In Texas

They have already arrived in Texas. The Talpa Tunneling UPV team, dedicated to the design and development of cutting-edge microtunnelling machines, is competing as a finalist in the fifth edition of the Not-a-Boring Competition 2026, organised by The Boring Company, the infrastructure firm founded by Elon Musk.

This is a major international milestone, as the team from the Universitat Politècnica de València is one of eight university teams from around the world selected to take part in this competition.

They are in Bastrop (Texas), at The Boring Company's headquarters, and will compete against UATXcavators, from the University of Austin (Texas); CU Hyperloop, from the University of Colorado Boulder; Smith Engineering Hyperloop, from Queen's University (Canada); The Diggeridoos, from Virginia Tech; Penn Hyperloop, from the University of Pennsylvania; Boring Illinois, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and Dig'em Aggies, from Texas. In just one year, Talpa Tunneling UPV has reached this final. Join UPV Desing Factory. You can follow their progress via this link.

30-metre tunnel

The competition is an in-person technical challenge that will last approximately 8 days. During this time, teams will be assessed on excavation speed, technological innovation, and navigation accuracy. The task is to drill a 30-metre-long tunnel with a small diameter, completing it as quickly as possible whilst meeting strict safety requirements. In English, 'boring' means 'boring', but in the field of engineering, it also refers to tunnel boring.

The official slogan of the competition is 'Let's beat the snail'. Many current tunnel boring machines are slower than a snail's speed: 3 m/h.

The aim is to revolutionise tunnelling by making it faster, which aligns with Elon Musk's vision of building underground transport networks. The TUM Germany team won in 2025 with a record of 22.5 metres excavated.