Chapter 980: Build a company with dreams

Looking at Professor Harold who seemed to be suddenly excited, Matthew was a little confused for a moment.

In fact, the latter has vaguely felt in the past few days that there is something wrong with his boss's mentality.

But as a student, it’s not easy to ask directly what happened.

Including a few minutes ago, when I first entered the office, the other party still looked absent-minded.

As a result, less than 30 seconds after he turned around and left the office, the gloom on Harold's face was completely gone.

"But Professor..."

Matthew said with a tense expression:

"This display board... is what you asked me to organize from an academic report?"

Harold looked up and recalled quickly.

I found that this seems to be the case.

After the report meeting at the end of last year fell through, he approached Matthew and asked him to condense his written report into a presentation board in preparation for the upcoming energy and power industry conference.

I just didn’t expect that due to the obstruction at the school level, even the latter matter was blown…

The teacher and the student stared at each other for half a second, and the scene was a little awkward.

"Cough-cough-"

Harold coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment, and then put on an attitude of "everything is within my calculations":

"After all, that report was written half a year ago, and its content is a bit outdated."

"Before, we considered that the space for the display board was limited, so it was difficult to add more things to it. But this time the report lasts 25-30 minutes, so we can put some of our recent discoveries in it."

Now, Matthew understood a little:

"So... there was an academic conference of a higher standard that invited our research group?"

He instantly became energetic.

After all, just now, Harold specifically emphasized that the effect of reporting on stage is best.

Faced with this question, Harold was slightly stunned.

At this time, he had not yet realized the source of this "special invitation" and its corresponding value.

Therefore, I was a little worried that I would not be able to bring my students with me.

So, he turned his head and glanced at the computer screen.

Because it was not a formal invitation letter, it just asked about his willingness, so it did not specify various details.

Fortunately, the official website of the Conference on Numerical Algorithms and Computational Science is included.

Harold quickly clicked in.

"Well...it doesn't clearly state whether I can bring other people with me..."

He stroked his slightly bald head while looking at the meeting rules listed on the website:

"I'll ask the organizer when I reply, if it's okay..."

Harold wanted to take you with him if possible.

But halfway through his words, he suddenly saw another part of the content below -

Numerical computing competition.

Obviously, this meeting is not just a meeting.

There’s even foreplay.

At this time, Harold vaguely remembered that he seemed to have seen related news a few months ago.

But he only had three masters and doctors under him, one of whom was a complete rookie in his first year of graduate school. In addition, the competition time conflicted with the meeting he was preparing to attend, so he didn't take it seriously.

Looking back now, I almost picked up sesame seeds and lost the watermelon.

"Matthew."

Harold waved to the side, signaling the other party to come closer:

"I think... you can sign up for this competition."

Matthew moved closer to the monitor and looked it over carefully:

"But it says here that a group needs three people?"

"Are all our research team going there..."

Harold actually had an idea about this a long time ago:

"It just says that the contestants must represent the same school. You can bring Garcia and then find another friend."

Lucas Garcia, Matthew's junior, is currently struggling with the question of whether he should continue his doctoral studies or go straight to work after graduating with a master's degree.

From Harold's perspective, he naturally hoped that the other party would stay and continue his studies.

But as a mentor, he always has to let the other party see some desire to stay.

Now, only by putting all of Harold's limited resources on Matthew can the latter barely avoid delaying his graduation.

And new projects are nowhere in sight.

In this situation, people would probably not dare to pursue a doctorate, at least not under him.

It is for this reason that Harold is eager to make a comeback.

"But it says here that each institution can only have one representative team participating in the finals...which means we need to compete with other opponents in the school first..."

The many setbacks he has encountered in the past two years as a doctoral student have made Matthew habitually lack confidence.

But in this regard, Harold saw it clearly:

"Don't worry, Matthew."

He put on a confident look:

"It says on the website that the broad scope of this year's competition is computational fluid dynamics."

"I can't say about the situation in other schools, but in our school, no one is better than our research team..."

This is definitely not Harold making it up.

Unlike most professors who started out as lecturers, he spent the first twenty years of his career in a semi-commercial research institute.

It can even be said that if he had not been excluded due to differences in research direction, he would not have chosen to enter university at all.

This background resulted in Harold lacking strong connections in the academic circle, and it became one of the main shackles restricting his further development over the years.

But at the same time, it also allowed him to accumulate a lot of specific project experience.

As Harold's first disciple, Matthew naturally benefited a lot from it.

It’s just that due to the lack of a control group and the fact that the research team has had too few projects in recent years, the latter themselves are unaware of this.

However, I don’t know.

But looking at the determined expression on his mentor's face, Matthew hesitated for a few seconds and finally nodded.

"Then go contact people and form a team."

Harold slapped his thigh excitedly:

“I have compiled some typical CFD projects I have done in the past, especially those done after 98 using TORCH Multiphysics. You can study them more during this period…”

"Although it says that participating teams will not have instructors, it doesn't say that they cannot provide reference materials..."

"..."

……

Of course, Professor Harold was not the only one who noticed this numerical computing competition.

In fact, many people move much faster than him.

In fact, if Harold had not been so overwhelmed by the inhumane school and colleagues, he would not have ignored the relevant news.

Torch Group began promoting the Conference on Numerical Algorithms and Computational Science as early as the end of 2001.

Although this competition, as an "appetizer", cannot be said to be the top priority, it also occupies a very important share.

The first, second and third prizes plus various individual winning awards total a prize of US$500,000, and the opportunity to get close to the big names in the field of numerical computing.

Even industry giants such as Dassault, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, Siemens, and General Electric will send high-level representatives to attend the conference.

If a contestant performs well in the competition, or is lucky enough to be directly noticed by a large company, it is basically equivalent to avoiding 10 years of detour.

For the professors and researchers attending the conference, these companies are also top-notch super sponsors.

As for the travel expenses, food and accommodation expenses that you need to bear yourself, they are nothing in comparison.

Some participants are concerned about the conference venue itself.

After all, in many propaganda works, China is portrayed as a chaotic, backward place comparable to black Africa.

Of course, most people are still relatively rational.

Although they have no way of knowing the true situation in China, they are inevitably influenced by some biased propaganda.

But logically speaking, a place that can give birth to a high-tech enterprise like Torch Group is at least unlikely to be chaotic, regardless of whether it is poor or not.

Therefore, all of a sudden, air tickets to China at the end of March became very popular...

And at the same time.

In addition to schools and research institutions, there is another group of people who are also keeping a close eye on this conference.

Stanford University, San Francisco.

In Professor Anthony Jameson's private reception room.

"These days, I have carefully studied the competition sponsored by Torch Group."

Jameson sat by a window sill holding a cup of strong coffee:

“The competition requirements did not mention any restrictions on computing tools and methods. Perhaps… we can consider using this opportunity to expand the influence of COMSOL to the business community.”

On the sofa not far across from him sat Klaus Herz.

Head of COMSOL USA.

It is called the American branch, but in fact it is specifically responsible for liaising with Professor Jameson's research team.

"You mean, we can find a few teams that have a better chance of winning prizes, sponsor them... or use other methods to let them use our computing tools to participate in the competition?"

Since Hertz could sit in this position, he was certainly not a stupid person. He understood Jameson's meaning almost instantly.

"Yes."

Jameson nodded:

“Although I have helped some companies add COMSOL to their software supplier lists through my personal connections over the years, as far as I know, even after the release of the latest version 2.5, the actual usage rate of our software is not very optimistic.”

"Many commercial users are betting on both sides of the fence. They buy the rights to use all decent software on the market, but when it comes to actual operations, they still mainly use Torch Group's software, even in the CFD field where we actually have an advantage..."

“From the user’s perspective, they will definitely prefer to play it safe and will not randomly use a project for trial and error. Therefore, it is meaningless for us to just rely on word of mouth. We need a chance to prove to them that there are better options on the market than TORCH Multiphysics!”

In fact, this is a fairly common phenomenon in the software field.

Faced with competitors that have already occupied the mainstream market share, it is difficult for latecomers to overcome the usage habits formed over a long period of time, even if they do not consider performance.

Even if a part of the market is occupied by relying on off-market means, users often say one thing in public and another behind the scenes.

For example, China also encountered the same problem when promoting its domestic operating system.

At the beginning, I installed a dual system on my computer.

Later, when it was no longer allowed, I simply used my own computer to work.

Later, the problem was barely under control after disabling the external interfaces of the office hardware.

It’s just that things have changed and now it’s the Europeans’ turn to have a headache.

After hearing this, Hertz nodded in agreement, but his expression was still a little hesitant:

"But that is someone else's home ground after all..."

Jameson shrugged helplessly:

"There's nothing we can do. Given the current situation of the entire industry, apart from Torch Group, it's hard for others... including us, to have enough appeal."

"But you don't have to worry too much."

At this point, he paused for a moment and drank the coffee in the cup:

"I am a special guest of this conference and have the right to supervise the entire competition process."

"Although playing at home will certainly give them a certain advantage, after all, they are in front of their peers from all over the world, so I don't think they would dare to go too far..."