Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

As dawn broke, Lin Feng opened his eyes precisely on time.

His eyes were clear, without a trace of confusion.

After a quick wash, he changed into clean casual clothes and headed straight to the academic lecture hall of Tsinghua University.

The atmosphere in the area where the academic lecture hall is located is quite different from usual.

Both overt and covert, the number of security personnel has noticeably increased; they are vigilant and disciplined.

All entrants must undergo rigorous verification.

Clearly, this internal exchange meeting was of great importance.

Lin Feng stood out as remarkably young, standing behind several elderly scholars with graying temples and profound knowledge.

When it was his turn, the person in charge of verification was a young woman dressed in a well-fitting cheongsam with a capable demeanor.

When she saw Lin Feng, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but her professionalism allowed her to quickly regain her composure.

"Hello sir, please show me your invitation." Her voice was gentle and clear.

Lin Feng didn't speak, but simply pulled up the electronic invitation on his phone and turned the screen towards the other party.

The young woman carefully checked the QR code and the internal list. When she saw the name "Lin Feng" and the note "Special Invitation to Listen," her surprise turned into seriousness.

Young people who are qualified to attend such high-level internal meetings are definitely not ordinary people.

"Mr. Lin, please come in. The meeting is about to begin. I hope you have a fruitful meeting." She bowed slightly, her tone respectful.

Lin Feng nodded in acknowledgment, put away his phone, and walked calmly into the lecture hall.

The hall is not large, but it is well-designed and has excellent acoustics.

Dark-colored chairs fanned out around the podium in front of the speaker, and the room was about 70-80% full.

The front row was filled with academic luminaries and industry leaders who knew each other well and were conversing quietly, creating a serious and focused atmosphere.

Lin Feng didn't go to the front row to attract attention, but instead quietly walked to a corner seat in the back row.

Here, with a wide view and the ability to blend into the crowd, it's the perfect place for him to listen and think quietly.

He sat down, opened his notebook, and focused intently.

At 9:00 a.m. sharp, the academic exchange officially began after a brief opening address by the meeting moderator.

The first to take the stage were top domestic experts in semiconductor materials, integrated circuit design, and process integration.

They shared their thoughts on overcoming key equipment challenges such as lithography machines, the bottlenecks they encountered, and possible breakthroughs, based on the latest progress of their respective teams.

Lin Feng listened very attentively.

These experts have solid thinking, clear direction, and many of their insights hit the nail on the head.

Their proposed strategy of gradually iterating based on the existing industrial base and seeking breakthroughs in certain key subsystems is a sound and pragmatic approach.

If these theories are thoroughly studied and applied, given time, China will indeed be able to gradually establish an independent and controllable chip manufacturing capability.

However, Lin Feng's brows furrowed slightly.

He keenly realized that the theoretical ceiling of the technological paths described by these top domestic experts was already visible.

Their focus is more on solving the problems of having or not having and catching up.

Even if everything goes smoothly, what is ultimately achieved will most likely be a technology that lags behind the most advanced international level by one generation or more.

This is certainly a huge step forward, but... it's not enough.

His "Torch Project" aims to ignite a flame that can keep pace with, or even surpass, the world's most cutting-edge technologies in the future.

Simply solving the problem of having or not having something is not enough to satisfy his expectations for the rise of Chinese science and technology.

As the conference progressed into its second half, the highlight of the event took place – two specially invited senior scholars from overseas.

One is focused on the physics of extreme ultraviolet light sources, while the other is an international authority on optical systems and precision control.

Both men enjoy a high reputation in the international academic and industrial communities and possess the most cutting-edge dynamics and core technological ideas.

Their appearance drew everyone's attention.

The two spoke in turn, their pace slow and deliberate, yet their content was extremely profound and dense.

A large number of cutting-edge technical terms, complex mathematical models, and test data that have not yet been made public in the industry were presented.

Inside the venue, many domestic experts listened intently, but occasionally showed expressions of confusion and contemplation.

Some of the concepts were too advanced and the technical differences were extremely subtle, clearly beyond their current understanding.

Some people even started taking notes at lightning speed, afraid of missing any crucial information.

Lin Feng leaned forward slightly, his eyes growing brighter.

He understood, and not only did he understand, his brain was working at high speed.

These points precisely address some of the most ambiguous and critical aspects of his "Torch Relay" theoretical model!

Overseas scholars have described some novel light source configurations, more efficient light collection schemes, and adaptive compensation algorithms to address mirror thermal deformation...

Like scattered puzzle pieces, they instantly resonated and connected with the vast model in his mind.

Many possibilities that require massive trial and error to approximate in the simulation space were clearly explained in theory here!

Although the other party will inevitably hold back, the value of these directional guidelines and conceptual breakthroughs alone is immeasurable.

However, as the two overseas scholars finished speaking and the Q&A session began, the atmosphere in the room subtly changed.

That concludes our presentation. Now, we can answer three questions. Please.

The physicist who studied light sources spoke in a calm tone, but when his eyes swept across the audience, the composure and subtle sense of superiority befitting a technological leader were hard to conceal.

His companion, the authority on optics, even had a faint smile on his lips.

Several domestic experts couldn't contain themselves and raised their hands, raising long-standing technical problems.

The questions were all very professional and went straight to the heart of the matter.

The two overseas scholars answered quickly, sometimes even without hesitation.

But Lin Feng's brows furrowed again, and the furrows became tighter and tighter.

wrong!

Some answers sound profound, but upon closer examination of their internal logic and parameter relationships, subtle contradictions or ambiguities are found.

Even more concerning, when answering a question about the interaction cross-section between extreme ultraviolet light and a specific thin film material, a key coefficient given by the other party had a significant discrepancy with the range derived by Lin Feng based on fundamental physical principles and publicly available data!

This isn't reservation, it's misleading!

It's a carefully packaged technological smokescreen filled with errors or outdated information!

They deliberately provided incomplete or even incorrect guidance on certain key but difficult-to-verify details.

If domestic teams blindly believe in this and conduct research based on it, they are likely to go down a dead end and waste valuable resources and time!

Lin Feng looked at the two seemingly honest but actually arrogant faces on the stage, and then at the expressions of some domestic experts in the audience who were slightly excited or deep in thought after getting the answer.

A chilling anger, mixed with a clear understanding, rose within him.

Technological barriers lie not only in hardware and patents, but also in this monopoly of knowledge and information warfare!

The other party may come under the guise of exchange, but their deeper intention is probably to consolidate their technological leadership, or even intentionally or unintentionally lead their competitors astray.

This exchange was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.

However, after his anger subsided, Lin Feng's thinking became even sharper.

The other party's misleading remarks are certainly hateful.

However, the genuine cutting-edge ideas and concepts in their previous reports are invaluable.

In particular, those few wrong answers acted like a mirror, reflecting from the opposite side where the correct path might lie.

"Trap often contains clues to treasure..."

Lin Feng closed his notebook, no longer paying attention to the subsequent questions and answers.

He has gained the most important thing from this trip—not only a spark of inspiration, but also a clear understanding of the brutal nature of international technological competition.

During the intermission, he quietly got up and left the auditorium as discreetly as he had arrived.

The afternoon sun was a bit too bright.

Lin Feng walked quickly back to his dormitory, but his mind was frantically reviewing and strategizing.

Back in his quiet dormitory, he locked the door from the inside, not even having time to sit down.

The mind sinks in, and a connection is formed instantly.

[A technologically advanced simulation space!]

A pure white space unfolds.

Lin Feng directly accessed all the data from the Spark Project, injecting everything he had heard and thought about that day into it.

"Modify the light source model, introduce scheme C, but avoid the material combination mentioned therein..."

"Recalculate the objective lens thermal compensation algorithm, referring to approach B, but correct the error coefficient given by the other party to plus or minus one percent..."

"Verify the third workpiece stage synchronization solution, and optimize the control logic by combining it with the precision servo motor data already available domestically..."

He stood in front of the control panel, issuing instructions quickly and clearly.