International Year of Quantum Canada Design Competition

The IYQ Canada team, led by the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is coordinating activities that spread awareness about quantum science and technology during all of 2025.

The CAP invited all physics students in Canada to create a design for the Canada-wide celebration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) – and to compete for the prize of $1000, and see their design on t-shirts, mugs etc distributed across the country in 2025!  We’re proud to announce the winner of the IYQ Canada Design Competition here.

In reviewing all entries submitted, the following designs were selected as runners-up :

$300 Prize Runner-Up

Pierre Lefloïc from the University of Sherbrooke uses their design to highlight the work Canada has contributed to the international field of quantum physics. The focus of this design in particular is on quantum information, qubits, and current research in reducing quantum errors in computing fields.

View the full design here

$200 Prize Runners-Up

Sareen Sabra, an undergraduate at the University of Windsor, chose to do a diffraction pattern in the shape of a Canadian maple leaf as a nod to the quantum-physical nature of particles. Sareen chose to draw out the diffraction lines to highlight how the current understanding of the quantum mechanical nature of the world is still incomplete, and the future of our understanding that Canada can will contribute.

View the full design here

Isaac Bahler from Dalhousie University was inspired by Louis Taillefer, the first Canadian winner of the Simon Memorial Prize in 2017. Isaac nods to the lattice structure of cuprate superconducting materials, as well as the superpositional nature of particles according to quantum theory. Isaac also used the DALL-E 3 generative engine to aid in the design process, drawing inspiration from various related scientific papers.

View the full design here

$100 Prize Runners-Up

Shane Ackerley, who holds a B.Sc. in Astrophysics from Western University, submitted this design as a versatile, minimal, and meaningful design for the International Year of Quantum in Canada. The maple leaf, an icon of Canada, is re-imagined through the lens of quantum physics. Shane made the design with Python using a custom script to plot solutions to the Schrödinger equation of a Hydrogen 4fz orbital and modified it slightly to represent the stem of the maple leaf.

View the full design here

Ryan Naderi at Simon Fraser University produced a design which prominently features the Canadian Flag, as well as the classical model of an atom devised by Ernest Rutherford. Although newer and more accurate models of atomic interactions have been developed, this design outlines that it is important to understand the steps physics has made to get where we are today.

View the full design here

We would also like to highlight the following honourable mentions: