On 29–30 August 2024 PennyLane and the Singaporean A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) held the inaugural Singapore Quantum Cup — Singapore's premier, invite-only quantum programming event. In this two-day event, Singapore's brightest students and researchers in quantum information tested their quantum programming skills, learned from quantum coding experts, and had the opportunity to win cash prizes and an all-expenses-paid trip to the PennyLane offices in Toronto!
To join the 2024 Singapore Quantum Cup, teams of 2–4 university students and researchers from Singaporean universities were selected to participate and prove their skills by solving time-limited quantum programming challenges. Solving challenges earned each team points that counted toward their total, but the teams that solved challenges faster ranked higher on the leaderboard.
Professor Ping Koy Lam (Chief Quantum Scientist, A*STAR) delivered the opening remarks on Day 2 of the event.
On Day 1 (Thursday, 29 August), teams spent 12 hours in a virtual competition, and Day 2 (Friday, 30 August) brought an exciting, head-to-head live coding battle between the top two teams of the previous day.
Day 1 At-a-glance
- 111 students and researchers signed up to participate
- 34 teams
- 3 universities represented
- 902 submissions
- Fastest solution submitted in 5 minutes by team QuantumGateKeepers
- Team Quilt solves all 6 challenges in 5.5 hours
- Team Quilt and Entangle Minds advanced to Day 2 competition
On Day 2, the top two teams were allotted 70 minutes to tackled four brand-new quantum programming challenges on an event stage, supported by the organizing team and cheered on by their competitors from Day 1. Here are the winners:
First-place Winning Team: Entangled Minds
Representing Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore, Centre for Quantum Technologies.
Prize: S$3,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Toronto, Canada to spend a week at Xanadu with the PennyLane Team!
Second-place Winning Team: Quilt
Representing Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.
Prize: S$1,500
Third-place Winning Team: HappyTreeFriends
Representing National University of Singapore.
Prize: S$500
As a final treat to all competitors, PennyLane and A*STAR joined the teams in a networking lunch and an afternoon of talks and panel discussions, where students and researchers could learn about hot new research topics, or even how to spin out their research to join the vibrant Singaporean startup ecosystem.
The first panel discussion was entitled, The Singapore startup ecosystem and how to spin out your research today, was moderated by Wei Zhang Chuan (Venture Builder, A*STAR). The panel of experts included Dr. Joe Fitzsimons (CEO, Horizon Quantum Computing), Dr. Tommaso Demarie (CEO, Entropica Labs), Remi Choong (Principal, elev8.vc), John Lu (Director, Infocomm & Media, Digital Industry Singapore),
The second panel discussion was entitled, The Singapore national quantum strategy: investment and workforce development for tomorrow. It was moderated by Dr. Desmond Toa (Senior Assistant Director, National Quantum Office) and included esteemed panelists Keok Tong Ling (Executive Director, National Quantum Office), Professor Patrick Rebentrost (Assistant Professor, NUS & CQT), and Maynard Kang (Director, Emerging Techologies, Temasek).
We at PennyLane are proud of all participants' success and excited to see where Singapore's brightest quantum information students and researchers will go next!
Do you think you and your team could match their pace and become a PennyLane Quantum Cup winner? Hone your skills with PennyLane Challenges, learn new techniques, and earn badges and certificates to propel you further in your career in quantum!
About the author
Lorraine Young
I'm thrilled to be part of the Product team at Xanadu, where our mission is to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere.