Chicago Section

The Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), in partnership with QuantX, is organizing a four-day quantum competition called the BIG Q Hackathon in Chicago from Friday, Sept 29 through Monday Oct 2, 2023.   Please find below and in the attached documents, further information about the event.  IEEE Chicago is pleased to be a sponsor and partner in this event.  

In brief, the event will convene members across the entire quantum computing value chain, connecting industry across many sectors and quantum computing platform providers with technical and business talent to work collaboratively on quantum solutions to real-world industry challenges. The hackathon will have a unique format with a Technical Phase (Days 1-2), during which technical teams work on assigned QC platforms to develop technical solutions for assigned use cases, and a Business Phase (Days 3-4), where business teams formulate business plans for assigned use cases and technical solutions.  Confirmed participants include AWS, Boeing, Capgemini, IBM, Infleqtion, NVIDIA, Pasqal, qBraid, and QuEra contributing use cases and QC platforms.

This unique format provides an opportunity to demonstrate the broad range of real-world industry problems relevant for quantum computing and serves to catalyze discussions between technical and business experts with varying levels of quantum competency.  Previous iterations of this unique hackathon held in Europe were very successful in bringing together European industry and talent, and in launching new collaborations and employment opportunities.  

Below are some opportunities for engagement:

• Participate in a technical or business team

• Contribute a use case. The use case contributor would be asked to assign a domain expert to advise the teams during the hackathon. We also request only synthetic data, not proprietary.  (CQE can provide further guidance on format and content for the use case and time commitment for your company.)
• Sponsor the event. 

To learn more about the hackathon generally or any of the above options for participating, please contact:

Preeti Chalsani | pchalsani@uchicago.edu | Director of Industry Partnerships, CQE and Deputy Director, Duality

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