Reinventing the Millennium

Hu Zhengming, the former CTO of TSMC, was called "Treasure Island's No. 1 CTO" before he left TSMC. He himself also founded Silue Electronics and sold it for US$130 million a few years later.

When it comes to academics, his achievements are even more dazzling. Not to mention his reputation as an academician of the National Academy of Engineering and a professor at the University of California, the "fin field effect transistor" proposed by Hu Zhengming in 1999 is hailed as extending the life of Moore's Law.

In 1995, the industry believed that the limit of transistor size was coming, and the golden development period of the semiconductor industry was coming to an end. Hu Zhengming's solution successfully made a theoretical breakthrough in the semiconductor limit.

For such a successful industrial and academic leader, he has put a lot of effort into coming to the University of Science and Technology of China for academic exchanges. Now, how easy is it to get him to join Ice Core after the non-competition agreement is over?

Fang Zhuo had already researched this person's information over and over before he came, and knowing the contact situation here in Luzhou, he became increasingly worried about gains and losses, and could not easily show up to lobby, for fear that this kind of communication without intermediate links would directly determine the final result.

As the chairman of Bingxin and the initiator of a project like Bingxin, Fang Zhuo has raised funds, invited Qiu Ciyun, recruited domestic and foreign engineers, and found ways to deal with equipment procurement reviews, but he still feels that it is not enough.

Fang Zhuo is very self-aware. He has repeatedly considered the ice core and analyzed his own pros and cons.

As chairman, he can raise funds from various channels, use successful projects to transfuse blood ice cores, and use end products to tie up the upstream of the industry chain. This is an advantage and a business behavior that he is good at.

But Fang Zhuo also has a very fatal flaw. He has no technical background and does not understand technology. His industry knowledge comes from supplementary knowledge, and more professional knowledge can only understand the superficial meaning.

Then, key technology nodes, commercial application trends, and major decision-making judgments have all become issues that must be solved.

All these are life-or-death decisions for ordinary companies, especially for companies with high technical thresholds such as wafer foundry.

The former is like Changhong. Plasma and liquid crystal technology are going wrong, and they are sinking step by step.

Fang Zhuo realized the existence of this shortcoming, so he half-actively and half-passively left it to professionals to make the decision. He did not behave like an outsider leading an expert, and he was not arrogant enough to think that he could lead Bingxin with just a few vague memory confirmations. go toward success.

From the perspective of a commercial project, if Bingxin wants to develop smoothly, it must have one or several technical figures who can lead the project to make key decisions.

Can Qiu Ciyun, the current senior vice president of Bingxin, do this?

To be honest, Fang Zhuo is not very confident. Observation at the current stage seems to be quite appropriate. Qiu Ciyun has successful experience in building and operating factories, but that may not be able to support future technological development.

But if Hu Zhengming, a big man in both academic and industrial fields who has been the chief technology officer of TSMC for four years, comes in, most of this problem will be solved. He has a gold-like effect on the current ice core.

Moreover, Hu Zhengming can not only solve the technical decisions of enterprises, but he is also a banner of the industry, which can increase the bargaining chip for Bingxin to introduce more influential figures.

For example, Liang Mengsong, a proud disciple who is still at TSMC.

Under such circumstances, when Fang Zhuo arrived in Luzhou, he didn't go to the University of Science and Technology of China to visit Professor Hu Zhengming. Instead, he drank with the leaders for two days and cut the ribbon for the cooperation between Meiling and Changhong. He kept thinking about what to do. How to meet and communicate.

He even studied the meaning of Hu Zhengming's name with Ni Runfeng.

When Ni Runfeng helped with the details, he felt vaguely emotional. Did Mr. Xiao Fang make the same preparations when he arrived in Chengdu? Did he know Boren's name in advance before attacking him?

He didn't ask this question, but just watched Mr. Xiao Fang's anxiety and seriousness.

On March 28, when Ni Runfeng contacted Mr. Xiao Fang, he was told that his boss had flown to the capital.

This made him a little confused. Professor Hu hadn't seen him yet, so why did he fly to the capital? Is there a leader summoning me over there? Or are there any urgent matters that need to be dealt with?

It was the 31st when Ni Runfeng again obtained Mr. Xiao Fang’s exact whereabouts.

On the last day of March, he was reading today's newspaper and saw that there were gossips about President Xiao Fang and the Li family. Suddenly he heard his secretary come to report, saying that he heard that President Xiao Fang had returned to Luzhou and went to see him immediately. City leaders, and then went straight to the University of Science and Technology of China.

"How did you know?" Ni Runfeng asked the secretary.

"Secretary-General Luo's car is almost becoming President Fang's special car, who doesn't know." The secretary said with some pride.

Ni Runfeng nodded, and his emotions suddenly started to boil. This matter had nothing to do with him. Xiao Fang had tied him to the boat just to get his ice core.

He hoped that the ship would be faster and better, and he also hoped that Mr. Fang's idea after struggling with it these days would be effective.

Ni Runfeng put down the newspaper and looked at his watch. It read a quarter past four in the afternoon.

Waiting for tomorrow, waiting for tomorrow, he has to ask President Xiao Fang how the battle is going today.

…

On the afternoon of March 31, Bingxin Chairman Fang Zhuo, accompanied by two assistants, came to the University of Science and Technology of China to meet the professor he admired so much on the eve of the new month.

Along the way, he was still thinking about how to communicate with Hu Zhengming.

Euphemistic moral binding? Direct profit temptation?

This is somewhat ineffective in changing places.

Fang Zhuo could only prepare in every possible way, adapt to local conditions, and decide what to say when seeing people.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Fang Zhuo met Professor Hu Zhengming.

Then, the professor's first words caught him off guard.

"Mr. Fang, do you know how to pronounce fin field effect transistor in English?"

Fang Zhuo didn't even have time to put down the tea leaves in his hand. He didn't say any pleasantries. He was startled when he heard the words. Fin field effect transistor?

An ice core technical assistant next to him saw this and wanted to answer for the boss.

Hu Zhengming glanced at him with a half-smile.

Fang Zhuo waved his hand to indicate that he must have remembered it correctly.

He said slowly: "Fin Field-Effect Transistor."

Hu Zhengming raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "I have worked at TSMC for several years, but Zhang Zhongmou still thinks this word is awkward to pronounce."

Fang Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, put down the tea, and said with a smile: "So Mr. Zhang and I have the same view? Fortunately, I thought this word was awkward, so I read it several times. Otherwise, the professor wouldn't have been prepared to let it go. Have I sat down?"

Hu Zhengming nodded and said unabashedly: "Yes, I know Mr. Fang's intention, but Mr. Fang may not know that TSMC can give me whatever you can give me. I just want to do academic research now. I won’t add ice cores.”

The professor made it clear, as shown in the previous situation report, that there was no room for maneuver.