About the challenge

The Wisconsin Quantum Computing Club has partnered with IBM to bring you Madison's first Qiskit Fall Fest Hackathon! This is a two component hackathon pairing challenge notebooks from IBM with an open project submission where you can strive to design an innovate and unique quantum invention using Qiskit! Upon successful completion of certain portions of the hackathon, you will earn an official certificate, and the chance to win some awesome prizes (over $300 in total value)!

Get started

Set up your environment! We interface with Qiskit and quantum computing libraries through Python. You may do this locally, or you may sign into the IBM Quantum Lab (see instructions here). Once you've situated yourself, prepare to dive in!

We will have Qiskit Mentors available throughout the entire session to help you with anything you need!

Qiskit Notebooks Challenge

In partnership with IBM, we present three challenge Jupyter notebooks that contain skeleton code and an autograder. They increase in difficulty: easy, medium and advanced. The race is on, for the first person to complete and submit all three gets a prize!

Upon successful completion of each challenge notebook, you will be entered in for a drawing for some Qiskit swag and prizes. You can earn up to 6 entries if you complete all three challenge notebooks. Notebook 1 earns 1 entry, notebook 2 earns 2 entries, and notebook 3 earns 3 entries. If you complete at least challenge notebook 1, you will earn the official certificate. Your challenge notebook submission is due on Oct 24 at 11:59pm.

Open Project Challenge

For those who crave more of a challenge, this portion of the hackathon allows you to get creative and submit a Qiskit project of your choosing. This is the perfect opportunity to create a project that you can showcase on your resume and LinkedIn.

To be eligible for prizes, you must be willing to present your project at the Qiskit Fall Fest Closing Ceremony on Thursday, October 26 from 6:45-8:00pm. You may still submit your project for a certificate, but you will not be eligible for prizes.

Your open-ended project submission is due on Monday, Oct 23 at 11:59pm. Projects will be judged by the WQCC executive board and a panel of Quantum Computing graduate students.

See the requirements for this challenge below!

• Completeness
  Your project's completeness is crucial. Ensure all essential components are present and functioning together seamlessly. Judges will examine the operational smoothness and the absence of critical issues, expecting a fully realized, efficient project.
• Creativity
  Creativity will set your project apart. Innovative ideas or unique approaches are key. Judges will assess originality and how your project contributes fresh perspectives or solutions, expecting inventive thinking and execution.
• Technology
  Effective use of technology is vital. Incorporate sophisticated, purposeful technology to solve problems or enhance your project. Judges will evaluate the complexity, relevance, and innovative application of technological elements.
• Presentation
  Presentation matters. It should be visually appealing and communicate your project clearly. Judges will focus on design intuitiveness, clarity of communication, and the visual and experiential impact, expecting a coherent and engaging narrative.