A friend recently sent me an article published in La Vanguardia about the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The headline, in bold letters, reads: “The Hyperloop Capsule”, and at the beginning of the article, there’s a full-color photo of the capsule — the centerpiece of this global innovation event.

The image instantly sparked a feeling of pride in me. Pride as an Andalusian and a Gaditano, as an entrepreneur and technologist. Competing at the highest level demands total dedication. Now, in my role as Vice-President of Cádiz C.F., I can testify to that in the world of sports. In business, I can also confirm the need for relentless effort and sacrifice to secure a place — not just nationally, but internationally.

The Hyperloop capsule showcased at the Mobile World Congress was born from the hands and knowledge of a company based in El Puerto de Santa María — a company I co-founded in 2002 alongside Professor Manuel Galán: Carbures, now known as AIRTIFICIAL. It wasn’t easy to earn the trust of Hyperloop TT, a California-based company and one of the two competitors in the race to develop the Hyperloop — the other being Richard Branson’s company. Convincing them to place their faith in a tech company from southern Spain was no small feat.

As I always say, every success at the top level is the result of countless hours of continuous work and overcoming obstacles. The work we did for Hyperloop in 2018, applying our technology and expertise, was a major milestone — both for them and for AIRTIFICIAL. In that moment, the value of 20 years of hard work, which began with a research group at the University of Cádiz, finally materialized.

From that point on, your work — your applied technology — takes on a life of its own. It’s like when you manufacture part of a plane’s wing or a fuel cap. Once it leaves the factory, it’s no longer yours. It belongs to Airbus, Boeing, or Hyperloop. In some projects, your contribution is just a small piece, and in others, it’s a 35-meter carbon fiber structure embedded with sensors.

Seeing the fruits of our labor follow their own path, as happened this week in Barcelona, brings a deep sense of satisfaction — the satisfaction of knowing you’ve fulfilled the mission of adding value to everyday things through technology.

And, as I always say, technology follows its own path.