The Atomiq Hackathon | Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM

Welcome to The Atomiq Hackathon!
Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM | Chi(r)ps: A Decade of Harmony on the Cloud
Register for
Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM
here
.
In 2026,
IBM Quantum
celebrates ten transformative years of cloud-accessible quantum computing. Commemorating this milestone, the
Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computing at Institute of Engineering and Management (IEM), Kolkata
, in collaboration with
IBM Quantum
, presents
The Atomiq Hackathon
as part of
Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM
.
Just as IBM’s quantum chips bear the names of birds—echoing the precision tuning of cryogenic hardware—our theme draws inspiration from the lively "chirps" of developers exchanging ideas, debugging circuits, and creating entanglement together. This year, we spotlight
qreativity
: transforming quantum mechanics, superposition, interference, and real-world device noise into innovative algorithms, artistic computation, and shared discovery.
| At a Glance ⟩
Sprint Duration:
24 Hours Virtual Sprint (Nov 10, 10:00 PM IST – Nov 11, 10:00 PM IST)
Team Size:
Solo to teams of 3 (1–3 members per team)
Eligibility:
Open to all!
Undergraduate & postgraduate students, academic researchers, and industry professionals worldwide.
Cost:
100% Free
Mode:
100% Virtual
Official Website:
qff-26-iem.vercel.app
Community & Mentorship:
Join our Discord
| Theme: Chi(r)ps & Qreativity! ⟩
"Medicine, banking, and supply chains wage a constant war on quantum noise... pouring millions into error-mitigation to force real

Requirements
| What to Build ⟩
Choose one of the 9 hackathon domains below and craft a functional quantum or hybrid classical-quantum prototype. We encourage you to weave in our core theme—
"Chi(r)ps & Qreativity"
—by leaning into quantum properties (superposition, entanglement, interference, and even hardware noise) rather than treating them solely as hurdles.
| Aerospace and Defense ⟩:
Autonomous navigation, trajectory and route optimization under dynamic constraints (e.g., QAOA for multi-vehicle coordination), satellite scheduling, radar cross-section simulations, or resilient quantum-safe communication protocols for aerospace assets.
| AIML ⟩:
Quantum Machine Learning (QML) architectures, variational quantum classifiers (VQC), quantum kernel methods, parameter-shift optimization, hybrid neural-quantum pipelines, and quantum generative modeling (e.g., QGANs).
| Fintech ⟩:
Quantum portfolio optimization, multi-asset arbitrage detection, credit risk assessment via amplitude estimation, derivative pricing simulations, or fraud pattern classification.
| Automotive ⟩:
Electric vehicle (EV) charging network load balancing, smart traffic routing grids, battery chemistry energy state approximations, or supply-chain logistics optimization.
| Healthcare ⟩:
Biomedical image classification using quantum kernels, genomic sequence alignment heuristics, biomarker pattern recognition, or patient scheduling under hospital resource constraints.
| Blockchain ⟩:
Post-quantum cryptographic signatures, quantum consensus mechanisms, entropy-as-a-service using quantum random number generation (QRNG) on IBM hardware, or quantum-resistant smart contract architectures.
| Sustainability ⟩:
Smart power grid dispatch optimization, renewable energy balancing, carbon footprint mitigation models, climate predictive modeling, or subsea/ecological infrastructure routing.
| Cybersecurity ⟩:
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) simulators, zero-knowledge proofs augmented by quantum circuits, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration frameworks, or quantum-enhanced intrusion detection systems.
| Chemistry & Pharmaceutics ⟩:
Ground-state and excited-state energy estimations via VQE, molecular orbital modeling, small drug-receptor binding affinity heuristics, or catalyst pathway approximations.
| What to Submit ⟩
Every solo hacker or team (up to 3 members) must submit their project through Devpost before the deadline (
Nov 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM IST
) with the following artifacts:
| Public GitHub Repository ⟩:
Clean, reproducible source code.
A clear dependency file (requirements.txt or environment.yml).
An open-source license (MIT, Apache 2.0, or equivalent).
| Detailed Project README ⟩:
Project Overview:
The problem statement, chosen domain, and proposed quantum solution.
Quantum Implementation:
Clear explanation of your circuit architecture, algorithms used (e.g., QAOA, VQE, QSVM, custom ansatz), and how primitives/transpilation were leveraged.
Chi(r)ps & Qreativity Connection:
How your

Judging Criteria
Criterion 1: Quantum Rigor & Technical Depth
Weight: 35%
Description:
Evaluates technical soundness and circuit design. Assesses algorithm complexity, ansatz formulation, and valid execution or simulation using quantum SDKs and tools.
Criterion 2: Originality & "Qreativity"
Weight: 25%
Description:
Assesses innovation and theme alignment with Chi(r)ps & Qreativity. Evaluates inventive uses of quantum phenomena, superposition, entanglement, or hardware noise.
Criterion 3: Practical Viability & Code Quality
Weight: 20%
Description:
Evaluates repository organization, modular code structure, dependencies, error handling, and ease of local or cloud reproducibility.
Criterion 4: Presentation, Pitch & Video Demo
Weight: 20%
Description:
Assesses communication clarity in the 1-2 minute video walkthrough and the depth, readability, and structure of the project README.