Amer Delilbasic's Successful PhD Defense: Advancing Earth Observation with Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing

On April 14, 2026, Amer Delilbasic defended his PhD thesis, “Novel Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing Algorithms Enhancing Satellite Remote Sensing Applications for Earth Observation,” at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science at the University of Iceland. Amer’s work aims to address the algorithmic and computational challenges of processing large-scale satellite remote sensing data through innovative workflows that leverage the theoretical advantages of quantum computing (QC).

Recognizing that current quantum hardware is limited by qubit fidelity and scale, Amer successfully investigated how annealing-based and circuit-based quantum algorithms can be embedded directly into traditional classical devices and HPC environments. By using hybrid quantum-classical execution, his research contributed to the areas of data classification and acquisition scheduling. Amer’s work demonstrates that combining quantum machine learning and quantum optimization approaches with HPC can yield practical algorithmic benefits and help advance research and development in next-generation Earth observation.

His outstanding track record includes working with the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany, being a visiting researcher at the European Space Agency (ESA), serving as co-lead of the IEEE QC4EO Working Group, and winning the Best Paper Award at the 2025 QUEST-IS Conference in Paris. As his advisors, together with Prof. Morris Riedel and Dr. Bertrand Le Saux, we are incredibly proud of Amer’s hard work and of the foundational contributions he has made, and we wish him all the best.