2025 not-a-boring Competition - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
We are excited to announce the fourth Not-a-Boring Competition! Anticipating bigger, better, and definitely really boring machines. Register now if you think you can beat the snail!
The 2025 Not-a-Boring Competitions will challenge competition teams over 8 days and will be held in Bastrop, Texas. Competition Week 2025 is preliminarily scheduled to occur in the spring of 2025. If you would like to join the competition, please read last year’s abbreviated rules and requirements carefully and fill out the application form below. We will also continue to host three mini-competitions open to first-year teams that will take place during the same week as our full tunneling competition. Details on the mini-competitions (Digging Project, Tunnel Lining Project, and Navigation Project) are also included in the abbreviated rules and requirements.
Abbreviated Rules and Requirements
Note: This is for the 2024 competition. The 2025 Abbreviated Rules and Requirements will be released following the completion of the 2024 competition.
* Please state your preference. Changing your competition selection is possible up to the submission of the first design deliverable.
2024 Competition
Currently in progress! Check back for results later.
2023 Competition
This competition challenges teams to come up with tunneling solutions and answer the question, “Can you beat the snail?”. Five teams advanced through the technical design reviews to compete at the competition, which was held in Bastrop, Texas on April 01, 2023. The finalists for the 2023 Not-a-Boring Competition were:
CU Hyperloop - University of Colorado Boulder - United States
The Diggeridoos - Virginia Tech - United States
Swissloop Tunneling - ETH Zurich - Switzerland
TUM Boring - Innovation in Tunneling - Technical University of Munich (TUM) - Germany
The Warwick Boring Team - University of Warwick - United Kingdom
2023 Winning Teams
Congratulations to the Award winners on the Not-a-Boring-Competition 23!
Overall Winner: TUM Boring
Tunnel length of 11.80 m
Innovation Award: Swissloop Tunneling
Accuracy and Navigation Award: CU Hyperloop
2021 Competition
This competition challenges teams to come up with tunneling solutions and answer the question, “Can you beat the snail?”. Out of nearly 400 applicants, twelve teams advanced through the technical design reviews to compete at the competition, which was held Las Vegas, Nevada on September 12, 2021. The Finalists for the 2021 Not-a-Boring Competition were:
Biggus Diggus - Hobbyists - United Kingdom
CU Hyperloop - University of Colorado Boulder - United States
Dirt-Torpedo - DHBW Mosbach - Germany
HyperloopUC - University of Cincinnati - United States
MIT Hyperloop III - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - United States
Paradigm Boring - Memorial University of Newfoundland and Northeastern University, St. John’s - Canada and United States
Swissloop Tunneling - ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Team Badgermole - Hobbyists - India and United States
The Diggeridoos - Virginia Tech - United States
The Warwick Boring Team - University of Warwick - United Kingdom
TUM Boring - Innovation in Tunneling - Technical University of Munich (TUM) - Germany
UMD - University of Maryland - United States
2021 Winning Teams
Congratulations to the five award winners on the first annual Not-a-Boring-Competition!
Team Safety - UMD Loop
Fastest Launch Design - The Diggeridoos
Innovation and Design - Swissloop Tunneling
Best Guidance System - TUM Boring
Overall Winner - TUM Boring
