Chapter 942: Crush the Opponents in Their Best Areas

Chang Haonan's idea didn't just come up.

When preparing for the first issue of JCAS, Chang Haonan planned to wait until the TORCH Multiphysics 2.0 version was released and then strike while the iron is hot to hold a global conference on numerical algorithms and computational science.

The plan at that time was to complete these two tasks together at the end of the year.

But later the development plan for the new version of the software changed - to put it simply, the release date has been postponed to early next year, so preparations for this conference have not yet begun in earnest.

However, it was a blessing in disguise.

This actually means that the content of the meeting may be significantly revised.

Thinking of this, Chang Haonan quickly called Song Jingming:

"Old Song, do you still remember the Numerical Algorithms and Computational Science Conference I mentioned before?"

After the call was connected, Chang Haonan went straight to the point and asked Song Jingming directly.

"Of course I remember."

Song Jingming on the other end of the phone was busy discussing the details of the new version of the software promotion with Wei Yongming. He stopped what he was doing when he heard this question.

When his boss suddenly asked about his work, he naturally subconsciously thought that he was dissatisfied with the progress, so he quickly explained:

"However, this meeting is scheduled to be held in March next year, so we haven't started formal preparations yet. I just asked two colleagues in the office to pay attention to how other similar meetings are held, as a reference, and plan to start making formal plans at the end of the year."

However, Chang Haonan obviously did not mean this:

"It's a good thing that it didn't start."

He replied:

"I'm thinking about whether our company could sponsor a numerical computing competition for universities around the world before each numerical algorithm and computational science conference. Only students can participate, and we can consider separating undergraduates and graduate students. The winners can be given some bonuses, and then an award ceremony can be held at the conference later."

"Given the current influence of our company, there should be quite a few experts and well-known large companies attending this conference. So for students, whether they are preparing for future work or further studies, this is a good opportunity to show off, and it should be very attractive."

"You mean... something like an international Olympic competition?"

Song Jingming is not a technical person and he had not participated in these competition activities when he was a student, so he directly competed with the most famous one.

"No... uh... maybe it is..."

This thing, which has not even started yet, was directly compared with the International Olympiad. Chang Haonan was a little bit unconfident:

"They can be similar in form, but don't make such analogies casually, especially in public... Randomly making false claims will only do harm to publicity."

For companies, the purpose of holding competitions and academic conferences is similar.

Academic exchanges are secondary; the main focus is still on promoting oneself.

It’s just that the two are aimed at different objects.

Although students also attend academic conferences, the leading figures are definitely the ones who play the leading roles.

Therefore, Chang Haonan just said that the participants of the computing competition should be limited to students.

Not even the instructor can be brought along.

"All right……"

Song Jingming did not continue to dwell on his lack of understanding:

"In that case, in addition to increasing our company's visibility, perhaps we can also directly designate TORCH Multiphysics as the official software for the competition, so that the contestants can directly experience the performance advantages of our software?"

"Do not."

Chang Haonan decisively rejected Song Jingming's proposal:

"Since the competition is already sponsored by our company, if we have to specify even the competition tools, it will only make others think that we are excluding dissidents, or even that we have already determined the results."

"Moreover, numerical computing tools are not something that can be learned in a few days. If a school or a research group is already accustomed to using other software and we limit the tools they can use, they may not sign up to participate from the beginning, which in turn increases the difficulty of promoting the competition."

"So, why not just let go of this area and let the magic dance freely, and let the results speak for themselves in the end. What if there is really a talented person who doesn't use any tools and writes a calculation program directly from scratch, and finally beats everyone else, then we will be even happier!"

Hearing this, Wei Yongming, who had been sitting opposite Song Jingming, couldn't help but roll his eyes.

We wrote the program from scratch and destroyed the tools we had spent years developing.

Who are you looking down on?

If this really happens, I'm afraid you will have to go to the competition yourself...

However, Song Jingming, who answered the phone, immediately understood what Chang Haonan meant and asked:

"Then Mr. Chang, regarding the topic of the competition... For the first competition, for the sake of safety, would you consider setting a field that is more advantageous to us?"

When people teach others, a hundred words are useless; when things teach people, they are taught once and for all.

In competitive sports, food is the original sin.

No matter how the competitors promote themselves, they just can’t beat you.

Of course, this is also a pressure for Torch Group.

If someone beats you in your own competition, it would be extremely embarrassing.

"of course."

Chang Haonan nodded:

"For numerical calculation problems, a lot of time will be consumed in the computer running process, so it is not advisable to include too many questions in the competition."

"I think the competition can just have one question, or a choice between two. We can determine the focus area of ​​the competition a few months before the start of each year, and the questions will come from this area."

"If it's a few months in advance..."

Song Jingming subconsciously glanced at the calendar on the table:

“Then if we hold the competition next year, we will have to start preparing for promotion right away.”

"That's easy to say."

Chang Haonan replied:

"For this first competition, I will set the questions myself."

"As to the nature of the subject..."

He stretched out two fingers and tapped the table lightly:

“It’s just computational fluid dynamics!”

The first part is reasonable.

But the last sentence was completely beyond the expectations of Song Jingming and Wei Yongming.

"Ok?"

Song Jingming, who was just about to pick up a ballpoint pen and take notes, was stunned:

"Computational Fluid Dynamics……"

"Didn't they say that COMSOL's new version has obvious improvements in this area and may have more advantages than our software? Should we consider avoiding their edge?"

"On the contrary."

Chang Haonan smiled:

“Whether it’s participating in the competition or attending the conference, they are all industry insiders and can understand what the questions are about.”

"COMSOL is now launching an all-round public opinion offensive against us in the CFD field. If we choose to avoid their attack at this juncture, it would be tantamount to acknowledging their advantages and becoming an advertisement for them."

“So, we decided to do the opposite and use CFD problems as competition questions to defeat our opponents in their best areas!”

At this time, Wei Yongming, who had been just listening opposite Song Jingming, could no longer sit still. He moved closer to the microphone and said:

"Mr. Chang, I'm Wei Yongming from the Technical Department. Professor Liu from the Numerical Computing Department has tested this new version of COMSOL before. It does have some merit. If we really put it head-on in the CFD field, the final result... I'm afraid it will be very random."

Chang Haonan was not too surprised to hear the third person's voice on the phone - after all, Song Jingming was in charge of the daily work of the group, and everyone would go there frequently.

This call does not involve any secrets, so there is no need to ask the person to leave before answering the call.

"Don't worry, Lao Wei."

He spoke in comfort:

"I have already looked at the test results from the Numerical Computing Business Department. They are not very complete."

"It just so happened that I came across a project these past two days, so I tested it myself."

Chang Haonan had only said half of his words when Wei Yongming on the other end of the phone almost popped his eyes out of his head.

Software testing is a job that requires as much work as software development. Chang Haonan said that he just tested it "in the past two days", which is a bit exaggerated.

What's even more exaggerated is that...

It seems that there was a problem with the test?

Sure enough, Chang Haonan continued the next moment:

"In short, I found that their new version of the software would have computational divergence or even software crash problems when dealing with a certain class of specific problems."

"When the time comes, as long as we select a topic within this category, we can make COMSOL have problems under the spotlight..."

Chang Haonan had no doubt that once the news of his competition was announced, COMSOL, which was eager to seize the CDF user market, would definitely take the initiative to sponsor representative teams from several schools and let them participate in the competition to disrupt the event.

However, when they really come, they will find...

Someone’s place was indeed smashed.

But it’s definitely not from Torch Group…