Quantum AI Hackathons / September 2026
The Alexandria Quantum Hackathon 2026 brings together emerging talents, researchers, industry experts, and international partners to accelerate quantum innovation in Egypt and the wider MENA region.
The inaugural edition was organized by Bibliotheca Alexandrina, iQafé, Fixed Solutions, and the Open Quantum Institute, with support from IBM Quantum.
The three-day program ran September 6–8, 2026 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The agenda and program below document its sessions and speakers.
The Alexandria Quantum Hackathon 2026 aims to bring together emerging talents, researchers, industry experts, and international partners to accelerate quantum innovation in Egypt and the wider MENA region.
Building on the success of its inaugural edition, the second edition expands its international participation and industry engagement.
Hosted at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the event is designed to welcome approximately 90 participants, supported by mentors, researchers, speakers, and industry representatives.
Participants will tackle real-world challenges across four tracks:
The program combines hands-on technical challenges, expert-led sessions, mentoring, and an Alexandria Quantum Summit connecting academia, industry, and policymakers.
Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the initiative seeks to strengthen quantum education, encourage international collaboration, and advance Egypt's position in the global quantum ecosystem.
The program brought together opening talks, quantum technology sessions, team work, mentoring, and final presentations at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Participants arrived for registration and a welcome breakfast before the opening ceremony and talks. The program introduced the hackathon and community activities, then explored the Quantum AI Nexus, quantum HPC, quantum computing and AI, and state-of-the-art applications.
After lunch, social networking, and a summit visit, sessions covered sample-based quantum diagonalization, quantum photonics, post-quantum cryptography, and building the quantum future.
Teams prepared for the hackathon and attended talks on linear photonics, quantum for 5G and 6G networks, quantum computer principles and applications, and quantum robotics.
The afternoon included intensive team work with mentors, a quantum photonics session, and a discussion of the quantum computing landscape in Egypt and Africa. The day concluded with quantum board games.
Teams prepared and rehearsed their presentations before presenting their final projects. The program then included judging deliberations, the announcement of winners, and closing remarks.
Names and affiliations below follow the event agenda.
Around 200 people attended on site, with an online audience of 10,000+.
Participants were joined by mentors, researchers, speakers, and industry representatives.
Team names, members, and their project or challenge assignments will be added once supplied for publication.
Team directory pending
Organizing institutions and partner roles are listed in the event description. Visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina quantum website (new tab).
Additional 2026 organizing team roles to be added
Names, affiliations, and event responsibilities will be added for the organizing team, speakers, mentors, volunteers, and judging panel.
People and affiliations pending
Simulating Excited States of Molecules
Explore quantum chemistry by simulating the electronically excited states of ethylene using the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and Quantum Subspace Expansion (QSE). Participants will investigate quantum algorithms for molecular modeling and photochemical processes.
Quantum-Enhanced Brain Cancer Classification
Develop a hybrid classical-quantum machine learning model to classify brain cancer subtypes using high-dimensional gene expression data. The challenge explores the potential of quantum computing in medical diagnostics and precision healthcare.
Protecting Critical Digital Infrastructure
Design a quantum-safe communication system connecting Cairo and Alexandria data centers. Participants will combine post-quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution, quantum random number generation, and temporal authentication to protect sensitive data against emerging quantum threats.
Designing and Optimizing a 5-Qubit Chip
Use Qiskit Metal to design and optimize a superconducting 5-qubit quantum processor layout. Participants will explore chip architecture, electromagnetic constraints, qubit connectivity, and hardware optimization.
From molecular simulation and healthcare to cybersecurity and quantum hardware, these challenges connect quantum innovation with practical applications and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Project summaries, team credits, repositories, slides, and demonstration links will be collected here.
Project materials pending
Confirmed awards, judging outcomes, and follow-up opportunities will be documented here.
Results to be verified
Reported figures for the Alexandria Quantum Hackathon. Approximate counts are shown as reported.
47.2% female; 52.8% male.
52.8% undergraduate, 31.9% bachelor's, 13.9% master's, and 1.4% PhD.
IT 50%; engineering 25%; quantum-related studies 11.1%; physics 6.9%; mathematics 1.4%; business 1.4%; other fields 4.2%.
Pre-event training and qualification assessment figures are reported separately from the hackathon.
The assessment notes that these 123 participants completed an in-house qualification assessment, not a QWorld certification.
50.4% female; 49.6% male.
61% undergraduate, 26.8% bachelor's, 10.6% master's, and 1.6% PhD.
IT 43.1%; engineering 28.5%; other 12.2%; physics 8.1%; quantum-related studies 5.7%; business 1.6%; mathematics 0.8%.
Event-specific LinkedIn posts, official announcements, press releases, and approved media-kit downloads will be linked here.
PR materials pending
Watch the event livestream recordings. View counts are from the live-stream attendance report.
Explore moments from the Alexandria Quantum Hackathon 2026. Select a photo to view it full-size.
The event agenda is available below. Reports, challenge documents, and presentation materials will be added when available.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina quantum website (new tab)
This is the organization's general page, not an event-specific source. Event details have not yet been verified against LinkedIn posts; direct post links will be added alongside the supplied materials.