Nathaniel DePue
Co-president
RPI Quantum Computing Club · Student Hackathon
Build the future of quantum.
Join students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a two-day
quantum computing hackathon featuring talks, panels, workshops,
and hands-on projects on real quantum hardware and simulators.
RPI is the first university in the world to host a full-scale IBM Quantum System One on its campus. We are deeply grateful to Curtis R. Priem, co-founder of NVIDIA and RPI alumnus, and IBM for their generous support.
What is the RPI Quantum Hackathon?
The RPI Quantum Hackathon is a student-led quantum computing hackathon hosted by the RPI Quantum Computing Club. It welcomes both newcomers and experienced quantum hackers. Over the course of two days, you'll attend talks and workshops, meet mentors from academia and industry, and build projects using real quantum hardware and simulators.
Participants will form teams, tackle challenge problems, and compete for prizes sponsored by leading quantum companies and research labs.
2 days
of talks, workshops, and hacking.
QPU Access
Resource access to IBM Quantum instances through QBraid.
Beginner-friendly
Workshops and starter tracks for newcomers.
Free
No registration fee.
Meet the team
The RPI Quantum Computing Club student leaders organizing this hackathon.
Jeremy Chen
Co-president
Christopher Poon
Treasurer
Prize pool
Compete for a total prize pool of $1500 across multiple award categories.
Total prize pool
$1500
Prize breakdown
- Grand Prize$750
- 2nd Place$400
- 3rd Place$200
- Most Innovative$150
RPI Quantum Hackathon awards
Congratulations to the 2026 winners! We ended up increasing the prize pool from $1500 to $2000! Thank you to our sponsors!
Winners
-
1st place $750
Erik Umble (RPI)
-
2nd place $400
Batuhan Yalçin (RPI)
-
3rd place $200
ZMS Team (RPI)
Zeke Gentchos, Matthew McCall, Swaroop Sridhar
-
Most Innovative + qBraid $200 + qBraid
Tazeem Mahashin (RPI)
-
ML vs QML comparison category $150
Sreeja Barua (RPI)
-
Beginner awards $100 each
Joseph Park (RPI)
Nico Wang (RPI)
Ram Bhagat (Binghamton University)
Challenges
View the challenge materials and problem statements for the hackathon.
Schedule
A two-day event packed with speakers, panels, workshops, tours, and focused hackathon work periods. All times EDT.
Day 1 · Friday · April 10 · CBIS Auditorium & Gallery
-
09:00–11:00
Speakers & Panel
- 09:00 Christopher Bishop Secrets to Working in Quantum Computing
- 10:00 Osama Raisuddin (RPI) HPC-Quantum integration: Applications, Infrastructure, and Perspectives
- 11:00 Panel Osama Raisuddin (RPI), Haimeng Zhang (IBM), and Joan Arrow (Naval Nuclear Labs)
-
12:00–14:00
Lunch & Workshops
- 12:00–13:00Lunch · DiBella's Subs
- 12:00–14:00Workshops
-
14:00–16:00
Speakers & Poster Sessions
- 14:00 Haimeng Zhang (IBM) Emerging quantum applications
- 15:00 Bhuvanesh Sundar (Rigetti) Towards quantum advantage by classical solving quantum-preconditioned problems
- 16:00Poster Sessions
- Brian McDermott's Quantum Research Applications
-
16:00–24:00
Challenges open · Hackathon work period
- 17:00–19:00Quantum computer tours
- 19:00–20:00Dinner · Big Apple Pizza
Day 2 · Saturday · April 11 · Darrin Communications Center (DCC)
-
24:00–09:00
Overnight hackathon work period
- 08:00–09:00Breakfast · Bagels & Pastries
- 09:00–12:00 Final hackathon work period
- 12:00–14:00 Judging, awards & closing remarks
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to a few common questions about the RPI Quantum Hackathon.
Sponsors, partners & collaborators
Title Sponsor
Premier Sponsor
Sponsors
Partners & collaborators
Project submissions
When your team is ready, submit your hackathon project through the official Google Form. Include your repo or demo link and any notes for judges as requested in the form.
Submit project
Submissions have been closed.
Submitted projects
Browse every team’s project repository submissions.
Register for the RPI Quantum Hackathon 2026
We welcome students from around the world. Fill out the registration form to tell us about your background and interest in quantum computing.
Register
For questions, contact: rpi.quantum.computing.club@gmail.com.