Paradigm Hyperloop is a team of students from Memorial University of Newfoundland, College of the North Atlantic, and Northeastern University of Boston that has been planning, designing, and developing a hyperloop pod, which is a conceptual fifth mode of transportation that involves levitating train-like vehicles that travel through low pressure vacuum tubes. The team has been at the project for two years!
J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) is proud to sponsor the innovative work that the Paradigm Hyperloop team is doing.
The global SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition is put on by SpaceX for students to get involved and build hyperloop test vehicles. There are three academic competition, all independent of the other. These competitions allow engineering students across the world the means to see who can push the Hyperloop concept closer to reality by designing, building, and testing their own prototype; not to mention recognition on an international level.
Not only is the Paradigm Hyperloop team the only Canadian team to make it to the second competition, they were placed in the top 24 and advanced directly to the finals without having to conduct further technical assessment. The competition took place in Hawthorne, California at the SpaceX Headquarters between August 25th and 27th. The Paradigm Hyperloop team was incredibly successful in this round, finishing second in the world and first in North America!
“The team was incredibly successful this past week and I am so proud of everyone who is a part of it.” says Adam Keating, Project Lead for Paradigm Hyperloop.
“We are the first and only air bearing pod to successfully complete a High Speed Vacuum run in the Hyperloop Test track. We reached 101km/h with the largest and heaviest pod in the competition, weighing in at 1,800lbs and 20ft in length. Many other teams chose to pursue Maglev or wheel systems, Paradigm however chose to stick to the original path and prove the original concept was a viable premise.” adds Mark Comeau, Manufacturing Lead.
Competition three details are not finalized yet but it is expected to be similar format to competition two. As such, the Paradigm Hyperloop team is well-positioned to make a finals appearance once again given their successes in the first two competitions!
Want to learn more about the Paradigm Hyperloop Team? Visit their Facebook and LinkedIn page.
Supremex Inc. announced a plan to further optimize its Canadian envelope operations by reducing expenses and improving resource allocation. Supremex will be closing its Edmonton facility and reducing its Canadian envelope facility headcount by a total of 39 employees, or approximately 5% of its total workforce. These measures will result in annual cost reductions of approximately $2.4 million, before taxes, which will begin to materialize in the current quarter and throughout the first three quarters of 2021 as operations wind down in Edmonton. A one-time charge of approximately $2.5 million, before taxes, will be recorded in the Company’s 2020 fourth quarter results.
UPM and the US-based pulp and paper producer Domtar Paper Company LLC have signed an agreement for UPM to acquire the total annual kraft lignin production of Domtar’s Plymouth Mill in North Carolina, USA as of January 2021. This step enables UPM to expand its role in the growing lignin business and different application segments. Following the agreement, UPM will increase its supply of kraft lignin by more than 20.000 metric tonnes annually. Part of the supply will be used to complement the existing UPM BioPivaTM product family. UPM lignin products will be sold globally through UPM’s sales network and are supported by strong technical expertise. “We are very pleased to have agreed this new supply agreement with Domtar. It enables us to expand our lignin business in the growing biochemicals market before the start-up of our Biorefinery in Leuna, Germany,” says Juuso Konttinen, Vice President, UPM Biochemicals.
The recent $40 million modernization projects at the Irving Pulp & Paper and Irving Tissue facilities in Saint John represent an investment in the future of New Brunswick. At peak, the projects included over 1200 workers from 84 local contractors and more than 400 employees at these two Saint John mills. Every year there are more than 1700 small N.B. businesses across more than 250 communities - from two employees to hundreds - that supply goods and services to the JDI forest products value chain. From seed to shelf we are adding value and jobs. Click Read More below for additional information.