Airbus SE initiated a global competition in quantum computing, inviting experts to propose and develop intelligent functions to optimize (and “modulize") the aircraft lifecycles, using newly available computing capabilities. The Airbus Quantum Computing Challenge (AQCC) proposes "to take science out of the lab and into industry," the OEM noted, by applying new computing capabilities to real-life industrial cases.
Quantum computing is a process for evaluating large volumes of information from various sources in various formats using unusually high computational power. Airbus is “an active user of High Performance Computing (HPC),” it explained, and it is extending its current quantum capabilities by integrating and applying quantum technologies for route optimization and satellite imagery, as two examples.
The AQCC seeks to identify more applications for quantum technologies, involving knowledge, data, and expertise from within and outside of the Airbus organization. Five specific challenges have been identified in flight physics that may influence on all aspects of Airbus’ business, ("from design and operations, to airline revenue streams,”) it noted. These projects range from the simple goals, like optimization of aircraft climb, to complex objectives, like optimization of wing-box design.
The Challenge is open to post-graduate students, Ph.D.s, academics, researchers, start-ups, and professionals in the field of quantum computing; individuals or teams will compete for hardware access and for the opportunity to advance their ideas for industrialization, working in collaboration with Airbus experts.
The AQCC will run throughout 2019.
