American Maglev Technology

Last updated
American Maglev Technology
Company type Private
Industry
  • Transportation
  • Technology
Founded1994
FounderTony Morris and Kent R. Davey, Ph.D
Headquarters Florida
Key people
Tony Morris, Jordan Morris
Website http://american-maglev.com/

American Maglev Technology (AMT), sometimes referred to as just American Maglev, is an American company founded in 1994 [1] focused on creating maglev systems for public transit based in Amelia Island, Florida [2] [3] with former locations in Mariette, Georgia, [4] [5] and in Volusia County, Florida. [6] It is led by CEO, Tony Morris and vice president Jordan Morris. [7] The company has a working maglev test track located in Powder Springs, Georgia [8] and formerly had one in Volusia County, Florida before moving locations. [6] The company has invested more than $50 million into its research and development projects. [9]

Contents

History

American Maglev Technology was founded in 1994. In the mid 1990s, they had a location and test track in Volusia County, Florida that they later abandoned around 2002. [6] [4] Before building the Old Dominion University maglev in 2001, they previously pitched the idea of a maglev system to Virginia Tech and Virginia Beach but later settled on Old Dominion University (ODU) due to the short length of the track required. [10] After failing to get the ODU maglev operational, they departed the project sometime around 2003. The company built their test track at Powder Springs, Georgia in 2006. [8] AMT was reportedly trying to land contracts in Pakistan around 2007. [6] In 2012, AMT pitched a maglev route to connect key destinations in Orlando, Florida. [11] They also pitched a similar route connecting destinations to Port Canaveral, Florida in 2015. [9] The company's business license was revoked by Georgia in 2019. [10] In 2021, it was announced that they had moved to Florida and were working on developing novel cooling solutions for United States military aircraft together with another company named CFoam. [3] [2]

Proposed Maglev Systems

This is a list of all the maglev lines that were proposed by the company but ended up not being built.

Criticism

American Maglev Technology has faced criticism for its failure to get the maglev system at ODU operational. Concerns were raised towards using up a budget of $16 million, [14] $7 million of that being a loan from the state of Virginia that went unpaid. [4] AMT also faced criticism for closing its test track in Florida, resulting in the loss of jobs there, [6] and for failing to pay contractors for work on the ODU maglev in 2002, resulting in lawsuits that were eventually settled. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "History". AMT, Inc. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Jordan (2021-07-28). "American Maglev Technology Awarded Phase II Navy Contract to Develop Passively Cooled Jet Blast Deflector (JBD)" (PDF). AMT, Inc. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  3. 1 2 Nicholas, Lorna (2021-08-01). "CFoam and American Maglev Technology of Florida expand development of novel cooling solution for US aircrafts[sic]". Small Caps. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  4. 1 2 3 Vogel, Mike (2015-05-27). "Still hovering: Tony Morris pushes 'maglev' trains". Florida Trend. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  5. ↑ "A Solution for Mass Transit? Georgia Made! [AUDIO/VIDEO]". Georgia Public Broadcasting. 2013-09-22. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Messina, Debbie (2007-04-11). "Doesn't run in Fla. Stalled at ODU. Now maglev maven is in Georgia". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  7. ↑ "Team". AMT, Inc. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ruch, John (2016-01-08). "'Maglev' train was once an idea for Perimeter Center". Rough Draft Atlanta. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  9. 1 2 3 Berman, Dave (2015-06-22). "American Maglev considers Port Canaveral train project". Florida Today. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Witt, Will (2022-11-15). "Twenty One Years Later, the Ghost of ODU's Monorail Remains". Mace & Crown. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  11. ↑ Davies, Alex (2012-12-19). "Here's How Florida Could Build A Floating Train That Is Actually Profitable". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  12. ↑ Dukes, Amanda (2014-05-21). "FDOT approves plan for magnetic train in Orlando". WESH. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  13. ↑ Richardson, Matthew (2014-06-13). "On track: American Maglev reveals details on 6 proposed Orlando stations". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  14. ↑ Patton, Zach (2018-12-21). "Behind the Lens: A $16 Million Flop". Governing. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  15. ↑ "ODU's stop-and-start maglev project back on track". Suffolk News-Herald . Vol. 75, no. 94. 2004-04-18. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
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