bookbashuk Chapter 244 The Future Will Surely Succeed
Chapter 244 The Future Will Surely Succeed
At noon, Ni Guangnan took Lingyun to the center's canteen. The canteen was in a corner on the first floor; it wasn't big, with a dozen or so long tables. The head chef was serving dishes: stewed chicken with potatoes, stir-fried cabbage, tomato and egg soup, and rice.
The employees lined up for their meals, and when they saw Ni Guangnan and Ling Yun come in, they all nodded and greeted them.
"Engineer Ni."
"President Ling."
The two got their food and found a corner to sit down. Ni Guangnan put a few pieces of chicken from his bowl into Ling Yun's bowl, saying, "Eat more, you've lost weight."
"Mr. Ni, you can eat it yourself." Ling Yun tried to push it back.
"I have high cholesterol, so I eat less meat," Ni Guangnan laughed. "Young people should eat more."
During lunch, several young engineers brought their lunchboxes and sat down next to us.
"Mr. Ling, Engineer Ni, may I ask you a question?" a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses said.
"Ask," Ni Guangnan said.
"We heard this morning that General Manager Ling is here, and he's going to develop a complete industry chain layout." The young man's eyes lit up. "Is it true? Will we have the opportunity to manufacture equipment and materials in the future?"
"Really." Ling Yun put down his chopsticks. "But this is a long-term process. The design work you're doing now is still the core."
"But designs are constrained by manufacturing processes," another short-haired female engineer interjected. "What's the use of a perfect design if the manufacturing process can't realize it? EDA tools are the same—incomplete in functionality and inefficient. If we could have our own manufacturing lines and toolchains..."
"So it will take time," Ling Yun said. "But the direction is set, so we'll take it one step at a time. You can start by understanding the manufacturing process. Mr. Ni, could you arrange for engineers from the design team to take turns interning at the process team? To understand how chips are made, and then optimize the design accordingly."
"Okay," Ni Guangnan nodded. "I'll make the arrangements."
"What about the equipment?" the first young man pressed. "Can we make our own lithography machine?"
Ni Guangnan and Ling Yun exchanged a glance.
"It's possible, but very difficult," Ni Guangnan said frankly. "A lithography machine is a culmination of optics, mechanics, electronics, materials, and software. An advanced lithography machine has tens of thousands of parts and requires hundreds of suppliers worldwide. We can't even make the lens glass that pure."
"Then let's start with what we can do." The young man was unconvinced. "If optics isn't working, let's work on mechanical structures first. If control software isn't working, let's work on algorithm simulations first. Someone has to start doing it."
Ling Yun looked at him: "What's your name?"
"Liu Zhiyuan, from the process group, is in charge of photoresist testing." The young man straightened his back.
"How much do you know about photoresist?" Ling Yun asked.
"The main problems with domestically produced adhesives are uneven sensitivity, high residue rate, and poor etching resistance," Liu Zhiyuan said knowledgeably. "We've tried adding different additives and modifying the molecular structure, but the results haven't been ideal. I suspect it's a problem with the purity of the base resin, but domestic chemical plants don't offer small-batch customization."
"If you were put in charge of a photoresist material research and development team, would you be confident?" Ling Yun asked.
Liu Zhiyuan froze, his face flushing red: "I...I've only been working for two years..."
"It's alright. We'll assign you a senior colleague to mentor you, provide funding, and send you to chemical plants and research institutes both domestically and internationally for research and learning," Ling Yun said. "Do you dare accept?"
Liu Zhiyuan looked at Ni Guangnan, and Ni Guangnan nodded.
"I dare!" Liu Zhiyuan shouted.
"Okay." Ling Yun noted his name down. "President Ni, you should focus on developing this person. Start with small projects and let him try."
The other young people around them looked on with eager eyes.
"Mr. Ling, I studied mechanical engineering. Could I work on the structure of a lithography machine?"
"I studied optics and want to make lenses!"
"I studied chemistry and want to work on etching gases!"
They all talked at once.
Ni Guangnan raised his hand: "Don't rush, take it one step at a time. Finish your meal first, you still have to go to work this afternoon."
The young people quieted down, but ate much faster, their eyes filled with excitement.
After finishing their meal, Ni Guangnan and Ling Yun returned to the conference room on the fourth floor and closed the door.
"President Ling, you're really stirring things up." Ni Guangnan sat down and took a sip of tea. "These young people already find design work not exciting enough. Now that you've painted such a big picture for them, they'll probably be pestering me every day asking when we're going to build a lithography machine."
"Enthusiasm is a good thing," Ling Yun said. "But we need to guide them and prevent them from aiming too high. We need to start with specific, small problems. Photoresist, cleaning fluid, polishing pads... these seemingly insignificant materials are actually key. We need to break through these first and accumulate confidence and experience."
"I understand." Ni Guangnan opened his notebook. "Then here are the specific arrangements: First, establish an industry chain research department, with myself as the director, and start with five people. Second, launch a pre-research project on photoresist materials, with Liu Zhiyuan as the project assistant, and two senior colleagues. Third, arrange a rotation plan for design and process engineers. Fourth, begin contacting relevant domestic companies to investigate the possibility of cooperation."
"Okay," Ling Yun said. "In addition, within three months, you need to produce a complete supply chain analysis report and a preliminary action plan. The report should be detailed, data-driven, and actionable."
"Three months..." Ni Guangnan thought for a moment, "Although the time is tight, it can be completed."
"I'll have the finance department open a separate account for the money, and it will be used exclusively for that purpose," Ling Yun said. "For recruitment, you can directly communicate your needs to human resources, prioritizing people with industry experience. Retired experts can also be rehired."
"it is good."
The two then discussed several details: intellectual property rights strategy (patent layout), the possibility of international cooperation (acquiring technology through third-party channels), and cooperation with domestic universities (jointly training graduate students).
At two o'clock in the afternoon, it was time for Ling Yun to leave. Ni Guangnan saw him downstairs.
Upon reaching the lobby on the first floor, the young man named Xiao Zhang was still debugging the switch, but this time there were several other people around him, discussing something.
"Xiao Zhang, what are you doing?" Ni Guangnan asked.
"Mr. Ni, Mr. Ling," Xiao Zhang stood up, "a few of us were discussing whether it's possible to build a simple EDA tool development environment ourselves? Using open-source software as a foundation, we can write some plugins and optimization algorithms. Even if we can't build the whole thing, it would be good if we could solve one or two pain points."
Ni Guangnan looked at Ling Yun.
"Okay," Ling Yun said. "Consider it a self-initiated project. Submit a report if you need any resources."
Several young people cheered.
Stepping out of the building, the cold wind was still blowing, and Zhao Hu had already driven his car over.
"Mr. Ni, please wait a moment." Ling Yun shook hands. "Take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself."
"You too." Ni Guangnan squeezed his hand. "President Ling, thank you for leading the way on this path."
"We'll go together," Lingyun said.
I got in the car and closed the door. The Audi slowly drove out of the park.
Ni Guangnan stood at the doorway, watching the car disappear into the intersection. He turned around and looked up at the building.
The building is new, the road is new.
What they need to do is fill a huge void in this land.
He took a deep breath, cold but clear-headed.
Then, he strode back into the building.
Upstairs, the young people have already started taking action.
Ling Yun sat in the car, his brows furrowed, and let out a soft sigh.
The current state of the semiconductor industry is truly despairing. Ling Yun, as a time traveler from the future, knows that these problems will be solved, but Ni Guangnan and the others do not know that their belief is that they will succeed in the future.