Equal1 is proud to announce the three finalist teams for its inaugural Quantum Solutions for the Environment Challenge, a student competition celebrating the 60th anniversary of John Stewart Bell's groundbreaking work on quantum entanglement and Bell's Inequality.

The challenge invited third-level students across the island of Ireland to explore how quantum technologies could be used to address pressing environmental issues—from climate modeling and renewable energy optimization to sustainable materials development.

The finalist teams are (in alphabetical order by project):

• Hybrid Quantum Machine Learning for Wildfire Detection — University College Dublin, Daksh Pari
• Quantum Perspectives on PFAS Pollution — University College Cork, Bryan Chan, Anna Sheehan and Liam Waldron
• Water-Saving Quantum Timetable Optimization for Panama Canal — University College Dublin, Niall Carbery and Maya Kamboj

The first-place team presented their project at the official launch of Quantum Ireland on Monday, April 14, 2025, at Trinity Business School in Dublin. The event included an awards ceremony featuring remarks from Minister Peter Burke and Elena Blokhina, Chief Scientific Officer at Equal1.

For more information on the challenge, visit equal1.com/quantum-challenge.