# QBronco (Quantum Broncos) > QBronco, also called the Quantum Broncos, is the student quantum computing club at Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Members learn quantum computing together, from qubits to Qiskit, and spend the 2026–27 school year building a compiler for quantum circuits. No experience is needed. Key facts: - Names: "QBronco" and "Quantum Broncos" are the same club (also written "QBroncos", "WMU Quantum Computing Club"). - Meetings: every Wednesday, 6:30–8 pm US Eastern time, through the fall and spring semesters. No meetings over breaks or finals weeks. - Location: Floyd Hall room D-212, Western Michigan University Parkview Campus, 4601 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. - Who can come: anyone curious. No experience needed and no RSVP; just show up. - Sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe83Y5m_jP0qmOiVQPctybcPf4Zsvg5W58nT5T5oSlPOoQucA/viewform - Contact: email Mack Usmanova (president) at mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu. Companies, researchers and faculty who want to give a talk or help with events use the same address. - First meeting: bring a laptop and a notebook. Joining partway through the semester is fine; new members join a subteam and get material to catch up. - Calendar feed (iCalendar, every meeting): https://qbronco.com/qbronco.ics Schedule last updated 2026-10-07. Dates below are YYYY-MM-DD, Kalamazoo (US Eastern) time. ## Schedule, 2026–27 Every meeting is a Wednesday, 6:30–8 pm, in Floyd Hall D-212 unless noted. Labs are project nights; study sessions are for learning the basics. Everyone is welcome at both. ### Fall 2026 - 2026-09-16 (Wed): Info night, in Floyd Hall D-202 - 2026-09-23 (Wed): Study session - 2026-09-30 (Wed): Qiskit day - 2026-10-07 (Wed): Lab 1: kickoff - 2026-10-14 (Wed): Study session - 2026-10-21 (Wed): No meeting (fall break) - 2026-10-28 (Wed): Lab 2 - 2026-11-04 (Wed): Study session - 2026-11-11 (Wed): Lab 3 - 2026-11-18 (Wed): Qubi workshop 1 (proposed date) - 2026-11-25 (Wed): No meeting (Thanksgiving) - 2026-12-02 (Wed): Lab 4 - 2026-12-09 (Wed): Fall demo - 2026-12-16 (Wed): No meeting (finals week) ### Spring 2027 (dates can still move) - 2027-01-13 (Wed): Spring kickoff - 2027-01-20 (Wed): Lab 5 - 2027-01-27 (Wed): Study session - 2027-02-03 (Wed): Lab 6 - 2027-02-10 (Wed): Qubi workshop 2 (proposed date) - 2027-02-17 (Wed): Lab 7 - 2027-02-24 (Wed): Study session - 2027-03-03 (Wed): Lab 8 - 2027-03-10 (Wed): No meeting (spring break) - 2027-03-17 (Wed): Study session - 2027-03-24 (Wed): Lab 9 - 2027-03-31 (Wed): Study session - 2027-04-07 (Wed): Lab 10 - 2027-04-14 (Wed): Final test day - 2027-04-21 (Wed): Final showcase - 2027-04-28 (Wed): No meeting (finals week) Checkpoints: - Fall demo, 2026-12-09: A circuit goes through our compiler, runs on the Python version of our machine and matches Qiskit. We run the same instructions by hand on the Qubis. - Final showcase, 2027-04-21: Every target we finished, the test results, and the paper. ## What the club does - Study sessions: learning quantum computing from the ground up (qubits, superposition, real Qiskit code on IBM machines). The long-term goal is a custom QPU (quantum processing unit). - Labs: the year-long build (see the project below), done in three subteams. - Hackathons and competitions: hosting an IBM Qiskit hackathon on campus, and traveling to or joining others online. - Speaker nights and events: talks from people who work in quantum computing, Qiskit Fall Fest, and socials. ## Working with the club Companies, researchers and WMU faculty can work with the club by giving a talk at a speaker night, helping with the IBM Qiskit hackathon the club hosts on campus (mentors, judges, prizes), or proposing something else. Email Mack Usmanova, the club's president, at mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu. The club is a WMU student organization advised by Dr. Sawalha (Electrical and Computer Engineering). ## The project, 2026–27 You write a quantum circuit in Qiskit. The club's compiler turns it into a list of simple instructions. The instructions run on a target, and the answer is checked against Qiskit. The project runs all year, fall and spring. Four targets, built in this order: 1. A Python version of the club's machine (fall). 2. The Qubis, run by hand (fall). Qubis are handheld qubits: you tap, flick and bump them to run gates, then shake them to measure. 3. The Qubis, run from a laptop (spring, only if Qubi releases the software for it). 4. An FPGA emulator written in Verilog (spring). None of these is a real quantum computer; the FPGA is normal hardware doing the quantum math. Subteams (each picks its own lead; no experience needed for any of them): - Systems: runs the instructions on the Qubis this fall and learns Verilog, then builds the FPGA emulator in spring. - Programmer: writes the compiler, the Python version of the machine, and the code that compares answers. - Theory: picks the gates and test circuits, works out the right answers, and writes the paper. Code: https://github.com/qbronco ## Officers - Dr. Sawalha, faculty advisor: https://wmich.edu/electrical-computer/directory/sawalha - Mack Usmanova, president: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukaddass/ - Cody Thornell, vice president: https://www.linkedin.com/in/codythornell/ - Jordan Johnson, events officer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-sjohnson/ - Hana Tourner, marketing officer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanatourner/ - Lola MacAlpine, tech officer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lola-macalpine-251632366/ - Kaiden Rudolph, tech officer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaiden-rudolph-6b3553246/ - Peyton Nitz-Lentz, tech officer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peyton-nitz-lentz-86903935b/ ## Common questions - Is QBronco the same as the Quantum Broncos? Yes, two names for one club. - Do I need experience? No. The club learns it together from the basics. - Do I need to sign up first? No, just show up. The sign-up form lets the officers know you're interested. - What should I bring to my first meeting? A laptop and a notebook. - Can I join partway through the semester? Yes. Join a subteam and the club will give you the material to get caught up. - How do I contact the club? Email Mack Usmanova (president) at mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu, or message @qbroncowmu on Instagram. - How can a company or professor get involved? Give a talk at a speaker night or help with the club's IBM Qiskit hackathon. Email mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu. - When is the next meeting? The next Wednesday on the schedule above that hasn't passed yet, 6:30–8 pm Eastern. Weeks marked "No meeting" are skipped. - Where is Floyd Hall? On WMU's Parkview Campus, 4601 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. - How do I keep up? Subscribe to the calendar feed, or follow @qbroncowmu on Instagram. ## Pages - [Home](https://qbronco.com/): what the club does, photos from meetings, how to join, the next few meetings, how companies and faculty can work with the club, the officers - [Schedule](https://qbronco.com/schedule): every meeting date for fall 2026 and spring 2027 - [The project](https://qbronco.com/project): the year-long quantum compiler project and its three subteams ## Contact - [Email: mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu](mailto:mukaddas.usmanova@wmich.edu): Mack Usmanova, president - [Instagram: @qbroncowmu](https://www.instagram.com/qbroncowmu/) - [experienceWMU: our org page](https://experiencewmu.wmich.edu/organization/qbroncos) - [LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/qbronco](https://www.linkedin.com/company/qbronco) - [GitHub: github.com/qbronco](https://github.com/qbronco)