The first International Quantum Hackathon at FIT CTU attracted 44 young talents from all over the world. Nine student teams worked for two days on solving problems using quantum technologies. The topics ranged from mine detection in the seas, to technologies in medicine, security in the energy sector, and space technologies. The winning team comprised students from the Faculty of Information Technology CTU in Prague and a high school student from SPŠE in Pilsen.
The announcement of the results took place at the follow-up conference Quantum Day on 26 June 2024. Both events were organized by the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT CTU) and the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNPSE CTU) together with the CzechInvest agency and partners IBM and Tensor Ventures.
The winning team was a team of students from FIT CTU and a student from SPŠE in Pilsen. Team called Tangus proposed a solution to the complex problem of mine detection in the seas and oceans, usable for civilian cargo ships and the navy.
"We got into quantum technologies for the first time a few years ago, when we took a course on Quantum Programming at FIT CTU, which inspired our interest in quantum programming. The problem we were solving was based on my master's thesis on how to detect malware, i.e. malicious programs on a computer. It was a different case, but the idea is the same. I have a classification problem and I have a few samples and I want to classify them somehow and we used quantum computing and machine learning to solve it. We had faith in winning, even though there were moments of crisis, and we are happy that it turned out well," says Ing. Eliška Krátká, a student of FIT CTU.
The second place was awarded to the Quties team, represented by FIT CTU students , with their Quantum Radar as a solution for screening technologies in medicine. Third place went to the Toobee team, comprisingstudents from FJFI and FIT CTU, for their orbital cleaning project with a solution using quantum optimization and the use of satellites for mechanical cleaning.
"We're the garbage men who collect rocks in space," laughs Michael Wagner for the Toobee team.
The three winning teams will be welcomed at Prague Castle on Thursday 27 June by Jaroslav Zajíček, Director of the Foreign Department of the Office of the President of the Czech Republic.
The Quantum Hackathon was followed by the Quantum Day conference, which brought information about the latest trends in quantum technologies, stories of promising start-ups, and the award ceremony for the successful student teams of the previous International Quantum Hackathon.
The programme of the second edition of the conference featured top experts from the scientific community, industry, investors and governmental organizations discussing the possibilities of using quantum technologies to solve real-world problems. Among the opening speakers were Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalisation Ivan Bartos and Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Marek Zeníšekk. Both agreed that quantum technologies are key and are already shaping and will continue to shape our future. They stated that for the Czech Republic to be successful in global competition, it is necessary to intensively support research, education, and technology transfer.
This event was implemented as a part of the project Promoting Entrepreneurship, which is part of the National Recovery Plan, component 1.4 Digital Economy and Society, Innovative Start-ups and New Technologies, funded by the EU Instrument for Recovery and Resilience.
