Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

The next day when Jiang Haoran went to class, he could clearly feel the difference in the way people looked at him.

His classmates, who usually attended classes with him, looked at him with more curiosity and inquiry.

During the break, class monitor Li Bin was the first to approach him, lowering his voice to ask, "Haoran, I heard your company is going to set up a joint laboratory with Professor Sun? Investing ten million?"

"Yeah, we just signed the agreement." Jiang Haoran said casually, continuing to flip through his textbook.

"Wow, that's impressive!" a guy next to him couldn't help but interject. "Ten million in one go, your company must be pretty big, right?"

"For the collaborative projects with my family's company, I'm just the on-campus liaison," Jiang Haoran said calmly, closing his textbook. "The specific technical details are handled by the professor's team."

This was a perfectly worded statement, neither denying nor admitting anything. The students exchanged glances, their eyes filled with even deeper curiosity.

On the podium, the teacher who was organizing the lesson plan also glanced in this direction, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Having taught for over twenty years, I've seen many students start their own businesses, but this is the first time I've seen someone who, while still a senior in college, has been able to drive a multi-million dollar university-enterprise collaboration.

Professor Zhang remembered Jiang Haoran; he ranked first in his major in this course, and his case study assignments were particularly solid, demonstrating an understanding of market cycles that was unlike that of an undergraduate. At the time, he thought it was due to a strong grasp of theoretical knowledge, but now it seems…

In the afternoon at the library, Jiang Haoran ran into Zhang Lei, a doctoral student in Sun Zhigang's research group.

"President Jiang, you're here too." Zhang Lei changed his address, sounding a little embarrassed. "Professor Sun asked us to hurry up and write up the lab's short-term plan, and we need to report to you next Monday."

"Don't call me General Manager Jiang, just call me Haoran." Jiang Haoran smiled. "Don't rush the planning, let's get the team organized first. How many people are there now?"

"Including Professor Sun, there are twelve people in total. Three PhDs, seven Masters, and two first-year graduate students who just joined the group." Zhang Lei sat down opposite him, lowering his voice.

"However, after the lab is approved, Professor Sun plans to recruit two more postdoctoral fellows and five more graduate students. With the funding secured, the manpower also needs to keep up."

"Is this amount of funding enough?" Jiang Haoran asked.

"Enough! That's more than enough!" Zhang Lei's eyes lit up. "Teacher Sun was just saying yesterday that he'd been eyeing that high-precision testing machine from Germany for years, and now we can finally buy it."

Seeing Zhang Lei's excited expression, Jiang Haoran felt a little more at ease.

The academic world remains pure; researchers value most the opportunity to conduct the research they want. When funding is secured, their first instinct is to buy equipment and improve experimental conditions. As for personal compensation, they're happy to receive an extra two or three thousand yuan a month in subsidies. This purity is rare in the commercial world, yet it is also precious.

Zhang Lei hesitated for a moment, then asked, "President Jiang... Haoran, may I ask one more question? The things we're doing in this lab are ultimately meant to be industrialized, right?"

"Yes." Jiang Haoran was certain. "Otherwise, why invest so much money? The results from the laboratory will eventually become products on the production line."

"That's good." Zhang Lei breathed a sigh of relief. "Actually, some classmates in the group were worried that it would be another collaboration where 'the project ends after the paper is published.' When we go on to graduate and doctoral studies, we all hope to produce something truly useful."

"It will definitely be useful," Jiang Haoran said confidently. "And if you do well, you're welcome to join Qilin Technology after graduation to continue your research and development."

A week later, the first batch of ten million yuan arrived in the account.

The day after the funds arrived, Professor Sun Zhigang organized a project launch meeting.

The small conference room on the third floor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering was full of people, including all members of the research group, Jiang Haoran, Gu Qiushi, and two senior engineers newly recruited by Kylin Technology.

The projector displayed a detailed R&D roadmap, with a clear and well-defined three-phase plan.

"The first phase involves optimizing the coating materials." Sun Zhigang pointed his laser pointer to the left side of the chart. "The goal is to increase the adhesion strength of the diamond particles by 20% based on the existing structure. We plan to try three new adhesive layer materials—a titanium nitride transition layer, a gradient composite layer, and our self-developed nano-interface layer."

He switched to the next page: "The experimental design has been completed, an orthogonal experimental design, with a total of 216 groups. Preliminary screening is expected to be completed within a month, and the optimal formula will be determined within two months. If all goes well, small-batch trial production can begin within six months."

Gu Qiushi adjusted his glasses: "The timeline is very tight. If we encounter a material bottleneck, are there any backup plans?"

"Yes." Sun Zhigang was clearly prepared. "We have prepared two improvement routes at the same time—if the new materials are not effective, we will return to the traditional system and improve performance through process optimization. The progress may be a month slower, but the technical risks are controllable."

Jiang Haoran nodded and turned to Engineer Wang from Kirin Technology: "Engineer Wang, you need to fully cooperate. Especially in the process verification phase, communicate with the research team in advance about the required testing conditions."

"Understood." Engineer Wang, in his forties, had worked in the precision machining industry for over a decade. "I suggest establishing a standardized data acquisition system in the first phase to record the parameters and results of each experiment. This raw data is crucial for building future process models."

"That's a good suggestion," Sun Zhigang praised. "Zhang Lei, you're in charge of this."

The meeting lasted the entire morning. From technical approaches to personnel assignments, from equipment procurement to progress assessment, every aspect was discussed thoroughly.

By the end, the atmosphere in the meeting room had noticeably changed. It was no longer just professors assigning tasks and students carrying them out; it was a genuine collaboration, where cutting-edge insights from academia were gradually merging with engineering thinking from industry.

Everyone felt that as long as they put their efforts into it, they would definitely be able to create what they wanted.

After the meeting, Sun Zhigang made a point of keeping Jiang Haoran behind.

"Haoran, there's something I've been wanting to ask you." He brewed two cups of tea, handing one to me, "Why are you so obsessed with diamond wire cutting? There are many technical routes in the photovoltaic industry, and slicing is just one of them."

Jiang Haoran took the teacup, and wisps of steam rose from it.

"Professor Sun, do you know what the mainstream thickness of polycrystalline silicon wafers is now?"

"Around 180 micrometers."

"That's right." Jiang Haoran nodded. "But if we can reduce it to 150 micrometers, the cost of each silicon wafer can be reduced by 15%. If we reduce it to 120 micrometers, the cost can be reduced by 30%. And to achieve thin wafers, diamond wire cutting is the only feasible technical path."

He paused for a moment: "Currently, most of the diamond wire used in China is still imported, with a diameter of over 100 micrometers. If we can achieve 80 micrometers and maintain stable mass production, it won't just be a matter of reducing costs—it will redefine industry standards."

Sun Zhigang fell silent. Having studied materials for decades, he understood all too well the weight of the words "redefining standards."

That means technological barriers, it means pricing power, it means that a company may rise to become a giant in an industry.

"I understand," he finally said. "I will treat it as my most important project."

"Thank you, Professor Sun." Jiang Haoran raised his teacup. "I'll toast you with tea instead of wine."