Replay 07: Opening the Temple of Learning

Chapter 314 It turns out that things can be done this way

It is no secret when Jiangzhou New Materials Research Institute will restart, at least Lu Shan did not deliberately block the news.

This is not a shameful thing.

Furthermore, the opening must be reported to the superiors, at least to let them know that the institute has opened, and if there are good projects, they can bring some of them over.

Not making money from the country does not mean working in vain. After using the resources provided by the country to improve technology, it is also possible to convert some of it for civilian use.

If we do everything by ourselves, we definitely won’t have enough resources.

It is equivalent to the country using resources to allow yourself to practice, increase skill proficiency and earn points. Why not do it?

Because of this, those who were previously expelled from the institute held a grudge and wanted to come and cause trouble.

Because of Liu Hongming, the Jiangzhou Research Institute's cooperation with a certain relevant department was withdrawn. This group of people subconsciously believed that the research institute no longer had anything to do with the relevant department.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shan had connections and was actually cooperating with a relevant department again.

The purpose of these relevant people, who were as tall as young poplars, coming here was not only to congratulate Lu Shan, but also to personally escort the specific contracts of the cooperation project. All of them were confidential and required Lu Shan to sign a confidentiality agreement.

It was at this time that Lu Shan found out what project the institute had taken on that made a certain relevant department so concerned.

A certain relevant department wants a lot of products, and it would be best if all aspects could be delivered at the same time to produce finished products.

So the scope includes but is not limited to:

Field medical supplies and food packaging bags that inhibit bacteria make soldiers healthier and safer during field training and combat.

Optoelectronic detection equipment, that is, high-efficiency optical sensors, improves the accuracy and destructive capability of missiles. The uncooled infrared guidance seeker of missiles is a specific application example.

It replaces silicon, germanium and other materials to become a new generation of electronic components, and is made into capacitors, transistors and integrated circuits.

Used in future new electronic devices such as supercomputers, radars, and communication equipment.

With this kind of electronic equipment, it is more resistant to interference and can gain the upper hand in electronic warfare.

In addition, graphene battery technology can be used to replace part of the demand for traditional batteries.

Graphene's high pressure resistance and flexibility can be used to create dashboards and screen panels that are more suitable for battlefield environments.

When fighting in the field, you have to do all kinds of actions. Bending, crouching, crawling, climbing, and diving. If it were an ordinary screen, Gaba would be useless.

The screen made of graphene can be folded into wearable devices, which is very convenient.

The last application is weight-reducing protection and coatings.

The biggest feature of graphene is that it is light and resistant to pressure. When sprayed on fighter planes and tanks, it can greatly increase protection. It is similar to the principle of those carbon fiber racing cars, which is light and strong.

In addition, graphene material has excellent corrosion resistance. If it is coated on the hull, it can withstand the impact of waves and salt erosion. It is unknown how much maintenance costs can be saved every year.

Lu Shan looked at so many demands and a look of doubt appeared on his face. Did this Jiangzhou research institute originally take on so many scientific research contents?

If this institute is so important, why is its scientific research capability so weak?

Seeing Lu Shan's confusion, a staff member from a relevant department said cunningly: "The more capable you are, the more work you should do. Before, their level was not high enough, so we didn't make too many requirements. We only asked for the most direct spraying research. Now it's different..."

I see, this is treating Lu Shan as the most useful ox.

As if afraid that Lu Shan would be unhappy, a relevant staff member quickly added: "The funds are independent. Each project has a special fund. You can decide which research to do first based on your own scientific research progress. As long as there is progress, it's fine."

"Okay, got it." Lu Shan didn't feel it was too offensive. After all, it didn't matter whether he was herding one sheep or a flock of sheep. Having more projects was a good thing.

I really need more manpower here.

"Oh, it would be great if the people in the natural science laboratory could become successful faster!" Lu Shan thought about it and suddenly made a bold decision. Why not just bring this group of students here to do scientific research and develop while they learn.

This is what the Xia Kingdom did when it was first founded and was extremely poor.

At that time, not to mention college students, even those who could read and write were brought here for training.

People trained under that model are all extremely awesome. After combining theory with practice, they can immediately come up with ideas to solve any practical problems they encounter.

Just like that, a group of students majoring in materials science as well as a group of students majoring in physics and chemistry were pulled in to start research directly.

They were also worried about having no research topics, so they were all very excited, but only discovered after they arrived.

Holy shit, it’s hellishly difficult to get started. Lu Shan is really playing big by using a state secret project to practice.

Lu Shan took over the previous project and naturally took back the funds. He directly put it in charge of financial management. All expenditures were transparent and where the money was spent was public.

There are also old researchers like Liang Wenping in the team who have returned. When he saw the allocated funds, he could not believe his eyes and discussed it quietly with his old colleagues.

"Fifty million yuan was allocated for the first phase. I remember that there was less than 20 million yuan in the entire previous period. At that time, people said that the country was in great difficulty. Now I know that something went wrong in the middle."

"You are honest. Haven't you seen all the expenses in the institute? Reception expenses, logistics expenses, commuting expenses, and subsidies and bonuses given only to leaders are all paid from the project funds."

"I know this, but I underestimated the courage of those people. They actually ate so much!"

"Yes. If this cycle has three phases, then 1.5 million yuan of funds must be in place. 1.5 million yuan and 2 million yuan are too much! They were so stingy when buying equipment that they couldn't even afford the experimental materials. They were so extravagant when changing cars that they bought seven at a time. Are they doing wholesale? They also gave cars and drivers to the deputy positions, and kept a few idle people! The key is that the driver's salary is not low. According to the salary issued by the section chief, it is only one level lower than that of the deputy position."

"Some money was paid here, some money was paid there, and the people below didn't get much."

After talking for a while, the old researcher's face gradually became angry.

"Fortunately, Dean Lu is fair and just. He puts everything on the table. Everyone's remuneration is written out, and there are even advance subsidies and bonuses. As long as you work hard, you will get a bonus. He is very generous."

"Yes. Dean Lu's salary is currently based on the basic salary of his position. Later, he will also have the office evaluate him based on his workload and work results."

Everyone in the research institute was full of enthusiasm at this time, and everyone was ready to do a big job.

In fact, the problems of the institute are not limited to these. In the past, the institute was bloated and its efficiency was extremely low. In the final analysis, it was because the financial power was misused, and the money was not given where it should be, or it was exploited at multiple levels.

Or they outsource the experimental projects to external companies. What are the origins of these companies?
They are all shell companies set up by someone in the leader’s family. They only want money but never produce any results.

Is this operating model normal?

It's definitely not normal. Funds are always tight, things are always slow, but the leaders are getting richer and richer and are investing in the name of the External Use Research Institute.

If you make money, you share it with the boss. If you don’t make money, it’s still the boss who makes the money. Just work together with outside companies to make money.

What results can the institute achieve under such circumstances? If the way things are done is all bad, then only bad results can be produced.

After Lu Shan completely integrated the research institute, he thought again and again and decided to develop graphene spray protection technology first. After all, most of the equipment in the laboratory is to support this project.

The battery replacement project will depend on the progress of graphene batteries to determine how to transform and apply them.

At the graphene battery factory, Lu Shan can finally go back to researching battery technology with peace of mind.

Recently, because of the mess at the research institute, a lot of my energy has been delayed. If it weren’t for the Singularity Laboratory, it would have been a real disaster.

By adjusting the structural spacing and the material ratio, graphene battery technology has been greatly improved. The breakthrough in the outer shell material has also provided comprehensive guarantees for the safety of the battery.

The cost has even dropped to the level of producing ordinary lithium batteries. With Mary's help, the battery yield rate has increased to 98%, and it is only one step away from being put on the market.

Lu Shan tried to make a graphene laptop battery based on the model of the divine ship Fuxi.

Each of these batteries weighs only a few grams, and when strung together they weigh only a dozen grams.

What does this mean? An egg weighs about 40 to 50 grams. You can do the math yourself.

Although the graphene battery is small, its charging capacity is 20 times that of an existing standard laptop computer, which is the capacity of a standard graphene battery.

If you want more, just string a few more, 50 times or 100 times is not a problem.

Once the graphene battery is fully charged, it can go without charging for half a month even if it is used heavily.

After the battery samples were produced, Lu Shan asked Wu Jun to come to Jiangzhou, because the next step was to redesign the appearance of the notebook and make related strategic adjustments. Such a big thing had to be discussed together.

When Wu Jun heard Lu Shan's call, he knew there must be some good news, so he rushed to Jiangzhou. Because Shenchuan is currently facing a new round of crisis - it has hit a bottleneck in its development.

At this time, Shenchuan has become the second best-selling computer brand in the country, and Lianxiang is still the first. Its desktop computer position is unshakable.

As for notebook computer sales, Shenchuan is naturally the leader.

But a new problem then arose: due to the transparency of hardware prices in the entire computer market, Shenchuan could no longer find profit growth points.

What this means is that the prices of hardware on the market are open and transparent, and they are what they are, and you can’t bargain much more.

Therefore, the cost of hardware is fixed.

Shenchuan must solve the problem of hardware supply. Currently, except for some hardware provided by BanSi, the rest of Shenchuan’s hardware is purchased from major domestic and foreign manufacturers, and its autonomy is not high enough.

What is more serious is that the domestic computer market has entered an era of price wars and is extremely competitive.

In addition, Shenchuan itself is a brand that focuses on cost-effectiveness and does not dare to raise prices at all. As a result, its profit growth has hit a wall and it cannot break through it no matter what it does.

Although Shenchuan is still profitable, and the profits are very high, Wu Jun has a sense of crisis. If other companies' technology catches up in the future, or other competing brands have a good sales model, then Shenchuan's sales will definitely be affected.

After getting off the plane, Wu Jun went straight to Zemeng, where Lu Shan was waiting for him.

As soon as the two met, without much greetings, Lu Shan talked about the successful development of graphene batteries.

"So advanced?" Wu Jun felt like he was listening to a science fiction story. When Wu Jun looked at the battery as big as a fingernail, he could no longer hold back his emotions: "So small?"

Button battery size, powering a laptop? Play!
Seeing this, Lu Shan connected the battery pack consisting of five batteries in a string to the computer circuit, and then asked Wu Jun to try it.

After some operations, Wu Jun finally confirmed the matter.

"How long can the battery last?" Wu Jun began to ask for core information.

"Five batteries weigh 15 grams, which can last for half a month if you're just using them for office work, or a week if you're playing games all the time." Although the finished product hasn't been out for half a month, it's not difficult to infer the battery life based on the product's performance in the laboratory and current usage progress.

"Okay, okay!" Wu Jun touched the batteries as if he was touching gold. He understood the meaning of this matter too well.

A laptop battery weighs at least 400 grams, and a larger laptop battery weighs nearly 500 grams.

Now the weight of 400 grams has been reduced to 15 grams, making the notebook even lighter.

Using the advanced graphene battery as a gimmick to produce ultra-thin notebooks will definitely be a big hit!
"Mr. Lu, I have a suggestion!" Wu Jun's eyes flashed.

"explain."

"This battery will be used in the next Fuxi model, named Fuxi K2. The new product must be completely new, and there is no need to tinker with the old model. K2 can be made into an ultra-thin notebook based on the miniaturized hardware of companion silicon."

"That makes sense. I'll consider it. There may be new progress on companion silicon soon, but the exact extent of the progress will depend on the results." Lu Shan agreed with Wu Jun's proposal.

"So how many pieces can we produce every day now?" Wu Jun rubbed his hands excitedly, as if he saw the enthusiastic market response.

Lu Shan touched his nose at this time: "It is not yet possible to mass-produce it, so we can only make some samples according to the concept and test the market response."

"Oh!" Wu Jun felt like he was poured with cold water, but this was normal. How could such a good thing be so easy to produce?

It is also a good idea to make some samples first to test the market response. No one will go all in right away.

During the period of market testing, Lu Shan had to find a way to solve the problem of mass production.

Laboratories can optimize production processes and develop technologies, but that’s all.

If you want mass production, you need a mass production factory. It will take at least three years to achieve full production. It seems that you have to find a OEM factory to cooperate with.

(End of this chapter)