving these challenges, we will see significant improvements in hyperloop technology.
What would you recommend to a new hyperloop team?
Building a good pod is important, but Clive emphasizes how a sustainable and committed team is essential:
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that the team is so important. It’s also important as a manager to make sure they are still engaged, interested and benefiting.
What would you tell others who want to get involved in hyperloop?
I think the cool thing about hyperloop is that you can have a cool impact on a technology that is at such an early stage. There are a lot of cool hyperloop startups going around, because the technology is so unique. If not hyperloop, try to join any engineering design team. Working on a team with tangible impact is really exciting.
Any closing remarks?
Clive reiterates the benefit of joining a design team:
Building something that actually works is so much different from building something that just passes an assignment, or satisfies an employer.
Clive couldn’t have stated the importance of student team innovation better. With the establishment of a newfound Canadian community surrounding hyperloop, the new technology may take off sooner rather than later. Now that CHC has started operations, Clive’s goal is currently actualizing through the organization of a conference in 2022 along with additional hyperloop-related events.
