Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

"Professor Sun," Jiang Haoran said, taking a sip of warm millet porridge. A warm feeling rose in his stomach before he put down his spoon and turned his gaze to Professor Sun Zhigang across from him.

"Given the current progress, how far do you think we are from a truly stable, market-ready prototype that meets performance standards?"

He didn't ask this question lightly.

Sun Zhigang put down his chopsticks, took out a tissue to wipe his hands, and did not answer immediately.

He leaned back in the slightly hard plastic chair in the cafeteria, his gaze fixed on the newly awakened campus outside the window, his eyes filled with the prudence and deduction characteristic of a scientific researcher.

After a moment, he looked at Jiang Haoran, his voice calm but clear: "Technically, if we can successfully pass the next 'pilot scale-up' stage..."

"I mean, from the stability at the gram and kilogram level in the laboratory, to the scale up to the hundreds of kilograms or even the tons, we can still maintain the uniformity of the coating, the adhesion strength of the diamond particles, and the decay of the mechanical properties of the wire itself within a controllable range."

"Then, after solving the integration and optimization of subsequent processes such as winding tension control, online continuous detection, and automatic quality sorting... Optimistically, by the middle of next year, we should be able to produce the first-generation product for one or two friendly customers to try in small batches and adapt to the process."

He paused, then emphasized, "This is only at the 'trial' level. But when it comes to performance and stability, to truly compete with the flagship products of those two major importers on the demanding production lines of mainstream silicon wafer manufacturers, to hold its own, and even to gain a local advantage..."

Sun Zhigang held up two fingers, hesitated for a moment, and then added one: "It will take at least two to three more generations of technological iteration. This is not something that can be done overnight."

"Haoran, in materials science and precision manufacturing, what matters most in many cases is the accumulation of time and experience, and the moat built up by countless fine parameter adjustments."

His tone was calm: "However, our team has already taken the most crucial step, the most critical and difficult step from zero to one."

"By employing a completely different technological approach and a more optimized cost structure, we have proven that the path of 'domestic production of high-performance diamond wire saws' is not only theoretically feasible, but also, under laboratory conditions, has already touched the threshold of catching up with or even surpassing in some areas."

"Especially after the recent round of process optimization, the speed at which the overall performance of the wire has improved has exceeded our research group's initial prediction model."

"This is rare in the development of new materials, which is full of uncertainties. It shows that our chosen main direction of 'composite coating gradient strengthening' and the core process framework of 'pretreatment-sand coating-reinforcement' are likely to be on the right track in terms of technology."

Jiang Haoran nodded slowly, understanding dawning on his mind.

The significance of the "key step" that Professor Sun Zhigang mentioned far exceeds the success of a single experiment.

Many so-called "bottleneck" technologies can be found in academic journals, and their blueprints can be reverse-engineered, but the real devil is hidden in the details of the manufacturing process.

Those minute differences in temperature curves, fluctuations of one ten-thousandth in solution ratio, microscopic disturbances that are difficult to fully model during equipment operation, and even subtle effects caused by operator habits...

Those subtle parameter adjustments and experience curves require time and failures to smooth out. But they seem to have found a relatively efficient path of trial and error.

"This is inseparable from the efforts of you, Engineer Gu, and the entire research group." Jiang Haoran said very sincerely, glancing at Sun Zhigang across from him, and then turning to Gu Qiushi, who was quietly eating a steamed bun but was clearly listening intently.

"Without the relentless dedication and perseverance of top talents like you, even the best blueprint would be nothing but a castle in the air."

Sun Zhigang waved his hand, a complex smile on his face: "We received the project funding, did our job, pursued a technical possibility, and verified some academic ideas. But you…"

He looked at Jiang Haoran: "A top student in finance should be a star in investment banks and securities firms, but he can calm down and immerse himself in hard-core materials projects with long cycles, large investments, high risks, and slow results. He can understand the technical details, keep up with the R&D pace, and even raise some... well, quite insightful directional questions at key points."

"This composure and ability to learn across disciplines are not easy. They are extremely difficult."

Gu Qiu nodded in agreement: "Professor Sun is absolutely right. President Jiang, to be honest, since I returned to China, I've also met with some investors or startup teams seeking technical cooperation."

"Most investors are not only not as generous with funds as you are, but most of them don't understand the most basic technology at all. They only care about 'when will it be mass-produced,' 'what will the gross profit margin be,' and 'how many years will it take to go public.' They either don't understand much, but they like to point fingers."

"An investor like you, who not only spends a lot of time in the lab, understands reactors and electron microscope images, but also discusses process details and cost structure with us from an industrialization perspective, and even works with us to analyze the possible technological routes of competitors... I've really rarely met anyone like you in all my years in this industry."

Jiang Haoran smiled but didn't reply. He lowered his head and slowly stirred the slightly cooled porridge in the bowl with a spoon.

He knew why he could persevere, why he could calm down, and why he had an almost instinctive sensitivity and patience towards those tedious parameters and tortuous process paths.

Because he has "seen" the future.

In the fragments of "memories" deep in his mind, he "saw" how those fields that were once firmly held back—high-end chips, aero engines, special materials, precision instruments—started from the bottom of despair under enormous pressure, relying on the successive efforts of countless people, inch by inch, with great difficulty, regained the initiative and built an independent supply chain and iterative capabilities.

That process, filled with setbacks, controversies, long waits, and enormous resource consumption, is far more brutal and real than the fluctuations of numbers in the financial market.

But the sense of security, stability, and national pride that comes from ultimately leading a technological breakthrough is something that no amount of virtual wealth can match.

He is pursuing that deeper, more solid "value".

This understanding stems from a perspective that transcends the present time and space, which cannot be explained to outsiders, yet constitutes the core driving force behind all his actions.

Breakfast ended in a slightly somber yet hopeful atmosphere.

Sun Zhigang and Gu Qiushi rushed back to the lab to follow up on the final test data of the batch of wires with optimized parameters from the previous night.

Jiang Haoran went to the library alone. He needed an absolutely quiet space to deal with the more realistic and urgent pressure that came with the dawn of technological advancement.