Building a Sci-Fi Empire: Starting with Cold Nuclear Fusion

A new day has begun.

Today is a sunny day, and the sun is shining brightly outside.

Chen Yuan arrived at the office early and continued to review materials from various companies and universities.

A knock sounded on the door.

The office door was open; the person knocking was just being polite.

Chen Yuan was too busy to even look up; he was still looking at the documents.

Unexpectedly, Chu Yingying spoke up, "Hello, Academician Li."

"Hello there."

Li Jian's voice rang out.

Chen Yuan looked up, quickly stood up, stepped out from behind his desk, and extended his hand, saying, "Academician Li, hello."

Li Jian shook hands with him and said with a smile, "Busy?"

Chen Yuan invited the other person to sit down. "Well, I've been busy with some things. What brings you here so early?"

As he spoke, he looked at Chu Yingying and said, "Little Chu, please make me a cup of tea."

"OK."

Chu Yingying took out disposable cups and tea leaves from the cabinet.

Li Jian said, "I have something to talk to you about, it's nothing."

Chen Yuan returned to his seat and sat down. "Please speak."

Li Jian blinked and asked, "Would you be interested in becoming a visiting professor at Huaxia University of Science and Technology?"

Visiting professors are part-time academic titles awarded by universities to individuals outside the university, who are obligated to conduct academic reports and collaborative research on an irregular basis.

Its recruitment targets include overseas experts and scholars, business managers, industry technical personnel, and other non-permanent teaching staff.

The appointee may not have a professorship, but must possess corresponding academic prestige or practical experience.

Although the appointee may not have the title of professor, domestic universities usually require professorship or a doctoral degree to appoint visiting professors.

Well, those social celebrities who become visiting professors are purely doing it for their fame; it's a different matter.

Chen Yuan currently has neither reputation nor professorship, and he doesn't even have any outstanding research achievements, so it's unlikely that he would be chosen by a university to be a visiting professor.

In short, they are not qualified.

If he wasn't qualified, why did Li Jian extend the invitation?

The reason is simple: he knows Chen Yuan's abilities and knows that someone with such abilities will eventually lead a major national scientific research project. At that time, not only will he be a visiting professor, but he will also have no problem getting the title of researcher through special procedures.

Instead of waiting until someone becomes successful to offer help, it's better to extend an invitation while they are still relatively unknown.

This was the result of discussions between Li Jian and a group of leaders from the University of Science and Technology.

They believe that Chen Yuan's current knowledge and skills are more than sufficient to serve as a visiting professor.

Chen Yuan had not yet made a name for himself, so extending an invitation at this time would increase the chances of him being hired.

If Chen Yuan becomes famous, the University of Science and Technology may not be able to hire him.

Chen Yuan chuckled and said, "Me, an undergraduate graduate, becoming a visiting professor?"

Chu Yingying placed the brewed tea in front of Li Jian.

"Thank you." Li Jian expressed his gratitude and continued, "Visiting professors are not full professors, and there are no academic requirements. Universities have the autonomy to approve such appointments. I went back yesterday and discussed it with the president and others. We believe that you have conducted in-depth research on nuclear fusion, so we would like to invite you to be a visiting professor to give lectures to students and impart knowledge and technology related to nuclear fusion."

Chen Yuan said helplessly, "I may have to lead a major scientific research project next, and I may not have time to come to your school to give lectures."

"It's alright, as long as you agree," Li Jian said with a smile. "Visiting professors don't give lectures on a fixed schedule. If you have time, give a lecture; if you don't, just do your own thing."

Chen Yuan thought about it carefully, "If that's the case, I can agree."

In academic circles, universities, and some occasions that value academic background, the title of visiting professor awarded by a regular university is generally well-recognized.

His ability to become a visiting professor at a prestigious university like the University of Science and Technology of China elevates his social status significantly.

Why wouldn't you agree to this free benefit?

Li Jian said happily, "Okay, I'll have someone send the contract over later. Let's discuss the terms and conditions then."

Chen Yuan said, "Okay."

Li Jiandao said, "Generally, visiting professors at our school don't have a fixed salary. Instead, they come to give a lecture or an academic report. In addition to reimbursing their travel expenses, we also give them a living allowance of 1,500 or 1,200 yuan per day. You're different. I think you should have a fixed salary, and the living allowance shouldn't be less either. Of course, the fixed salary can't be too high, maybe 10,000 yuan a year as a token. The living allowance will be calculated according to the level of a full professor, which is 1,500 yuan per day. Do you think this is acceptable?"

Although the fixed salary is only a token amount of 10,000 yuan per year, which is generally not the case for visiting professors, Chen Yuan's ability to receive it shows that Li Jian and the University of Science and Technology have given him sufficient attention.

This can also be seen from the living allowances given to full professors.

Chen Yuan, who has a low level of education, little reputation, and no academic achievements yet, is already quite fortunate to be invited as a visiting professor and enjoy the treatment of an associate professor. Li Jian, on the other hand, was directly given the treatment of a full professor by the University of Science and Technology. What else could this be but a sign of respect?

Chen Yuan understood what the other party meant and said in a good mood, "No problem."

Afterwards, the two chatted for a while, discussing the obligations of a visiting professor.

Finally, Li Jian got up and took his leave.

Chen Yuan escorted the other party to the door of the special office, then hummed a little tune as he returned to his office.

Although a visiting professor is not a full professor, he is still a professor, and people can now address Chen Yuan as "Professor."

As soon as they arrived at the office door, Chu Yingying pointed to her watch and said, "Professor, we should go to the research lab."

"It's already ten o'clock? So fast."

Hearing the other person address him as professor, Chen Yuan felt a strange sense of vanity being satisfied. "Okay, let's go to the research lab. I'll come back to continue working this afternoon."

With that, he got up and walked outside.

Chu Yingying immediately followed.

……

My phone rang as soon as I stepped out of the administration building.

Chen Yuan took out his phone from his pocket and saw that it was Yu Xu calling.

He guessed that the other party wanted to talk to him about the application for approval of controlled nuclear fusion project.

After all, the other party had been in Beijing for several days because of this matter.

What else could they possibly want to talk about besides this when they call at this time?

It turns out that Yu Xu's stay in Beijing for several days was also related to Chen Yuan.

The research institute originally applied for a controlled nuclear fusion experimental reactor project, and there was absolutely no problem with that.

Chen Yuan considered that he had mastered the real controlled nuclear fusion technology, and building an experimental reactor would be too wasteful, so he asked Yu Xu to change it to applying for a demonstration reactor. However, the application was rejected and he was required to rewrite the application form and submit it again. Wouldn't that waste time?

Without thinking much, he pressed the answer button and said, "Teacher Yu."

Yu Xu's cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone, "Xiao Chen, do you know what happened today? Hehe, you'd never guess."

As Chen Yuan walked towards the research lab, he chuckled and said, "I'm in Luzhou, how would I know what's happening in the capital? Don't keep me in suspense, just tell me."

"Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, I'll make you happy too."

Yu Xu excitedly revealed, "Just now, the higher-ups asked me to take the project approval application form back..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan became anxious, "Didn't we change our application to an experimental reactor? Why are we being asked to take it back?"

"Hey, hey, let me finish."

Yu Xu said, half-laughing and half-crying, "What the leader means is that I should take it back and modify it into a demonstration reactor, on the condition that I ask you whether you have fully mastered the controlled nuclear fusion technology. That's why I called you to ask."

Huh?

Is the application for the demonstration project piling up?

Chen Yuan's eyes flickered, and he roughly guessed the reason.

Yesterday, I proposed improvements to the EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) system. To others, this was essentially a demonstration of controlled nuclear fusion technology. I even drew up the device design drawings, which is equivalent to showcasing most of the technology.

When the leaders saw this, they thought, "You've even brought out controlled nuclear fusion technology, why waste money building an experimental reactor? Just go straight to a demonstration reactor."

The reason why it's a demonstration stack instead of a commercial stack is very simple.

Even if those in power are bold, they still need to look at the research results first; otherwise, the consequences of problems arising from commercial application would be too great.

In short, the demonstration reactor is the final step before realizing the "artificial sun" and ultimately building a commercial fusion power plant, aiming to fully verify the engineering and technical feasibility of fusion power generation.

Chen Yuan had good reason to believe that if his controllable nuclear fusion demonstration reactor was proven to be feasible, it would not be impossible for it to be directly converted into a commercial reactor.

it is good.

It's great that we can apply for a demonstration stack.

Chen Yuan was quite frustrated when he heard that the application for the demonstration reactor had been rejected.

Who would have thought that things would take such a dramatic turn? He unintentionally wanted to repay a favor to "Oriental Super Ring" but ended up with this unexpected joy.

it is good!

That's wonderful!