April 10, 2025 -- 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. After careful review by a panel of experts in quantum science and environmental research, three finalist teams have been selected for their innovative and impactful approaches.

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 will present their project at the official launch of Quantum Ireland on Monday, April 14, 2025, at Trinity Business School in Dublin. The event will include an awards ceremony featuring remarks from Minister Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Elena Blokhina, Chief Scientific Officer at Equal1. Prizes for first place, second place, and third place will be announced during the event.