Background
The Paradigm Hyperloop team participates in a SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition every year. The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition is an open challenge to student teams across the globe to design and build Hyperloop test vehicles. Teams compete for the ultimate prize of performing a high speed run in the SpaceX HyperTube, in Hawthorne, California.

The Problem
Hyperloop Pods are 18ft long, 4ft wide and weigh 2,000 lbs, therefore finding a lifting solution that has the capabilities to lift the vehicle in a safe manner for the team, and can fit the dimensions of the facility is difficult. The team was in need of a crane that had the ability to lift 2,000 lbs, fit within the footprint of their workstation and guarantee the safety of team members.

The Solution
Gorbel® provided the Paradigm Hyperloop team with a brand new 2-ton Gantry Crane to solve the lifting needs the team required to work efficiently and safely on the pod. This allowed the team to use the crane for easy transportation and created a safe work environment for the team. The team’s business lead quoted, Ben Lippolis said, “We will be using the gantry for all pod lifting operations at our local workspace facility and when traveling to SpaceX for the competition. In total, Gorbel® has made our operating procedures much safer and saved us a significant amount of money that would have otherwise been wasted on short term gantry rentals. We look forward to using the gantry for years to come.”

We have recently revamped our solutions center/case studies page. This is the place to go if you are trying to determine what Gorbel product best fits your application,. or you may already have the product in mind but need to see how effective the solution is in your type of industry or application.

Use the keyword search or make selections from Industry, Application, and/or Product. When you have narrowed your search, click on the view button to view the case study background, along with video or images. Then you can download the whole story as pdf document.

https://gorbel.com/solutions-center

Steelworkers Descend on Washington, Urging President Trump to Finally Act on Steel Imports

By Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Despite promises, Trump has yet to do anything about imports. It’s hurting workers nationwide.

Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of Black Monday, the infamous day in 1977 when Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. abruptly shut its doors. Thousands of steelworkers were suddenly without a job.

That terrible day marked a turning point for Youngstown, Ohio, and many industrial cities across the nation. Steel facilities across the country closed not too long after, and hundreds of thousands of people lost good-paying, middle-class sustaining jobs. Local grocers, restaurants, department stores and others were forced to shutter, unable to survive without the business a customer base of steelworkers once provided. Entire communities were dismantled.

Four decades after Black Monday, steelworkers are again at risk of losing their jobs — and the survival of the American steel industry itself is at stake.