After listening to soft music for nearly twenty minutes and drinking a glass of juice, the irritability and confusion have not yet been resolved.

For Hong Kong, especially CUHK, Dean Gao has a special feeling.

This goes back more than two decades when the two children began to realize that they were in the minority among their peers at school. I often ask them why they look different from their classmates with black hair and black eyes, and flat facial features. My wife had the same experience when she was a child, and she was the only Asian in school. So I often discuss with him whether it is my responsibility to let the children know that they are not a minority in the world.

A sudden airmail brings a dramatic turn.

A professor from CUHK wrote to him asking if he would be interested in applying for the newly established Head of the Department of Electronic Engineering. So the family moved to Hong Kong and integrated the children into a society whose members looked like them.

Four years of living in Hong Kong have brought many changes to the whole family.

After more than a decade, he received a letter from CUHK stating that he had been awarded an honorary doctorate of engineering in recognition of his contribution to engineering and the establishment of the Department of Electronics at CUHK.

The Honorary Degree Conferment Ceremony was undoubtedly a pleasant experience, as the other three Honorary Doctorates were received with the highest standard and the University took great care of them during their two-day stay in Hong Kong. Treat him and his wife to a suite at one of the most luxurious hotels in Central District, with stunning views of Victoria Harbour.

At the Congregational Ceremony, a long queue of teaching staff entered the venue. They all wore various styles of academic robes, showing that they were all elites from academic institutions around the world. He was ahead of him by the principal and the school supervisor, who was the eminent governor of Hong Kong.

During his tenure at CUHK, he was a member of the faculty members. But in the meantime, I watched every student come up to the stage to receive their degree. I can't help but feel a little tired. But it was his turn to sit on the stage. Waiting to bow down in front of the school supervisor to receive his degree, I felt completely different, and I deeply felt the honor of the solemn ceremony. In particular, it was a great honour to speak at the ceremony on behalf of the other honorary degree recipients, which is still fresh in my mind.

He was invited by the selection committee as a candidate to apply for the position of president for this year, in the spring of the following year.

At a time when a French company was negotiating the acquisition of ITT's telecommunications business, as the scientific chief executive of its laboratory, he was given a position in another laboratory in the United States. In fact, even if it doesn't stay. He will certainly still have a seat in the new organization after the merger and reorganization.

However, for a person who is engaged in scientific research, there is nothing more attractive than being the president of a university, so he drops his application in the mailbox.

The four-year principal has a lot of feelings.

On reflection now, many things are too idealistic, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they are too naïve and out of touch with reality.

But by nature, it's not so much naïve as it is too serious. I always want all teachers to be proud of their achievements in their respective professional fields, and always want to do their best to create more room for them to develop. To enable them to be more academically advanced and more effective in nurturing students.

Despite all sorts of efforts. However, many things are still unsatisfactory, especially the relationship with the two major institutions of faculty and student union, which has always been a bit antagonistic.

At first, it was not directed at him personally, but he was dissatisfied with the school board's failure to allow staff and students to join the selection committee. But now it has a lot to do with him, and if he didn't accept the title of Hong Kong affairs adviser, which seems to be similar to an honor, he would never have caused so much turmoil.

At this time, if you give up your re-election as the next president, what will others think? Principal Gao didn't want to retreat, but seeing everything in the NB Electric Xiangjiang Experimental Workshop and the call he received the day before yesterday made him hesitate again.

Carbon nanotubes, a new discovery at the Nobel Prize level!

Once it can be applied like optical fiber, it is enough to change the whole world. Not only that, but they also developed wide bandgap semiconductor materials - gallium nitride (GaN) and indium nitride (InGaN). Gao Kun is convinced that with their determination and ability in the application of technology, these two new materials will definitely be able to reflect their due value.

From an academic point of view, NB Lab not only represents the highest level of basic research and technology application in Hong Kong, but is also not inferior to those well-known laboratories in the world.

As the young man said, he has recruited a lot of talents for CUHK in the past four years, so what can he do for CUHK if he continues to work?

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of footsteps behind him, and before he could turn back, his wife sat down beside him and gave him an indistinct smile.

"What do you think?"

Gao Kun took a deep breath, stared into her eyes and said: "My dear, a company invited me to be the chief scientist, leading a laboratory with great development potential and has achieved a lot of results in basic research and technology application, as long as I pick up the phone and say 'OK', then this position belongs to me, they are very sincere, I want to hear your opinion." ”

He was a very happy man, a man with the cutest smile. It was precisely because he was moved by his smile that he made a private agreement with him when he was young despite his mother's strong opposition.

But as soon as I entered the door during this time, my smile disappeared.

The reason is self-evident, a person who has always been cautious has caused so much trouble because he is confused and involved in politics.

Mrs. Gao, who was born and raised in England, didn't want him to be involved in that completely unnecessary and avoidable political whirlpool, so she said softly: "You don't particularly like Shakespeare's famous play "Julix. Caesar's sentence "The ups and downs of the world are like waves, if people can ride the climax and go forward, they will surely achieve fame; If you can't grasp the opportunity, you will be stuck for life and achieve nothing'? Since you think the position of Chief Scientist is more suitable for you, then do not hesitate, I believe in your choice. ”

"Well, I know what to do."

With the support of his wife, Gao Kun finally made up his mind, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote to the University Council: "Over the past few decades, CUHK has undergone numerous changes, and in the process, it has kept pace with the times and developed over time. I am confident that CUHK is well prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges ahead. I believe that a new president will be instilled with new thinking and vision for the further healthy transformation and growth of the university......

It was decided that the term of office would not be renewed at the end of the term on August 31, and the School Board was requested to discuss the selection and handover arrangements for the next president as soon as possible.

Seeing that he put down his pen with relief and carefully folded the letter and stuffed it into the envelope, Mrs. Gao smiled and asked, "My dear, you haven't told me which company it is, in the United Kingdom or in the United States?" ”

"Hong Kong," Gao Kun showed his usual smile again, grabbed her hand and said, "NB Electric is the company that used turbojet engines to help Kuwait extinguish fires." Headquartered in Hong Kong, it has R&D facilities in the Mainland, Germany, the United States and Taiwan. ”

Mrs. Gao was stunned, and then remembered that the major media in Hong Kong had praised NB Electric, which was in the limelight during this time, couldn't help but ask: "What about the salary?" ”

"The annual salary is 6 million Hong Kong dollars, and you can also give priority to subscribe for the original shares of the subsidiary NB Electric."

The salary package is twice that of CUHK, and no one is afraid of more money. Moreover, he is not a rich man, the patent rights of optical fiber belong to the British Telecommunications Standards Laboratory, whether he was the former chief executive of science or the current president of CUHK, including the annual salary and year-end bonus, it does not exceed 400,000 US dollars.

Mrs. Gao was very happy, pointed to the phone and urged: "Tell people about it, and determine the position." ”

"It's too late," Gao Kun looked up at the time, and said excitedly: "Actually, there is no need to fight, tomorrow they have an academic report meeting, and I will be invited to participate." ”

Mrs. Gao was not an ordinary housewife, she worked as a scientific programmer in a computer laboratory when she was young, and it was she who developed the program software that helped her husband solve the problem of selecting the type of dielectric waveguide and helped another colleague, George to determine the characteristics of radiation, and made many contributions to fiber optic research.

Looking at his excited face, he asked curiously, "What kind of report will it be?" ”

"Materials Physics, Nanotechnology."

Gao Kun paused and said with emotion: "It is not only a very remarkable discovery, but also an in-depth study of it. HKU Vice-Chancellor Professor Chen Yun and Dean Wu of the Faculty of Science of HKUST have sent invitations to nearly 100 experts engaged in physics research from more than 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan. Professor Holland will attend. ”

Gao Kun's words are true, experts and professors engaged in physics research at several universities in Hong Kong unanimously believe that the NB laboratory is the "seed" that Hong Kong can win the first Nobel Prize.

With the publication of the paper in the journal Nature, it has also aroused great interest among physicists around the world, and the response is far greater than the "giant magnetoresistive effect" discovered four years ago.

So much so that where to put the academic report has caused a heated debate.

The NB Lab is too small and has been said to be arranged by the Hong Kong academic community. Naturally, Professor Chen Yun did not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and directly proposed to arrange it in the auditorium of the University of Hong Kong, claiming that the cost of the conference and guest accommodation would be borne by the University.

This is an opportunity to promote yourself, and of course a few other universities will not agree. There is no authoritative body for temporary academic conferences, so the decision can only be handed over to the NB laboratory again.

They are all universities that deliver the most outstanding talents to NB Electric, and none of them can be offended.

The charter weighed up, and finally proposed that the university of science and technology, which had been formally established but had not yet opened, should be presiding. After all, compared to the other seven universities with decades or even centuries of history, such as HKU, CUHK and HKBU, HKUST, which is recruiting its first batch of students, needs more support.

As he expected, the seven "big brothers" really couldn't pull their faces to compete with the "little brothers" who were not yet full moon, even though they were born with a golden key and were even called "Rolls-Royce" universities. (To be continued......)