summer report

Author: Chriun

_docs/developer/rensselaer_center_for_open_source/2025_Christopher_Poon.md

@@ -3,4 +3,40 @@ title: Christopher Poon
 category: Developer > Rensselaer Center for Open Source (RCOS) > Summer 2025
 ---
 
-coming soon
+During the summer, I focused on significantly expanding Submitty's quantum computing capabilities and strengthening its core autograding infrastructure. My primary achievement was engineering a secure and robust system for autograding Jupyter Notebooks, a critical feature for modern computational courses. Additionally, I enhanced platform stability and instructor experience by resolving outstanding issues and refactoring key Docker functionalities. My contributions are reflected in over 25 pull requests and more than 20 peer reviews.
+
+### Quantum Computing Integration
+
+This term, I built upon Submitty's existing quantum computing foundation to support more advanced, interactive coursework. I began development of new course content, including a foundational prerequisite course designed to onboard students with the necessary background in linear algebra, complex numbers, and core principles of quantum physics. Building on that, I designed a hands-on lab for Simon's algorithm to demonstrate one of the first known exponential speedups over classical computation. To ensure compatibility with modern tools, I upgraded the Qiskit Docker image to version 2.0.1.
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/simons.png)
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/complex_numbers.png)
+
+To support this advanced coursework, I engineered a secure autograding pipeline for Jupyter Notebooks ([PR#11736](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11736), [PR#11862](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11862), [PR#11917](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11917)). This feature enables precise grading of individual cells and uses notebook metadata to conceal autograding logic from students. I also integrated in-browser notebook rendering ([PR#11891](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11891)), allowing students to view assignments directly on the platform for feedback.
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/simons_checkpoint4.png)
+
+These improvements strengthen the existing foundation for quantum computing integration within Submitty, while also benefiting other fields that rely on Jupyter Notebooks—particularly data science.
+
+### Autograding & Docker
+
+I took ownership of key improvements to Submitty's containerized autograding infrastructure, with a focus on stability, usability, and maintainability. I shepherded the final stages of a major Docker UI refactor ([PR#11120](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11120)) by resolving lingering bugs, fixing type mismatches, and linting issues. I then contributed several enhancements, including bug fixes and the addition of UI status buttons ([PR#11739](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11739), [PR#11804](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11804), [PR#11883](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11883)).
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/docker_ui.png)
+
+On the backend, I extended Docker functionality by adding build-time error detection and the ability to remove images by ID ([PR#10839](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/10839), [PR#11357](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11357)). Previously, Submitty only supported image removal on the primary machine, resulting in wasted storage on worker machines where images were left behind. I resolved this by extending image removal support to worker machines ([PR#11812](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11812)), updating Cypress tests as needed. To improve reliability, I fixed critical bugs across the container system and improved error messaging for developers and instructors ([PR#9710](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/9710), [PR#11697](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11697), [PR#11717](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11717), [PR#11744](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11744)).
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/build_failure.png)
+
+![](../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Christopher_Poon/gradeable_failure.png)
+
+### Miscellaneous & Future Work
+
+In addition to working on integrating quantum computing with Submitty, I contributed to a range of platform improvements and participated in code reviews to support Submitty development.
+
+Future work in terms of quantum computing integration can be made in the following areas:
+
+- Additional prerequisite course + course material
+- Internal Jupyter autograding integration instead of script usage
+- Support for running student circuits with a Submitty IBM account