ryethenovel Chapter 132 A Thunderous Sound
Chapter 132 A Thunderous Sound
October 25, 2020, Beijing.
Su Chen flew to Beijing a day early.
Before he left, Zhou Ming handed him a 42-page report titled "Hongyuan MEMS Sensor Self-Reliance Strategy".
Su Chen read through the materials twice on the plane and made minor adjustments to a few data points.
In particular, in the last "suggestion section"—which suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology establish a national major project for MEMS sensors—he added a few more paragraphs, expanding his thinking to the issue of collaboration across the entire MEMS industry chain.
At 9:30 a.m. the following morning, Su Chen arrived at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology building on time.
Section Chief Li Ming was already waiting for him at the door.
"Mr. Su, this way please."
Following Li Ming through the corridor, Su Chen entered a large conference room.
Su Chen was stunned for a moment when he pushed open the door.
The conference room was much larger than he had expected.
The oval table was surrounded by people—Su Chen glanced around and estimated there were at least sixty or seventy.
In the center of the long table sat a middle-aged man with gray hair and a composed demeanor. His nameplate read "Zheng Weiguo, Deputy Minister of the Electronic Information Department".
To the left of the vice minister was a sprightly old man—his nameplate read "Academician Zhou Jianhua, Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences".
Next to Academician Zhou sat Professor Sun from the Department of Microelectronics at Tsinghua University, Researcher Qian from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, and several other professors whose names Su Chen couldn't recall but who were clearly heavyweights in the academic world.
On the other side sat corporate representatives—the vice president of Goertek, the CTO of AAC Technologies, and the heads of several small MEMS foundries.
In addition, there were more than a dozen young faces, who, judging from their name tags, were probably doctoral students from various research institutions.
In total, there were nearly eighty people.
For a niche field like MEMS, this lineup is already at the level of "national mobilization".
"Mr. Su Chen?"
When Vice Minister Zheng Weiguo saw Su Chen enter, he stood up and extended his hand, saying, "Welcome. I am Zheng Weiguo."
"Hello, Vice Minister Zheng." Su Chen quickly walked over and shook hands.
"I'm very impressed by what you said—'The core carrier of craft know-how is people, not time'—" Zheng Weiguo smiled slightly. "That's why I wanted to hear your thoughts in person today.
"Thank you, Vice Minister Zheng."
Su Chen nodded, then glanced at Academician Zhou.
Academician Zhou Jianhua also looked at him.
The man in his seventies had a sharp yet gentle gaze—the kind of look one has only seen in someone who has spent their entire life immersed in academia.
"Su Chen, I heard you acquired Qixin Microsystems?" Academician Zhou's voice was calm, but his tone carried a hint of scrutiny.
"Yes, Academician Zhou. A full acquisition, renamed Hongyuan Microsystems."
"Qixin is a project that was commercialized by our Institute of Microelectronics," said Academician Zhou. "Liu Guoqiang is my student. Although this production line is small, its foundation is solid."
"Yes. Liu Guoqiang and his team have a very solid foundation; they just lacked direction and resources before."
Academician Zhou nodded and said nothing more.
But Su Chen noticed something different in the old man's eyes.
It's not hostility, it's not questioning.
Rather, it is a kind of expectant scrutiny.
It's like watching a junior who might succeed or disappoint.
……
The morning agenda consisted of reports from various organizations and companies.
The Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences first reported on the overall status of MEMS research in China—abundant technological reserves, but a pitifully low rate of industrialization.
"Our institute of microelectronics has published over 200 SCI papers and applied for 67 patents in the field of MEMS gyroscopes," reported one of Academician Zhou's assistants. "But as of today, we have zero products that have truly entered the commercial mass production stage."
The word "zero" sounded particularly jarring in the conference room.
Professor Sun from the Department of Microelectronics at Tsinghua University added, "It's not just the Institute of Microelectronics. The entire MEMS academic community in China faces the same dilemma—top-notch papers, zero products. The root cause is that the gap between the laboratory and mass production is too large, and no company is willing to take on the task."
Researcher Qian from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology analyzed the situation from the manufacturing perspective: "There are currently seven MEMS foundries in China, but none of them have the capability to mass-produce high-precision inertial MEMS. The best they can produce are only mid-to-low-end microphones and pressure sensors."
The vice president of Goertek reported on the progress of domestic substitution for MEMS microphones—although breakthroughs have been made in the consumer-grade microphone field, there is still a complete lack in the field of high-precision inertial sensors.
AAC Technologies' CTO also stated that while they have expertise in optical components, MEMS inertial sensors are outside their area of expertise.
After listening for a whole morning, the atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly heavy.
The report can be summarized in three words:
It cannot be done.
Papers can be published, patents can be applied for, and laboratory samples can be made—but what about mass-produced, commercially available, high-precision MEMS inertial sensors?
It cannot be done.
To date, no Chinese company or research institution has achieved this.
……
When it was Su Chen's turn to report, it was already 11:30 a.m.
Su Chen walked to the projection screen and opened the 42-page PPT.
"Distinguished leaders, academicians, and teachers, I am Su Chen from Hongyuan Intelligent Technology."
"Everyone here is a senior figure and expert in the field of MEMS. In terms of academic level and technical accumulation, I am far inferior to any of you."
"But today I want to talk about MEMS autonomy from a different perspective—not from an academic perspective, but from an industrial perspective."
Su Chen turned to the first page—
The title is: "Why does China have the world's best MEMS research papers, but not the world's best MEMS products?"
A slight commotion arose in the conference room.
This title is too direct.
Some of them were so blunt that they didn't give any face to the senior academics present.
But Su Chen didn't pause and continued:
"After listening to everyone's reports this morning, I've summarized it as follows: China's MEMS field doesn't lack technological reserves, talent, or funding. What is it lacking?"
"What's missing is a pathway from the laboratory to mass production."
"Those who publish papers don't know how to adjust the process parameters in the workshop. Those who run the workshop don't know how to implement the designs in the papers. They're both doing their own thing, and nobody's bridging the gap in between."
"And what Hongyuan did was bridge this gap."
Su Chen turned to the second part—Hongyuan's MEMS full-chain layout.
"On the design side—we invested in Suzhou Microchip Sensing, and Dr. Li Wei's team has 15 years of experience in MEMS design."
"On the manufacturing side—we fully acquired Kunshan Qixin Microsystems, now called Hongyuan Microsystems. It has a complete 4-inch MEMS production line, a team of 63 people, including 14 core R&D personnel, 8 of whom have backgrounds at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The production line is currently being upgraded, and Technical Director Zhao Jiancheng has already moved in."
"On the application side—the Feiniao module platform has over 370 signed partners, consuming more than one million MEMS sensors annually. We are not a lab project without market demand; we have real, large-scale end-user needs."
"On the policy front—the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission has provided special support, including a 3000 million yuan grant, a 1.5 million yuan low-interest loan, 8000 square meters of land in Guangming District, and subsidies for high-level talents."
Su Chen turned to the third part—the technology roadmap.
"Our technology roadmap is divided into two phases."
"The first step—based on existing capabilities, to develop a MEMS gyroscope within six months that rivals the performance of the Bosch BMI270. The goal is to make it 'good enough,' capable of replacing Bosch's application in the Flybird S1."
"The second step is to develop a completely redesigned, high-precision MEMS gyroscope, aiming to surpass the accuracy of the Murata SCR1100. The estimated timeline is one and a half years."
At this point, some whispers broke out in the conference room.
Several professors clearly looked doubtful.
Surpassing Murata SCR1100? In just one and a half years?
This is considered utterly absurd by academics.
But Su Chen ignored the skeptical looks and continued to the fourth part—funding plans and policy needs.
"Currently, Hongyuan's total investment in MEMS self-sufficiency is approximately 100 million yuan. Of this, about 55 million yuan is from the company's own funds, and about 45 million yuan is from policy support funds."
"But this money is far from enough."
Su Chen's voice became serious:
"MEMS self-sufficiency is not a matter for one company alone. If we rely solely on Hongyuan, we can at most solve the MEMS self-sufficiency problem in the low-altitude economy sector."
"But China needs more than just MEMS for the low-altitude economy. Automotive electronics, consumer electronics, industrial control, healthcare, aerospace—every field requires high-precision MEMS sensors, and every field relies on imports."
"so--"
Su Chen flipped to the last section—the suggestions section.
The title is: "Proposal on Establishing a National Major Project for MEMS Sensors"
"I suggest that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology consider establishing a national major project for MEMS sensors."
"Integrating the research strengths of the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Microelectronics and Nanotechnology of Tsinghua University, and the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, and forming synergy with industry forces such as Goertek, AAC Technologies, and Foxconn."
"The government provides policies, talent, and platforms. Enterprises provide capital, markets, and production lines."
"Academia is responsible for cutting-edge research and talent cultivation. Industry is responsible for technology implementation and commercial validation."
"Hongyuan is willing to be a pioneer—our production lines, our markets, and our funds are all open to joint research."
Su Chen paused for a moment at this point.
Then he took a deep breath and said something that surprised everyone present:
"I make a promise here—starting today, all operating profits of Hongyuan Intelligent Technology will be invested in the independent research and development of MEMS."
"Not 10%, not 50%—it's 100%."
"Every month's revenue from the Flying Bird platform, the sales profit from flight control modules, and the revenue from H-Link base stations—all operating profits—are invested entirely in MEMS, without keeping a single penny."
"Until China possesses its own independently controllable high-precision MEMS sensors."
The conference room fell into absolute silence.
Everyone was stunned.
A company with annual revenue of hundreds of millions announced that it would invest 100% of its profits in MEMS research and development?
This was not a business decision—it was a decision that gambled on the future of the entire company.
There was a full ten seconds of silence.
Then--
"Smack."
The first person to applaud was Academician Zhou Jianhua.
The elderly man, who was over seventy years old, sat up straight in his chair and clapped his hands vigorously.
Immediately afterwards—
"Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap..."
The applause spread from the front row to the back, from quiet to enthusiastic, and finally turned into a thunderous roar.
Nearly eighty people were all applauding.
The professors who had previously looked at him with suspicion now had different expressions.
They may still doubt whether Su Chen can surpass Murata within a year and a half.
But they no longer doubted Su Chen's determination.
The determination of a 26-year-old entrepreneur to invest all his profits in a field where he might lose everything was clear to everyone present.
Including Vice Minister Zheng Weiguo.
This official, who was known for his composure, was now applauding.
And they were drumming very hard.
……
The applause lasted for almost a minute before gradually subsiding.
Su Chen stood in front of the projection screen and bowed slightly: "Thank you everyone. That concludes my report."
He returned to his seat and sat down.
Next up is the afternoon roundtable discussion.
The atmosphere of the roundtable discussion underwent a fundamental change because of Su Chen's words.
The atmosphere in the morning was one of "cannot be done".
The afternoon atmosphere turned into "what to do".
……