CCTV News:"Foreigners can do it, we can do it in Chinese! I don’t believe that evil! " If you want to be ambitious, just like his name, you should be ambitious and heroic.
In 1982, when Yao Zhihong, who just graduated, entered the 13th Research Institute of China Electric Branch, there were only a dozen people in the small research group and a very simple low-frequency integrated circuit production line. The product is seriously backward and has no market prospect.
However, more than 30 years later, under the leadership of Yao Zhihong, this small research group, which was once on the verge of dissolution, has developed into a microwave/RF integrated circuit research and development production base with an annual output value of more than 1.5 billion yuan. "We must turn scientific research achievements into industries, and let China’s important equipment use domestic components!" This ambition to serve the country rooted in his heart inspired him to stay awake all night and go forward bravely.
Be a "pioneer" in the industry
In 1987, Yao Zhihong was promoted to be the leader of the research group. At that time, few scientific research institutes still in the planned economy had market awareness. Yao Zhihong was one of the first 13 people to run the market. After he took office, he began to investigate and visit the whole country to understand the market demand, ask experts in the industry and understand the first-hand market information.
Opportunities are always given to those who are prepared. In May, 1988, when Zhihong was asked to go to the 29 th Institute of Electronics Department to learn from the scriptures, he met Chief Engineer Hu who had just returned from the United States. He told Yao Zhihong that microwave hybrid integrated circuits are still blank in China.
After reading the product manual that President Hu brought back from abroad, he realized that this was the direction he had been looking for. In order to seize this opportunity quickly, he rushed to Beijing non-stop and went to the National Institute of Electronic Science and Technology Information for technical information on microwave hybrid integrated circuits. "At that time, it was not as convenient to search for information as it is now, and it was necessary to read one by one in a large number of materials. For several days in a row, I checked the information during the day and stayed in the basement at night-I can’t afford a hotel on the ground! Fortunately, I found it. "
In 1989, a new product development order meeting was held in Harbin to localize the components of a radio station, including microwave hybrid integrated circuit products, and the samples were exactly the same as those checked by Yao Zhihong before. With the "accidental" preparation and lower quotation, at this meeting, Yao Zhihong got 11 product development tasks.
"At that time, I really didn’t know anything about microwave circuit technology. What I learned before is low frequency, while microwave is ultra-high frequency. Moreover, no one in my team understands. " Although the tasks and funds were obtained, technical problems followed. Holding 11 samples, Zhihong and his team were asked to tackle scientific research from scratch, day and night, forgetting to eat and sleep. "I work overtime during the day and concentrate on my research. I often think about problems at night and I can’t sleep."
Ask Zhihong (first from left) to see the design scheme.
Because he didn’t know the technology, he and the team took many detours. After the first product was made, it stopped vibrating and didn’t work. They have carried out hundreds of experiments on this question alone. After all 11 products were made, they had to be installed and tested in Tianjin 712 factory, and they went there seven times in the first half of 1991 alone. And his indomitable spirit also touched Yang Enxie, a senior scientist of Tianjin 712 Factory. With the help of Yang Lao, all the products were finally developed successfully.
Rush to the forefront of the industry
After the success of the first battle, Yao Zhihong and his team were out of control. "After the successful development of 11 products, we extended the technology we have mastered to other products and formed a series." With the improvement of technical ability, they began to move towards a higher technical level, and at the same time, they continued to expand their fields, with strong development momentum and prosperous career. Soon, the microwave RF hybrid integrated circuit products of thirteen institutes have been widely used in the market and blossomed on all sides. "By around 1998, we had occupied major domestic markets and completely replaced foreign imported products!" I am very proud to ask Zhihong to mention the past.
Yao Zhihong (second from left) communicates with visiting foreign merchants.
The temporary success didn’t stop him. Over the years, Yao Zhihong has taken some time every day to consult domestic and foreign technical materials, read articles from various technical conferences and browse widely, which makes him always have a very keen insight into the development trend of technology and market. Under his leadership, the microwave RF hybrid integrated circuit technology of the Sixteenth Professional Department has been constantly innovating and growing, leading the development trend of this industry in China.
With the rapid development of science and technology, the equipment of many key projects in China requires smaller size, lighter weight, lower power consumption and more powerful functions. In order to meet this new assembly need and integrate the latest technical ideas at home and abroad, Yao Zhihong proposed "3D packaged RF Microsystems" as an important development strategy of the professional department. In 2014, Yao Zhihong organized a strong R&D team and began to fully research and develop "Microsystems". "At this time, we have rushed to a no-man’s land, and basically we can’t find relevant practical materials. More can only be explored by ourselves."
Because of its originality and foresight, the research and development of "Microsystems" requires extremely high comprehensive capabilities such as technology, technology, materials and designers, and it is extremely difficult to tackle key problems in the project. In this process, wherever there is a problem, you can see the figure of Yao Zhihong. At the end of 2016, Yao Zhihong and others finished all the tests of "3D packaged RF Microsystems" and began to officially launch products to the market. "Our ‘ Microsystems ’ Not only the volume is reduced by 1/10-1/20 compared with the previous products, but also it is more reconfigurable, debugging-free and cost-effective. This immediately caused a great shock in the industry, triggered a strong market response, customers poured in, amazed, and orders continued. At present, we are the first and only one in China to realize ‘ Microsystems ’ Practical and productized manufacturers can be said to have created a new industrial ecological chain! " To zhihong proudly said.
Open up a new world in integration of defense and civilian technologies
In the early morning of October 19th, 2016, the highly anticipated automatic rendezvous and docking between Shenzhou XI spacecraft and Tiangong-2 was successfully implemented. Behind this famous "kiss in space", there is the contribution of Yao Zhihong and his team-they developed the rendezvous and docking radar.
In 2015, Yao Zhihong and his team received the task of developing the rendezvous and docking radar for Shenzhou and Tiangong. At that time, the requirement was to "reduce the volume and weight to 1/3 of the original and reduce the power consumption by half". This task was very difficult, and the research and development cycle was short, the time was tight and the task was heavy. To this end, Yao Zhihong organized a design research team of 16 people. "This radar is a very complicated system. We are all independently developed from chips to modules to systems!" With rich technical accumulation, they completed the development task in only 8 months.
While devoting himself to the development of the military industry market, Yao Zhihong set his sights on the industrial market in integration of defense and civilian technologies. At present, Yao Zhihong has led the research and development of two fist products from integration of defense and civilian technologies, one is the core receiving module of passive terahertz security device, and the other is gallium nitride power amplifier. Both products have taken the lead and reached the top level in the world.
"The core technology must be in our own hands!" Today, Yao Zhihong is the chief scientist and deputy chief engineer of the 13th Research Institute of China Electric Power Department. He is an academic leader in the field of microwave/RF integrated circuit technology in China and enjoys special government allowance from the State Council. He has also won honors such as the National Model Worker and the National May 1st Labor Medal. But no matter what achievements you have made, you should always be full of feelings of home and country in Zhihong’s chest.