louisehourcade Chapter 201 Did he agree?
Chapter 201 Did he agree?
March 21st, 10:00 AM.
In the conference room of the Micro-Nano Manufacturing Research Center of East China University of Science and Technology, four people sat around an oval conference table covered with printing materials.
Su Chen, Zhou Zhiyuan, Dean Chen Qiming, and Lin Wei.
On the table lay three peer review comments forwarded by the NM editor—each four to six pages long, densely packed with English text, with Su Chen highlighting the edges in three different colors of highlighter. Yellow represented "as expected," blue represented "data needs to be added," and pink represented "the argument framework needs to be revised."
A quick glance at the color distribution reveals that yellow accounts for more than 70%.
"Let's get to the conclusion first," Zhou Zhiyuan began. He was wearing a gray cardigan today, unusually not in his lab coat, as if he had changed his clothes specifically for this meeting. "I read all three reviewers' comments twice last night. The core concerns focus on three areas."
He held up three fingers.
"First, Reviewer 1 felt our experimental methodology was not described in sufficient detail, particularly regarding the VL-400E series test procedures, which lacked adequate reproducibility information. Second, Reviewer 2 requested a more in-depth theoretical explanation of the S-shaped inflection point, hoping we would provide an analytical expression for the inflection point, rather than just numerical fitting. Third—"
He glanced at Su Chen.
"Reviewer 3 has the sharpest opinion. The original words are: 'The model demonstrates impressive predictive accuracy within the authors' own experimental framework, but the claim of universality requires validation on independent platforms with fundamentally different fabrication processes.'"
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
Dean Chen Qiming leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression as calm as if he were listening to a weather forecast. In fact, none of the four people present appeared nervous. They had all anticipated these questions.
"Reviewer 3's opinion—" Lin Wei finally spoke. Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the conference room heard her clearly, "It's almost exactly the same question that Kosuke Yamamoto asked at IEEE MEMS."
"Yes," Zhou Zhiyuan nodded, "'Independent platform verification' is the biggest weakness of the entire paper. It's also the core issue that our revision must address."
Su Chen remained silent. He sat at the far end of the table by the window, three review comments spread out in front of him, and a notebook to his right, turned to a certain page. The handwriting in the notebook was so neat it was almost rigid, each line marked with a ruler, like annotations on engineering drawings.
"Regarding independent platform verification—" Su Chen finally raised his head. His voice was calm, but his eyes held a light Zhou Zhiyuan was very familiar with—the certainty of someone solving a difficult problem. "We have it now."
He opened his notebook, revealing a hand-drawn table.
The table is titled "Revision Supplementary Data Matrix".
Three rows and three columns.
First line: Vilan's own experimental line - VL-400E edge verification - 15 sets of data.
Second line: Zhenxin Microelectronics Commercial Integration - Inertial Navigation Module - 12 Samples/12 Rounds of Testing.
Third line: Akira Ishikawa Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology – MEMS Gyroscope – 16 sets of independent data.
"Three completely independent platforms. Three entirely different manufacturing processes. A complete verification chain from the lab to commercial mass production to independent third-party labs." Su Chen's finger traced three lines on the table. "Reviewer 3 requires 'independent platforms with fundamentally different fabrication processes'—we not only have them, we have three."
Zhou Zhiyuan leaned back in his chair, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He recalled a question he had asked Su Chen three months ago when Su Chen submitted the first draft of the paper: "What if the reviewers request additional independent verification data?"
Su Chen's answer at the time was, "Let's set up the framework for the revision first. The data will come."
Three months later, the data finally arrived. It wasn't something they sought out; they found it themselves—Akira Ishikawa read the preprint on arXiv, calculated his own gyroscope data using a third-order model out of academic curiosity, and then proactively shared his results at the IEEE MEMS session.
This is one of the best times in academia—when your theory is good enough, validation data will come knocking on your door.
"Does Akira Ishikawa need formal authorization?" Dean Chen Qiming asked a practical question.
"I sent him an email yesterday," Su Chen said, "asking if he agrees to have his independent verification data cited in the revision and to list him as one of the corresponding authors."
"He agreed?"
"No reply yet. But based on his proactive approach to sharing data on IEEE MEMS, I judge that he will agree."
Zhou Zhiyuan frowned slightly. "What if he disagrees?"
"Then we'll just use the data from Zhenxin." Su Chen's tone remained unchanged. "While Zhenxin's commercial integration data isn't entirely independent third-party data, twelve samples, twelve rounds of testing, and no optimization on the standard production line—this amount of data and its consistency are sufficient to address most of Reviewer 3's concerns. Ishikawa Akira's data is a bonus, not a necessary condition."
Lin Wei nodded. "Chairman Chen Jun has already confirmed the data licensing agreement with Zhenxin. It's clearly stated in the contract; there are no problems."
"Okay." Zhou Zhiyuan slammed his hand on the table—not out of anger, but with a resolute "it's settled then" attitude. "Let's divide the work."
He took out a pen and drew three boxes on the whiteboard.
"The revision is divided into three parts. The first part, supplementing the experimental methods—Su Chen is in charge. This involves writing a complete, reproducible test procedure for the VL-400E, including equipment parameters, environmental conditions, sampling frequency, and data processing methods. You already have the skeleton of this part in your previous framework; now you just need to fill in the final data."
Su Chen nodded.
"Part Two, the theoretical extension of the S-shaped transition—I'll be in charge. I've already derived a preliminary version of the analytical expression required by Reviewer 2, and now it needs final verification and proofreading. Dean Chen, please review the mathematical part."
Dean Chen Qiming nodded.
"Part Three: Enhanced Statistical Analysis and Integration of Independently Validated Data—Su Chen and Lin Wei worked together. They created standardized statistical analysis charts from Zhenxin's and Ishikawa Akira's data (if he agreed), calculated confidence intervals, and performed significance tests."
"What about the timetable?" Lin Wei asked.
Zhou Zhiyuan glanced at the whiteboard. "NM's revision deadline is sixty days after receiving the comments, which is May 19th. But I hope we can submit it before mid-April—the earlier the better. Early submission means entering the second round of review sooner."
"Mid-April?" Su Chen calculated for a moment. "Three and a half weeks. That's enough."
"Enough?" Lin Wei looked at him, her eyebrows slightly raised.
"I started building the framework for Revision back in January." Su Chen's expression was calm, almost indifferent, as he said this, but everyone present understood the meaning behind his words—
While the paper was still under review, and when no one knew what the outcome would be, Su Chen was already preparing for the most likely Major Revision.
He prepared for more than two months.
He had considered every possible point of contention, every piece of data that might need to be supplemented, and every angle of argument that might need to be revised—and had already laid out the framework. Now all that was left was to fill in the final data.
This is neither luck nor talent. It is an almost obsessive ability to plan and predict.
Dean Chen Qiming looked at Su Chen, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.
In his more than two decades of academic career, he has seen countless bright students. But students like Su Chen, who, instead of anxiously waiting, actively build a framework to cope with uncertainty, are few and far between.
"Let's begin then." Zhou Zhiyuan put down his pen. "Su Chen, when will the first draft of the first part be ready?"
"the day after tomorrow."
"Okay. The first revision meeting will be at 2 PM the day after tomorrow."
……
March 23rd.
Su Chen received an email from Tokyo.
From: Akira Ishikawa.
Subject: Re: Request for data citation and co-authorship
The email was very short, containing only three paragraphs.
The first paragraph is a polite thank you—thanking Su Chen's team for their pioneering work on the third-order model and for their excellent presentation at the IEEE MEMS session.
The second paragraph is the main text—Akira Ishikawa agreed to include his sixteen sets of independently validated data in the revision and to be listed as a co-author of the paper. However, he stipulated one condition: he wanted the paper to clearly state that his data were obtained under experimental conditions completely independent of Vilan's, and that he himself had not received any form of funding or technical support from Vilan.
The third paragraph left Su Chen silent for a long time.
"I should mention that after the IEEE MEMS session, I have been approached by several groups who are interested in replicating the third-order model calculations using their own data. Professor Vogt has suggested organizing a follow-up workshop at the next MEMS conference to present these replication results. I believe this kind of community-driven validation will further strengthen the model's credibility."
Su Chen read this passage three times.
Community-driven validation.
Several research groups are reproducing the calculations of the third-order model using their own data. Vogt is organizing follow-up workshops to showcase these reproductions.
What does this mean?
This means that the third-order model is no longer just "the theory of Su Chen's team". It is becoming public knowledge that is being actively verified, used, and promoted by the entire MEMS academic community.
From "a team's paper" to "a consensus in a field"—this shift is happening at an accelerated pace.
Su Chen forwarded the email to Zhou Zhiyuan and Lin Wei, adding a brief comment:
"Ishikawa Akira agrees. Furthermore, several research groups have begun to reproduce the results. Vogt is organizing follow-up workshops."
Two minutes later, Zhou Zhiyuan replied with a single word: "Okay."
Five minutes later, Lin Wei replied with a longer message: "This is beneficial for NM reviewers. If reviewers know that the academic community has already actively reproduced the paper, they will have fewer reasons to reject it."
Su Chen did not reply. He closed his email and opened the first draft of the revision.
Supplementary experimental methods. VL-400E series test procedure.
His fingers landed on the keyboard, and he began to type. The speed was not fast, but the rhythm was steady, like a precisely calibrated instrument.
Sunlight streamed in from the east through the window. In late March, the temperature in Beijing had finally climbed above ten degrees Celsius. The magnolias on campus were in bloom, their white petals trembling slightly in the breeze.
But Su Chen didn't look out the window. His world now consisted only of the text, tables, and data on the screen.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
……
March 25th.
Munich, headquarters of Bosch's Sensors division.
Tuesday, 10:00 AM.
In the large conference room on the seventh floor, eleven people sat on either side of a long mahogany table. Albrecht sat at the head of the table, with Stein to his right. To his left was Wolfgang Hartmann, head of the strategy department, and further on were the representative from the legal department and Fritz Meyer, head of the Asia-Pacific region.
A twelve-page assessment document lay before Stein—three times larger than last week's four-page report. The cover bore a bolded title: "Vilan Three-Stage Model Technology Assessment and Cooperation Feasibility Analysis (Confidential)".
"Let's begin," Albrecht said.
Stein stood up and walked to the projection screen. The first slide contained only one number:
±0.021°/h
"This figure is the result of integration testing of Vilan sensors by Zhenxin Microelectronics, a customer in Vilan's supply chain. It's a standard 300mm production line, with no optimization or screening," said Stein, his voice devoid of any emotion.
He turned to the second slide. A comparison table.
The left column shows the publicly stated value for Bosch's BMA456 series – ±0.038°/h. The right column shows the measured average value for Vilan – ±0.021°/h. The middle column shows the difference – 45%.
"This difference doesn't come from a lab comparison," Stein emphasized, "it's a comparison between mass production lines. And Vilan's production line hasn't undergone any process optimization."
The meeting room was quiet. Hartman from the Strategy Department was quickly jotting something down in his notebook. The representative from the Legal Department remained expressionless. Mayer from the Asia Pacific region had a slight frown.
Stein turned to the third slide—a timeline comparison.
"上面是博世的400mm路线图。2022年完成技术验证，2023年试产，2024年Q4初步量产。投资一点八亿欧元。"
He pointed to the line below.
"下面是薇澜的实际进度。2020年12月提交NM论文。2021年2月完成首批15万颗商业交付。2021年3月获得三重独立验证。从理论提出到商业化——不到四个月。投资总额——"
He paused for a moment.
"Based on publicly available information, it is estimated that Vilan's total historical investment is between four and five million euros."
Finally, there was sound in the conference room. Mayer, representing the Asia Pacific region, took a soft breath.
"Four million euros?" Hartmann looked up to confirm the figure.
"That's right," Stein said. "It's one-fortieth of our total investment of eight hundred million euros."
"But their production capacity—" Meyer interjected.
"Very small," Stein nodded. "The initial batch is 150,000 units, with a monthly production capacity estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000 units. It's completely on a different scale than ours. But the problem isn't production capacity."
He turned to the next page.
"The problem lies in the theory."
The slides show the core comparative data of the third-order model—Vilan's own data, Zhenxin's commercial data, and Ishikawa Akira's independent data. The prediction deviation of all three sets of data is less than 2%.
"If the third-order model is officially published by NM—and this is no longer an 'if,' a Major Revision means the paper is highly likely to be accepted—then the entire MEMS industry's thermoelastic coupling modeling methods will face an upgrade. Our existing second-order model is sufficient for the 300mm scale, but has been proven insufficiently accurate at 400mm. And the 400mm production line we just invested 180 million euros to upgrade is precisely that."
Stein put down the laser pointer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, frankly speaking—we are not facing the threat of a competitor, but a shift in technological paradigms. The third-order model is not just Vilan's competitive advantage; it is becoming the new standard for the entire industry. If we do not have a place in this standard, our €180 million investment will be at risk of inefficiency."
Albrecht remained silent. His fingers tapped lightly on the table—a habitual gesture when he was thinking—but this time the tapping was much faster than usual.
"Your suggestion?" he finally asked.
Stein turned to the last page. Three items were listed there.
"First, immediately assemble a dedicated team to replicate the applicability of the third-order model on Bosch's existing production lines. This is expected to take six to eight weeks. Funding will be allocated from the 400mm R&D budget."
Second, we will establish initial contact with Vilan through academic channels. After the paper is formally published, we will propose a framework for technical cooperation for discussion. The timeframe is the third quarter of this year.
third--"
He glanced at the representative from the Ministry of Justice.
"Have the legal department assess potential intellectual property cooperation models. If the third-order model becomes the industry standard modeling tool in the future, we need to ensure that Bosch's 400mm production line can legally use this theoretical framework."
The meeting room remained quiet for a long time.
Finally, Hartmann broke the silence. This veteran, who had worked in Bosch's strategy department for twenty years, spoke in an extremely cautious tone:
"Stein, the scenario you described—if true—means that for the first time, Bosch's technological leadership in MEMS thermoelastic coupling modeling is facing the possibility of being overtaken by a Chinese startup."
"It's not a 'possibility'," Stein corrected him. "In terms of theoretical precision, they've already surpassed it."
Another silence.
Albrecht stood up.
"All three of Stein's recommendations have been approved. The special task force will begin operations next Monday. Regarding academic channels—Meyer, you're in charge of initial contacts in the Asia-Pacific region, but be careful not to give the impression that we're eager for cooperation. Legal Department—"
He glanced at the legal representative.
"Start conducting an intellectual property rights assessment. The contingency plan should include three scenarios: full licensing, cross-licensing, and joint development."
"clear."
After the meeting, Stein walked out of the conference room and stood in the corridor for a while.
The sky outside the window was overcast and low-lying over Munich at the end of March.
He recalled the question he had asked Lin Wei two weeks earlier at the IEEE MEMS session: "Is this data the optimal value for a single sensor, or the statistical average of a batch?"
"Calculate the mean."
From that moment on, those two words officially changed the strategic direction of Bosch's sensor business unit.
……
the same day.
Shanghai, Vilan Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
Lin Wei received a call from the person in charge of Hongyuan Equipment in her office.
"Mr. Lin, I've adjusted the production schedule for April. If we postpone some regular orders by a week, we can prioritize the additional orders for oscillator cores. Delivery before April 15th is no problem."
"Okay, let's arrange them like this."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Wei opened the production capacity allocation table on her computer.
The additional 100,000 oscillators will be delivered in mid-April.
Regular orders from other core clients – scheduled normally.
Non-core customers – postponed for one to two weeks.
The self-built packaging line will be put into production in May, at which time the bottleneck will be alleviated.
Everything was under control. But Lin Wei knew that this "barely enough" situation wouldn't last long. If orders surged again after the paper was officially published, the existing production capacity would truly be stretched thin.
She added a note at the very bottom of the capacity allocation table:
"Q3 capacity planning: assess the feasibility of purchasing a third piece of equipment."
Then I closed the file and opened another document.
The title is: "Licensing Scheme for Industrial Applications of Third-Order Models (Draft)".
This is something she's been thinking about for the past week. The academic value of the third-order model is beyond doubt, but its industrial application value—especially its guiding value for the design of 400mm production lines—is the real goldmine.
The question is: Should Vilan keep this gold mine hidden or open it up?
The advantage of keeping it hidden is maintaining a unique technological advantage. But the disadvantages are also obvious—a standard excluded from the industry is not a standard, but merely a barrier. And barriers will eventually be bypassed.
The advantage of openness is that it allows the third-order model to become the industry standard—whoever defines the standard has the greatest say. Moreover, licensing fees themselves are a considerable source of revenue.
Lin Wei typed a few lines in the document:
"Principle: Conditional opening."
Core alliance members: Priority authorization, discounted fees
Non-core members of the alliance: Standard authorization
Non-alliance companies (including Bosch, STMicroelectronics, etc.): require separate negotiation.
Time window: Starts after the paper is formally published
Prerequisite: Su Chen and Zhou Zhiyuan agree.
She emphasized the last one.
The third-order model is the culmination of Su Chen's wisdom. No matter how Lin Wei plans from a business perspective, the final decision rests with Su Chen. This is not only a matter of morality but also a legal one—the intellectual property agreement between Wei Lan and Su Chen clearly stipulates this.
She saved the file.
There's no rush. Let's talk about it after the paper is published.
The most important thing now is—revision.
……
March 30th.
Su Chen completed the final draft of the first part of the revision.
The supplementary experimental methods, totaling 7,000 words, include a complete description of the VL-400E testing procedure, a list of equipment parameters, environmental condition records, data processing methods, and error analysis. Each step is detailed enough that another laboratory can completely replicate the process.
After reviewing the document, Zhou Zhiyuan only made two changes—one was replacing "approximately" with an exact value, and the other was adding a discussion about systematic bias in the error analysis section.
"Very good." Zhou Zhiyuan sent two words on WeChat.
For Zhou Zhiyuan, "very good" is already a very high compliment.
On the same day, Zhou Zhiyuan completed the derivation of the analytical expression for the S-shaped transition in the second part. Dean Chen Qiming spent two days verifying the correctness of the mathematical derivation line by line, and wrote a line on the last page: "Elegant. No errors found."
The third part—statistical analysis and integration of independent validation data—progressed the fastest. Zhenxin's data was already in hand, and Shi Chuanming's data had also been officially received in electronic format. Su Chen completed all the statistical analysis in three days, including confidence interval calculation, significance testing, and cross-validation charts for the three sets of independent data.
On April 2nd, the first draft of the revision was completed.
A total of twenty-three pages of content have been added, including nineteen new charts, three new tables, and two new appendices.
Su Chen sent the first draft to all co-authors—Zhou Zhiyuan, Chen Qiming, Lin Wei, Zhang Li—as well as the newly joined Ishikawa Akira. He included a brief note:
"Revision draft complete. Please review by April 5. Target submission: April 8."
April 8th.
There are forty-one days left until the NM deadline. Less than two weeks until they begin preparing the revision.
While others were still speculating whether NM would accept the paper, Su Chen was already counting down to the results of the second round of peer review.
He shut down his computer and walked out of the lab. The Beijing night sky was clear in early April, and a few stars could be seen.
Su Chen stood on the steps in front of the building and took a deep breath. The air was filled with the earthy scent unique to spring, mixed with the aroma of food wafting from the distant cafeteria.
He came up with a figure—if the revision was submitted on April 8th, the second round of review usually takes four to six weeks, so in the fastest-case scenario, there would be a result by mid-May. If accepted smoothly, it would be officially published in June.
June.
By then, the Q2 deadline for TianShu chip solution three would also have arrived. He Zhiqiang would need to make a final decision.
The publication of the paper, the TianShu chip, the second paper, and the production of the self-built packaging line—all the clues point to the same time window.
June will be the turning point for everything.
Su Chen returned to his dorm, took a shower, and lay down on his bed. He didn't look at his phone or think about his thesis; he just stared quietly at the ceiling.
He fell asleep three minutes later.
This was the fastest he had slept in two months.