University of Arkansas honors undergraduate Darren Blount contributed to a research paper that was presented at IEEE Quantum Week 2025. This is an international conference on quantum computing and engineering held Aug. 31 through Sept. 5 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.

The paper, QUADRO: A Hybrid Quantum Optimization Framework for Drone Delivery, was authored by James Holliday, Darren Blount, Hoang Nguyen, Khoa Luu and Samee Khan. It was accepted to the Quantum Applications (QAPP) track after a highly competitive review process. IEEE Quantum Week received a record 557 technical paper submissions across seven tracks, each reviewed by at least three program committee members in a process that generated more than 1,600 reviews.

IEEE Quantum Week, officially the IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, is regarded as one of the most selective events in the field. It is rare for non-Ph.D. students or industry professionals to present their work at the conference.

Blount joined the project through the Honors College fellowship program, which requires students to participate in faculty-led research.

"I was looking through all the computer science research, and I'm also a physics major. So, quantum was appealing, combining the physics, the math and the computer science all into one," Blount said. "Dr. Luu was one of those professors that popped up on the list. I looked at his research and reached out, and he put me on the quantum team."

The QUADRO framework, short for Quantum Unmanned Aerial Delivery Routing Optimization, combines classical and quantum computing to improve drone delivery routing. The research explores how to account for drone constraints such as battery life and carrying capacity while distributing loads fairly.

"Drones, they run out of batteries, and they carry a certain load. So, they have those constraints. And basically, this paper uses quantum and classical algorithms to try to solve that problem," Blount explained. "It was by using quantum and classical algorithms to assign all the loads equally among all the drones."

Blount said working with quantum computing systems presented significant challenges.

"It's hard to debug and figure out because you click run on your program, and it gives you different answers every single time for the same input. Just because quantum is a lot more probabilistic," he said.

"Basically, it's just like the critical thinking problem-solving that can be applied," he said. "At this quantum computing conference, I got to meet with professionals and industry experts and just hear more about how it's going to be influenced and then just get a better grasp of that and see."

Blount said the experience helps shape his career path, preparing him for future work with J.B. Hunt, where he plans to work after he graduates.