Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Institute of Materials Research at Binghamton University in the State of New York.
In a conference room with good soundproofing system, Professor Stanley was standing with his assistant, Darren Woods, and representatives from various companies in front of a laptop.
The image displayed on the computer was a caged carbon molecule…
“I’m right, this guy is sophisticated! He didn’t publish all of his research in the two theses!”
Professor Stanley looked at the data and images on the computer, and his voice was filled with excitement.
If this was an exam, then what was in front of him would be the exam answers!
Right now, he just had to fill in the “answer steps”…
He was the director of the research institute, and as long as Mobil Chemical could afford the price, he would utilize all the researchers from the research institute to work on his project.
The Binghamton University Materials Research Institute was huge; it could very easily crush the small Sarrot Research Institute just by using scientific research labor alone.
His assistant was shocked as he said, “Unbelievable… Mathematics can calculate the spatial structure of a macromolecule? This is unheard of!”
Using mathematical models to perform computational analysis was nothing new. In fact, more than 80% of the theses produced by the supercomputer “Anton” were like this.
However, even “Anton” couldn’t do a simulation like this.
Professor Stanley looked serious; he was speechless.
He didn’t want to believe it.
But the facts were in his face.
The HCS-1 material had shown its abilities to prevent diffusion of polysulfide compounds into the electrolyte.
Woods stared at the computer screen and asked, “What can we tell from this?”
Woods was an entrepreneur; he only cared about the patents.
ExxonMobil paid a huge price to poach five research assistants from Lu Zhou.
Although a few million USD was nothing for Mobil Chemical, they wanted their money to be put into good use.
Professor Stanley heard Woods and smiled.
“This is a caged carbon molecular model. The HCS-1 material is morphologically similar to it, except that it lacks several key π bonds, large π bonds, and carbon atoms. According to my speculation, the HCS- 1 materials are most likely the by-products from this caged carbon molecule.
“This should be the key to lithium-sulfur batteries!”
This finally made sense.
Previously, Professor Stanley couldn’t understand why in Lu Zhou’s thesis, he added expensive fullerene materials and carbon nanotubes to the reactor. Now he knew. It was because the HCS-1 material was screened from a pile of “useless” carbon garbage.
Stanley couldn’t help but smirk.
Who would have thought that the HCS-1 material proposed in that thesis was merely a by-product of the experimental waste. No wonder Lu Zhou published the in-progress results with such confidence and didn’t care about our research progress.
If it wasn’t for this data and carbon molecular model, just basing off the two theses in Science, we would have never figured out what they were researching.
Professor Stanley didn’t hesitate. He looked at his assistant and said, “We are already behind them, thankfully not by much.
“Inform the research groups and immediately adjust the research direction. From now on, focus on the technical problem of caged carbon molecules and produce a physical and chemical properties analysis!
“Also, hire 20 research interns! We have to complete this project first!
“Hurry!”
The assistant immediately nodded and said, “Understood”. He then left the conference room.
Looking at how enthusiastic Professor Stanley was, Woods couldn’t help but smile.
“Mobil Chemical will support your research, I wish you guys success!”
Professor Stanley shook Woods’ hand and smiled.
“Thank you! It’s a pleasure working with you!”
…
Professor Stanley was strategic.
Through this limited data, he had already extracted 70% of Lu Zhou’s research.
However, there was something that he missed out on.
The Sarrot Research Institute wasn’t researching lithium-sulfur batteries. In fact, they were researching something completely different…
After the meeting ended, Woods came out of the conference room with his secretary.
Suddenly, a man sitting on the sofa outside the conference room stood up and walked toward him.
This man was Ricardo, the one that made Sarrot furious.
However, he didn’t look as happy as when he first received the salary increment.
Because just now, he received a subpoena from the court.
Star Sky Technology, the parent company of Sarrot Research Institute, was preparing to sue him for the non-compete agreement and confidentiality contract he signed.
Not only that, but compared to his four colleagues that also jumped ship, he had another case waiting for him.
That was corporate espionage.
This was a lot worse than the other civil cases.
Although the federal labor laws tried to protect the rights of workers, if the company case was convincing enough, not only would he have to face high fines, but he could even go to prison.
Because of this, Ricardo was extremely afraid.
He walked up to Woods and asked, “You said that you will help me fight the lawsuit, right?”
“No worries, Mr. Ricardo, we will help you resolve the lawsuits. Your data was of great use to us.”
Woods had a bright smile on his face.
Ricardo being sued was the second-best news he heard today.
This meant that his opponent was pissed off, and Ricardo’s data was valuable.
It was only a lawsuit— a piece of cake for ExxonMobil…
