[Homemade Quantum Computer NMRQCP] 1st Place Prize of 40 Million Yen!? The National Contest Solving "Social Issues" with Quantum Computers is Heating Up!
1st Place Prize of 40 Million Yen!? The National Contest Solving "Social Issues" with Quantum Computers is Heating Up!
Published: October 6, 2026 | Topic: Quantum Annealing × Social Issue Resolution Contest
Hello! I'm a KOSEN student taking on the challenge of developing a quantum computer using a homemade Earth's Field NMR (EFNMR) system.
Do you think "quantum computers are only for large corporations and genius physicists"?
Actually, a large-scale contest is currently being held in Japan where students and startups use quantum computers to solve familiar problems, and it's generating a lot of excitement. This time, I will introduce "ideas for making society better using quantum technology" from the latest news just announced yesterday!
1. Have you ever struggled with scheduling shifts for a school festival or deciding on a route for a school trip?
When putting together a shift schedule for a school festival, trying to create the best timetable while considering "everyone's club activities" and "break times" can make your head spin, right?
The same goes for finding "the most efficient route to visit 10 places you want to go" during free time on a school trip.
In mathematics and computer science, these types of problems are called "Combinatorial Optimization Problems." As the number of choices increases, the number of combinations explodes into the tens or hundreds of millions, and it takes a tremendous amount of time for a standard computer to calculate the optimal answer.
2. The Latest News: Over 80 Ideas Gather for the NEDO Quantum Contest!
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a national research and development agency, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) are running the "NEDO Challenge," a contest to solve real-world problems using quantum computers, and it was announced that the awards ceremony will be held on October 15th.
Key Points This Time
- An ultra-large-scale project where prize money of 40 million yen (20 million yen for 2nd place, 10 million yen for 3rd place) will be awarded to the 1st place in each category.
- Over 80 practical ideas gathered from a wide range of fields—including energy, logistics, healthcare, and tourism—submitted not only by companies but also by university researchers and "students".
- It proves that we have entered a stage where anyone can take on the challenge of actual social issues using a quantum computing platform, moving beyond just "theoretical research."
3. Why Can Quantum Computers Find the "Best Combination" in an Instant?
The technology playing a major role in this contest is "Quantum Annealing," which specializes in combinatorial problems.
Imagine a rugged terrain with many mountains and valleys. The bottom of the deepest valley is the "best answer (best combination)."
A standard computer searches for valleys by rolling a ball up and down the mountains one by one. If it gets stuck in a small dent along the way (a local optimum), it has the weakness of mistakenly thinking that it's the deepest valley in the world.
However, in the quantum world, there is a mysterious phenomenon called the "quantum tunneling effect." Instead of climbing the mountain, the ball can slip right through the mountain and find the answer as if warping directly to the bottom of the deepest valley.
4. How Will Our Future Change?
Dramatically reducing CO2 emissions by optimizing truck delivery routes, saving more lives by optimizing ambulance dispatch placements in real-time, minimizing airplane delays...
A future where quantum computers support the "most efficient choices" behind the scenes of our daily lives without us even noticing is just around the corner.
Perspective of the EFNMRQC (Earth's Field NMR Quantum Computer) Creator
The quantum machines used in industry are predominantly superconducting types that cool down near absolute zero or ion trap types that require vacuum chambers, meaning the equipment is massive.
On the other hand, the EFNMRQC (Earth's Field NMR Quantum Computer), whose hardware I am currently building myself, takes an approach that utilizes the Earth's own weak magnetic field (about 50μT) to operate at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.
It is truly exciting that we are now in an era where anyone can try out quantum algorithms via the cloud, just like in the NEDO contest. However, no matter how excellent the software or mathematical formulas are, what executes them in the physical world are the gritty hardware components like "superconducting chips," "RF circuits," and "magnetic field control coils."
The EFNMRQC I am challenging myself with is a minimalist experiment that controls the spin state of water molecules (protons) by combining the Earth's magnetic field with homemade transmitting/receiving coils and amplifier circuits. I am building it while verifying the "mechanisms for controlling physical phenomena as electrical signals"—which lie beyond the giant cloud machines—one by one with the oscilloscope in front of me. Seeing students and young engineers tackling social issues with algorithms makes my desire to firmly grasp the physical reality of quantum mechanics from the hardware side even stronger.
At this stage, there are still few situations that directly and significantly impact our lives, but as practical research advances like this, an era will surely come where it brings massive changes to our lives, much like AI today.
When that happens, I feel it's important to be prepared to stand at the forefront without being left behind by the times. In fact, even now, a big gap is beginning to form between those who can utilize AI effectively and those who cannot.
Don't distance yourself by thinking, "I'm still a student" or "I'm not an engineer." It's fine to start with a field you're interested in, so please start by trying to search for just one topic related to quantum computers. I will continue to publish articles on this blog that can serve as that kind of trigger!
- Daily experiment notes and code: Available on my GitHub repository (nmr-qc-project)
- Real-time development scenes and oscilloscope waveforms: Posting on X (formerly Twitter)
If you are wondering things like "Will it really work?" or "How do you generate waveforms?", please bookmark this blog and follow me on X!
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