Quantum Dice Michaelmas Challenge: Students Tackle Risk, Energy & AI

Quantum Dice has concluded its inaugural QD Michaelmas Challenge, with 29 teams of students and researchers pushing the boundaries of probabilistic computing over an intense eight-week period. The competition saw participants tackle complex, real-world problems – ultimately yielding three winning solutions and a total of £8,000 in cash prizes. Team Entropica took first place with a novel approach to risk management in sports betting, while The Committed Units and The Quantext Team impressed with solutions optimising energy grid schedules and enhancing AI information retrieval respectively. “The standard of submissions was exceptionally high,” acknowledging the significant contributions to demonstrating the potential of this emerging technology. This challenge signals a powerful step forward in applying probabilistic computing to critical fields, unlocking new approaches to previously intractable problems.

QD Michaelmas Challenge: Student Solutions to Real-World Problems

The inaugural Quantum Dice Michaelmas Challenge culminated in three teams devising novel applications of probabilistic computing over an eight-week period. A total of 29 teams, comprised of students and researchers, competed for £8,000 in cash prizes by addressing complex, practical challenges. Team Entropica secured first place with a solution for managing risk in correlated choices, specifically demonstrated through portfolio optimisation within sports betting. Their approach leverages probabilistic computing to refine decision-making in scenarios with inherent uncertainty, a method that could extend beyond recreational markets.

Second prize went to The Committed Units, who tackled the stochastic unit commitment problem—optimising power generation schedules amidst fluctuating demand. They successfully minimised costs within the energy grid using their probabilistic computing solution. Meanwhile, The Quantext Team took third place by developing a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system; this system “uses probabilistic computing to select complementary, non-redundant context, improving information retrieval in commonplace AI applications,” according to the team’s description.

Entropica, Committed Units, and Quantext Teams Win £8k Prize Pool

Entropica, a team comprised of Ehsan Massah, Matthew Gómez Cullen, and Arman Darabian, claimed the top prize of £8,000 in the inaugural Quantum Dice Michaelmas Challenge after an eight-week competition. Their winning solution tackled risk management within correlated choices, specifically demonstrated through portfolio optimisation in sports betting, showcasing the potential of probabilistic computing for complex financial modelling. The challenge, which concluded recently, attracted 29 teams of students and researchers eager to apply the platform to real-world issues.

Second place was secured by The Committed Units—Fredrik Hasselgren and Jona Erle—who developed a solution for the stochastic unit commitment problem, optimising power generation schedules for energy grids under uncertain demand. Oxford Edge hosted the introductory day, initiating the challenge and fostering collaboration amongst the participants.