September 30, 2026
Your September PennyLane Roundup: QHack, QOSS Survey, and introducing Backline!
Hi there,
Fall is officially here, but that doesn’t mean that things are cooling down for PennyLane! There is a lot that you do not want to miss out on, so we thought we would send the best of what is coming up right to your inbox.
Between filling out the Unitary Foundation Quantum Open Source Software Survey, registering for QHack, visiting PennyLane at the Munich Quantum Software Forum, and learning all about one of PennyLane's biggest releases of the year, we have a lot to get to. Let's jump right in!
In this issue:
📝 Fill out the 2026 Unitary Foundation Quantum Open Source Software Survey
⚽ QHack is taking place October 16-23, register today
💻 PennyLane at the Munich Quantum Software Forum
🥁 Announcing Backline, a new execution framework from Xanadu and AMD
Have your voice heard: Fill out the 2026 Unitary Foundation Quantum Open Source Software (QOSS) Survey today 📝
Each year, the Unitary Foundation sends out a call for current and future quantum open source software (QOSS) developers, users, hobbyists, and everyone in between to share their thoughts and opinions on the QOSS ecosystem.
The 2026 QOSS Survey is now open and ready to accept your response until October 29, 2026, so don't hesitate!
The Unitary Foundation compiles the results of their survey into an anonymized, publicly available dataset that is used by developers (including the PennyLane team) to inform the future of QOSS. Participating in the survey means that your thoughts will directly contribute to building better, relevant, and more useful quantum tools.
Take advantage of this opportunity to foster a stronger QOSS ecosystem and spread the word by sharing our 2026 QOSS Survey blog post with your community!
QHack 2026 is taking place from October 16-23, 2026 ⚽
There is still time to sign up for QHack 2026 and have your chance to win your piece of our biggest prize pool yet, including a massive US$15,000 grand prize* 💰
QHack is one of the world's largest quantum software hackathons and invites participants of all skill levels to compete in coding challenges, strengthen their skills, and go head-to-head with competitors from all over the world.
Team registration is now open in the challenge portal for registered participants, so your dream lineup can now become your reality. Remember, this year we will be awarding prizes to the top 10 teams rather than just the top 5!
If you're eager for the competition to begin, now is the time to take part in our referral contest through October 23, 2026. Have your friends enter your PennyLane username when they register; the top 10 referrers will win US$100!
Want to get some coding reps in ahead of the competition? Take a look at the resources available on the PennyLane website, including practice coding challenges, demos, and educational videos.
Learn more and register today at the QHack official website!
Visit PennyLane at the Munich Quantum Software Forum (MQSF) 💻
From October 14-15, Josh Izaac will be representing Xanadu and PennyLane alongside a group of industry leaders at the Munich Quantum Software Forum (MQSF).
Each year, MQSF brings together researchers, developers, innovators, students, and enthusiasts to discuss the cutting edge of quantum software. This event includes talks from industry experts, discussions between industry and academic representatives, and almost 50 software pitches that highlight new features of your favourite tools (and, maybe, new favourite tools!)
If you are attending, don’t forget to say hi to Josh while you’re there!
Introducing Backline: An open platform for compilation and low-latency execution 🥁
Have you noticed that, today, quantum devices cannot operate in isolation? Xanadu and AMD certainly did, so they created Backline, an open platform for compilation and low-latency execution that dynamically connects quantum workloads to the right classical engine, which launched earlier this month.
It is often debated what the best use of quantum technologies will be. Sensing, computing, and networking are often competing for the top spot. What do they all have in common, though? All three require ultra-low latency execution across quantum systems and classical hardware (such as FPGAs, GPUs, and CPUs) to drive real-time processing. In other words, we need quantum processors and classical components to communicate with each other quickly and effectively enough to carry out quantum error correction. Backline helps make this possible.
You may be familiar with Catalyst, a compilation framework that was created as a first step toward solving this problem. Backline builds on top of Catalyst as an execution framework that addresses the hardware communication problem.
Read more about Backline on the PennyLane blog, and learn how you can use it today in the Backline PennyLane demo!
Comic of the month 🩺
Happy coding,
The PennyLane Team
About the author
Emily Nobes
Emily is a 2026 Xanadu summer resident and a Master of Science in Physics student at McGill University. She works on integrated photonic hardware and has historically dabbled in quantum encryption.