Quantum Climate Challenge 2022

Jury selects LHIND solution among the Top 5

Berlin/Norderstedt, May 19, 2022 – Lufthansa Industry Solutions has reached the finals of the Quantum Climate Challenge 2022, making LHIND one of the five best teams out of a total of 130 participants who took part in the competition sponsored by consulting firm Deloitte. The final with the project pitches and the final award ceremony will take place on Friday, May 20, 2022, at KI Park in Berlin. LHIND's quantum computing experts won over the jury with a model that aims to mitigate the climate effects of contrails.

The LHIND quantum team has made it into the finals of the 2022 Quantum Climate Challenge

Scientists are certain that contrails have a climate-warming effect. It therefore makes sense to minimize or even avoid their formation as far as possible. For example, flight routes can be designed so that they do not pass through areas that favor the generation of contrails. These can be particularly humid regions, for example, where the air has difficulty absorbing the water vapor emitted during flight.

However, there are many variables to consider when calculating these routes, as Joseph Doetsch, Data Scientist at Lufthansa Industry Solutions and part of the project team explains: "In addition to natural influencing factors such as wind, air pressure, humidity and temperature, the fuel consumption, CO2, nitrogen and water vapor emissions of each aircraft must also be taken into account for a reliable calculation." Too many variables for conventional computer technology, which is where quantum technology comes in. "Thanks to the special way quantum computers work, calculating complex models takes only a fraction of the time that binary systems would take," Doetsch said. The LHIND team, consisting of quantum specialists Joseph Doetsch, Robert Glöckner, Mylene Haslehner, Georg Reuber and Yannick Wenger, has taken on the task and developed an algorithm that takes all these factors into account to calculate more sustainable flight routes.

Due to its enormous potential, quantum computing is considered forward-looking. Lufthansa Industry Solutions is also working intensively on this topic and offers comprehensive services in the Quantum environment. The services offered by LHIND's experts range from the analysis of opportunities and risks for the respective business to the development of needs-oriented quantum strategies and portfolios to the implementation of the designed solution. "Our goal is to make companies aware of the potential that quantum computing offers them, while helping them take their first steps in this complex area," explains Joseph Doetsch.

Those who would like to watch the final of the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge via livestream on May 20 from 1 to 6 p.m. can register at this link.

About Lufthansa Industry Solutions

Lufthansa Industry Solutions is a service provider for IT consulting and system integration. This Lufthansa subsidiary helps its clients with the digital transformation of their companies. Its customer base includes companies both within and outside the Lufthansa Group, as well as more than 300 companies in various lines of business. The company is based in Norderstedt and employs more than 2,100 members of staff at several branch offices in Germany, Albania, Switzerland and the USA.