Airbus and BMW Group launched today the so-called “The Quantum Mobility Quest” to address challenges in the data-driven aviation and automotive industries that remain insurmountable for classic computers. This could be a first-of-its-kind attempt to develop applications to harness quantum technologies for real-world industrial applications. The companies said it has the potential to forge more efficient, sustainable and safer solutions for the future of transportation. This nascent technology could play a key role in simulating various industrial and operational processes, opening up opportunities to shape future mobility products and services.

“This is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on quantum technology* and its potential impact on our society. Partnering with an industry leader like BMW Group enables us to mature the technology as we need to bridge the gap between scientific exploration and its potential applications. We’re seeking the best-in-class students, PhDs, academics, researchers, start-ups, companies, or professionals in the field, worldwide to join our challenge to create a massive paradigm shift in the way aircraft are built and flown.” said Isabell Gradert, Vice President Central Research and Technology at Airbus.

*According to IBM – itself a large player in Quantum Computing: “When scientists and engineers encounter difficult problems, they turn to supercomputers. These are very large classical computers, often with thousands of classical CPU and GPU cores capable of running very large calculations and advanced artificial intelligence. However, even supercomputers are binary code-based machines reliant on 20th-century transistor technology. They struggle to solve certain kinds of problems.
“If a supercomputer gets stumped, that’s probably because the big classical machine was asked to solve a problem with a high degree of complexity. When classical computers fail, it’s often due to complexity.
“Complex problems are problems with lots of variables interacting in complicated ways. Modeling the behavior of individual atoms in a molecule is a complex problem, because of all the different electrons interacting with one another. Identifying subtle patterns of fraud in financial transactions or new physics in a supercollider are also complex problems. There are some complex problems that we do not know how to solve with classical computers at any scale,” says IBM.