CHAPTER 515: CHAPTER 162: JOYFUL EVENT AT THE DOOR_4

Zhang Zuolin laughed and replied, "Yes, that’s his article. He was at Shuangdan University before, just transferred to Beijing last year."

Qiao Yu nodded, no wonder it was the same person.

"Well... Professor Zhang, are you familiar with Professor Ma? Do you think you could introduce me?"

Zhang Zuolin was slightly taken aback, then laughed and asked, "Why? Do you want to try using that new method on their side?"

Qiao Yu nodded openly. There was nothing to be embarrassed about admitting it.

Although the two sides are competitors, since he wanted to do this, he might as well directly tell Professor Zhang.

"How about this, let’s invite him for a meal together, but if he’s not available, then next time."

After speaking, Zhang Zuolin cheerfully took out his phone from his pocket.

...

About thirty kilometers away from Yanbei University at the Huairou Chemical Research Institute of the Huaxia Science Academy, the Thermo-responsive Intelligent Memory Gel research team was holding a phase meeting.

The most wonderful aspect of this world, besides being full of coincidences, is that many physical laws are effective in everyday life.

For instance, the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics at the microscopic level can be used to describe individual thinking patterns. Some people seem normal, but suddenly snap because of something...

Likewise, the interaction of forces can describe the competition between two research teams.

When the team led by Liu Hao felt the pressure from the other side, the researchers and students involved in the project at the Huairou Institute could also feel the pressure exerted by the other party.

No way around it, Yanbei University’s chemistry department is not insignificant in the research field. Being the only university nationwide where all secondary chemistry disciplines are key subjects shows their strength.

In terms of research, they not only have several key laboratories but also a high-level analysis and testing center for support. Additionally, the swift progress in early stages of the project put significant pressure on this institute as well.

Qiao Yu’s judgment was right; even though two technical challenges had been overcome in the early stages, the lab was still facing numerous issues.

The most prominent problem currently is the conflict between efficient response and stable memory function. Or rather, the balance between thermodynamics and kinetics is challenging to master.

Moreover, the gels cultivated by the lab begin to rapidly deteriorate in memory performance after only a few cycles, along with a decline in fracture strength recovery efficiency.

As for the frequent deviation of response temperature from the design value, phase instability under mechanical stress after block copolymer phase separation are considered minor issues.

To be honest, everyone’s pressure is about the same. After all, lab results directly relate to the future direction of mass industrial production and process scaling-up.

At this moment, the project leader Ma Botao was also summarizing: "Regarding the latest batch of samples, the problem of memory performance deterioration during temperature cycles, preliminary observation indicates that the cause is the phase separation-polymerization cycles induced by temperature changes disrupting the gel network.

The current solution being considered is to attempt developing higher interfacial interaction, which might require some adjustments to the surface-modified nanoparticles. Alright, does anyone have anything to add?"

Soon, Ma Botao finished his summary, the tasks were distributed, and the meeting entered the free discussion phase.

Honestly, there wasn’t much to talk about on the technical side.

Everyone knows their responsibilities and doesn’t need to elaborate further. If anyone has an idea, they’ll usually begin testing directly.

Although the project wasn’t progressing smoothly, everyone remained quite confident for the time being.

Very naturally, someone asked about the situation next door: "Professor Ma, how’s the other side doing now? Weren’t they saying three months ago that they had breakthroughs? It’s been a while since we heard any news from them."

"Who knows. You guys know well enough, nothing coming out of that Zhang guy’s mouth is true. But we don’t need to worry about them, I still stand by my words, the technical direction they chose is wrong!

The mechanical properties achieved with dynamic covalent bonds surely can’t compare to our technology. As long as we do well, our stability can also far exceed their technology. Not to mention, how many successful applications have their methods had in the field of composite materials?

Last time I even told that Zhang, they could completely assist us, but he wasn’t convinced! As long as we succeed this time, we will definitely make him acknowledge us! Besides, the aerospace field inherently has higher requirements for material durability. So we just need to focus on our own work! Even if they succeed, it would at most be an alternative!"

Ma Botao stated decisively.

Well, it’s not that Ma Botao has any grudge against Zhang Zuolin, it’s simply because the two have different approaches.

Back then, the two argued for a long time over this project. After convincing the client with their respective solutions, it became a competition between two different technical concepts.

From the client’s perspective, they don’t want to rely on just one approach; they might even consider other methods if both paths fail.

But from the perspective of direct competitors, they must consider the other side as fools. Even though everyone clearly understands that the two different technologies each have their own merits and drawbacks.

Obviously, Ma Botao’s response resonated with everyone. It lightened the meeting’s atmosphere a bit.

The confident declaration from the team leader can indeed affect the entire team’s morale.

"By the way, Professor Ma, how’s it looking on Professor Luo’s end? Any feedback results yet?" someone asked just before the meeting was about to end.

"Professor Luo’s side can’t provide much help for the time being. Mainly because the data volume we provided is not sufficient. You all know the current situation, the other side refused to provide us with database and model support.

But no worries, we can handle the key issues on our own. However, there’s good news too, their high-dimensional dynamic simulation framework is almost ready.

So as long as we keep up with the data, we should be able to achieve results soon and provide us with relevant analyses. Alright, let’s wrap it up for today."

After the meeting, Ma Botao took out his phone to check, there were two missed calls, and to his surprise, they were from Zhang Zuolin.

He was used to turning on ’Do Not Disturb’ during meetings. Fortunately, the second missed call was only five minutes ago.

After pondering for a moment, he called Zhang Zuolin back.

Although Ma Botao had just expressed disdain for Zhang Zuolin’s research at the meeting.

Nevertheless, when the call was answered, he was still very polite.

"Brother Zuo Lin, sorry, I was just in a meeting and the phone was on silent. What’s up?"

"Oh, nothing much, just wondering if you’ve eaten. If not, why not join us for a meal at Yanbei Boya International Hotel."

"Is there something to celebrate today, Brother Zuo Lin? Even thought of inviting me for a meal?"

"Haha, not really. It’s just that our project has just overcome the biggest challenge today, and the lab samples are about to meet the performance requirements. Brother Botao, wouldn’t you call that something worth celebrating?"