Walking into Mianyang Science and Technology City in Sichuan, I encountered "a beam of light".
Chasing light is a constant pursuit day and night. In the Photon Technology Research Institute, scientific researchers focus on the research and development of "radiation photoluminescence dosimeters"; in the industrial park workshop, workers are busy conducting precise debugging and quality inspection of laser products. Diving deeply and deeply, just to break new paths and break through technological barriers.
Yuguang is an inch-by-inch expansion of the boundaries of innovation. A beam of high-energy laser sweeps across the steel plate, peeling off rust without damaging the body, achieving truly non-destructive cleaning; a sensor smaller than a fingernail can stably measure temperature at minus 270 degrees Celsius, breaking foreign monopoly, and achieving superior radiation resistance performance.
Becoming the light means stepping out of the courtyard to empower thousands of industries. Fourier transform spectrometers are applied to modern agriculture and brewing industries, and high-resolution optical non-destructive testing instruments provide new means to solve the "stuck neck" problem in the fields of aerospace and high-end equipment... A beam of light lights up thousands of beams of light and emits all kinds of heat.
This journey of light is also a process of mutual integration and mutual promotion of technological innovation and industrial innovation. Mianyang once faced the dilemma of "strong technology but weak industry". In recent years, with new R&D institutions as the fulcrum and the construction of pilot platforms as the link, the innovation chain and industrial chain have resonated at the same frequency. As of last year, there were 1,042 high-tech enterprises. The Photon Technology Research Institute is jointly built by Mianyang Youxian District and the Laser Fusion Research Center of the China Academy of Engineering Physics, helping the local area build a full-chain innovation ecosystem.
A person in charge of a scientific research institute put it vividly: "We hope to put more unique skills on the shelves in a market-oriented manner and create a 'Technology Yiwu'." This metaphor highlights the importance of integration, but also hides the difficulty of transformation. From the laboratory to the production line, there are many links in between. How to cross Guanshan? Technology will not walk on its own. What makes it move is, after all, people. Those who tackle the frontiers, those who know the way, those who make bridges, those who protect...
When visiting the Science and Technology City, the instructor who knew the professional technology well was not an expert from the institute, but a local cadre, which was impressive. Only by mastering professional knowledge can leading cadres better deal with scientific research institutions and technology-based enterprises and develop the industrial ecology more efficiently; and only by understanding the market, technology, and industry can they better achieve the organic combination of an effective market and a promising government.
Opening up the blockages of industry, academia and research is inseparable from the "technological matchmaker" who is the go-between. Mianyang cultivates technical managers who meet the needs of the industry and dig deep into the laboratory to achieve a "marriage of science and technology". This year, it has provided services to more than 500 companies. Zhejiang is promoting talent reform. College teachers are appointed as "vice presidents of science and technology" to work in enterprises, and enterprise talents are appointed as "industrial professors" to teach in schools. The "circles of friends" of both parties connect with each other and empower each other. By incubating a group of "explorers" and "translators" who can understand both sides of the conversation and speak both sides, we can better bridge the gaps between various innovation subjects, gather scattered needs, and awaken dormant achievements.
To solve the pain points of innovation and transformation, it is important to have “professional doctors” who can take pulses and inquire. Mianyang hired academicians and experts to conduct an in-depth "physical examination" of the laser industry, delineate time nodes, and draw a development roadmap so that integration has a direction and a starting point. Anhui has built an open automotive ecological laboratory, focusing on common problems faced by enterprises to find the "root causes" and prescribing "prescriptions", and then matching the required technologies to the whole country, targeting "pharmaceuticals" to make the industry healthier and stronger. With people who can see the overall situation clearly and feel the pulse accurately, technology transformation can be targeted and avoid detours.
To activate people's creativity, we must loosen the constraints of pathfinders and provide support for those who dare to venture. Not long ago, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the In-depth Integration of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation", emphasizing "improving innovation incentive and evaluation policies." Mianyang explores school-enterprise employment and school-enterprise dual employment, giving employees ownership or long-term use rights of scientific and technological achievements, so that college talents can gain both fame and fortune and be willing to transform. Guangdong has issued "Due Diligence Exemption" guidelines, clarifying four exemption situations in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, helping scientific researchers to relieve their ideological burden and dare to transform. Giving more incentives to exploration and leaving enough space for innovation will allow more people to embark on new roads and venture into no man's land.
Talent is the first resource. Scientists in the laboratory, "runners" who understand business and provide good services, "brokers" who connect technology, think tanks who take the pulse of the industry, etc. are all indispensable pillars in promoting Chinese-style modernization. By breaking down barriers through reform and smoothing circulation through mechanisms, so that everyone in the innovation chain can stand firm, go far, become a light, and release heat, the future of high-quality development will surely be bright.
