Deep in the Yellow Sea, millions of large yellow croaker grow freely.
Different from the real wild environment, their new home is a 100,000-ton "Guoxin 1", the first in the world. The "happiness of knowing fish" in the intelligent age is no longer a philosophical problem that can only be discussed. Its 17 breeding cabins use various new technologies to simulate the natural environment in which fish swim, and solve many defects of offshore fence culture. It is reported that "Guoxin No.1" produces 3,700 tons of fish a year, which is comparable to Chagan Lake. This is a major ocean project led by Ling Wen, an academician of China Academy of Engineering, during his tenure as vice governor of Shandong Province.
Ling WenAcademician of China Academy of Engineering, Chairman of Shandong Science and Technology Association, and expert in system engineering and energy engineering management. He used to be the deputy governor of Shandong Provincial People’s Government, the chairman of China Shenhua Energy Co., Ltd., the general manager, director and deputy secretary of the party group of National Energy Group.
In April this year, at the 14th China Industry-University-Research Cooperation and Innovation Conference, Ling Wen was awarded the "China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Outstanding Contribution Award". Ling Wen was born in mathematics, from the head of the credit department of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the general manager of the National Energy Group in his early years to the vice governor and chairman of the Provincial Association for Science and Technology. For many years, he has devoted himself to solving large-scale engineering management problems by using system science theory, and is a strategic management expert in the fields of system engineering and energy engineering. It is hard to imagine that many cross-border projects, such as the film Love at Zero Latitude, the large-scale symphony concert Yellow River into the Sea, the original Peking Opera Oriental Dagang, and the Yantai Net Red Punch Site Genghai No.1, all came from Ling Wen. In him, there is not only a rational romance, but also a profound thinking of dialectical understanding and transformation of things. This kind of cross-border has the meaning of "never changing from its ancestors".And this "Sect" is both a method and an aim, that is, to promote social development with extensive engineering thinking and ability. It is about scientific spirit, and it is more about personalized creation.。
The improvement of efficiency brings about the improvement of thinking.
At present, science education is endowed with a deep responsibility to transform the world, which is of great enlightenment significance to people’s growth and success. When talking about science education, Ling Wen first pointed out the overall crisis faced by education, saying that "our education is far from matching the national strength". While education is highly valued by the whole society, it has become the value trend of current education to cultivate students’ all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique, beauty and labor, but our evaluation criteria have not been fundamentally changed. "This standard ignores the individuality of people." Ling Wen said.
With the development of society, the labor efficiency is constantly improving. What should the improvement of efficiency bring to education? "It’s personalized. Human beings need to have a certain knowledge reserve, but I think that general education is only a foundation, and its proportion in personal growth should be small. A greater proportion should be reserved for customized education that teaches students in accordance with their aptitude, that is, let every child give full play to his strengths. "In Ling Wen’s view, education is not only about teaching knowledge, but its key influence is to let children find the direction of interest.。
In the past 20 years, China’s science education has been in full swing, and Ling Wen has been promoting science education for many years. In his view, the existing problems are obvious. He pointed out: "The teaching materials, syllabus and curriculum plan of science education have not kept pace with the times. The content of popular science books is still in the form of decades ago, and it is difficult for children to imagine words or pictures. Knowledge such as permutation and combination, spatial analytic geometry, etc. is very difficult for children with weak abstract thinking, but a little more complicated, many children can’t understand it. Now there are actually good scientific and technological means and tools to solve this problem. "
The expressive power of science is rich.Science education needs innovation. What’s new? Ling Wen believes that not only the questions, answers and ideas are new, but more importantly, the forms of expression are also new.. The current technology can completely comb the subject content from beginning to end, and use artificial intelligence to make it into a visual and standardized language. "It may be easy for students to understand revolution and rotation alone, but the revolution and rotation of all kinds of planets and stars in the universe is a relative concept in the solar system and it is not easy to understand together. Now, as long as we put on VR and AR glasses and digitally simulate the operation of the universe, children can understand it instantly. " Ling Wen said that sometimes the form is like a window paper. When the window paper is punctured, the students will be suddenly enlightened.
"I study mathematics. In the past, we proved a theorem, and it took two or three weeks to deduce and prove it on the blackboard. Now it’s very simple. Just use the computer to calculate which letter or coefficient is wrong. Changing one place will automatically generate the result. When we were at school, one of the skills of math teachers was that they could turn their backs on 50 children and draw a standard circle with chalk, but this skill was easily eliminated. " Ling Wen felt that education is the most hopeful field for all mankind. At present, science education should give full play to the advantages of the whole country, enrich popular science forms, and let scientists, artificial intelligence experts and science fiction writers plan digital creative teaching together, so as to improve learning efficiency and give children more time to ask questions and spread their thoughts.
In Ling Wen’s view, the essence of science education is to let children do what they like happily according to their talents. As a teenager, Ling Wen grew up assembling small radios, small semiconductors and small airplane models. "At that time, we often went to the surrounding May 7th factory for internships. When we found that the motor we made could really generate electricity, this excitement was very encouraging," he said.Cultivating hands-on ability from an early age is of great significance for cultivating scientific sentiment and solving major engineering problems in the future. Therefore, for science education, science, technology and engineering need to be popularized.。
During his tenure as vice governor in charge of science and technology, Ling Wen paid close attention to science education. He asked all departmental leading cadres of the Provincial Science and Technology Department, the Provincial Academy of Sciences, the Provincial Academy of Social Sciences and the Provincial Association for Science and Technology to give lectures on popular science in primary and secondary schools every year. A few years ago, the scientific quality level of citizens in Shandong Province did not reach the national average. With the joint development with the national education field, it has been greatly improved by the end of 2022. In his eyes, academicians should go among primary and secondary school students. "No matter how high your scientific achievements are, it is very worthwhile for academicians to give lectures to children, and I can feel happiness from them. Because it is a matter of infinite merit to really plant a seed of the future in children’s hearts, let them learn and love science from primary schools, and finally be able to talk about and use science. "
In September this year’s popular science week, Ling Wen told children about magnetic levitation and the spirit of scientists in the Shandong Science and Technology Hall. When it comes to the story that Guo Yonghuai and his guards, the meritorious service of "two bombs and one satellite", were unfortunately burnt because they tried their best to protect confidential documents when the plane crashed, the children cried. "The spirit of scientists is very important for science education, so we must combine patriotism with the ideal of future life." What moved him was that after the lecture, the children wrote letters and painted pictures of their own feelings and experiences to him, and more than 100 copies were full of sincerity.
Engineering thinking gives birth to new machines in crisis.
It has been more than one hundred years since "Mr. De" and "Mr. Sai" were put forward. Serving the country scientifically is great and passionate. As a system engineering expert with strategic thinking, Ling Wen has been thinking dialectically and calmly about it.
"The purpose of scientific research is to discover laws, and technology is to find tricks with scientific theories. Only when engineers apply scientific discoveries and technical tricks to production and large-scale activities to transform the world can the objective world be truly changed." He believes that scientific discoveries are of course important, even beautiful, but our aim is to form productive forces and then change the world.In the fierce international competition, we should go ahead and balance the relationship between science, technology and engineering, that is, we should handle the relationship between basic research, applied research and large-scale engineering application.。
In early 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic suddenly broke out. Resources are scarce everywhere, and what is lacking most is protective clothing. Ling Wenzheng, then vice governor of Shandong Province, was in charge of resuming work and production, which was a close call and the situation was urgent. "Our task is to hand over 850 pieces of protective clothing to the central government every day, but the province can only produce 650 pieces every day. There is a lack of workers and materials. " In order to isolate the virus, the most important process of protective clothing is to use a laminating machine to seal the adhesive, so as to enhance the isolation performance of protective clothing, and finally through the ethylene oxide cabinet disinfection, in order to really produce.
Under great pressure, Ling Wen went to Zaozhuang Kangli Medical Device Technology Co., Ltd. for investigation, found a workshop director with the most experience in layering machine operation, and asked her how long it would take to train a skilled layering machine worker. The director said, ten years. Hearing this answer, Ling Wen was startled at first, and then he asked the director to demonstrate it again, and then he got on the computer in person, and finished the layering link with his hands, eyes and feet. "Am I qualified?" Ling Wen asked. After reading it, the director said, "The eye of the needle is pressed, and it is barely qualified, but the stitch is crooked."
Ling Wen said that this is his first time to use the layering machine. Whether it is beautiful or not is not his purpose. His purpose is to judge how long it will take to train a qualified layering machine worker and how to achieve the production index of protective clothing. "In this way, it will be simple. There are more than 140 vocational schools in Shandong Province. We have found about 3,000 vocational high school students with strong hands-on ability to immediately train and take up their posts. The problems of workers will be solved immediately and the production capacity will come up at once."
The length of the batten required for a protective suit is 11.6 meters. In the face of the shortage of layering, Ling Wensi examines how to reduce its use length. Through observation, it was found that the practical performance of the seams of protective clothing such as "pinching waist" and "dovetail" was not high, so Ling Wen immediately decided to reform the cutting technology and try to make the most protective clothing with the least layering. In practice, the service length of a protective clothing batten has been reduced from 11.6 meters to 6.3 meters. At the critical moment, a new technology was born.
There is an important process before the protective clothing is delivered to the doctor, that is, sterilization with ethylene oxide cabinet. At that time, the ethylene oxide disinfection cabinets produced by the national protective clothing enterprises were "pitiful". "To sterilize, must we use the ethylene oxide cabinet produced by protective clothing enterprises?" Ling Wen used his quick wits to set aside the established conditions and decided to look for ethylene oxide cabinet manufacturers in other fields. "Because of this opportunity, we caught two’ big fish’, Weigao Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. and Dishang Group Co., Ltd. located in Weihai."
Make something out of nothing. Less than a week later, a new factory was born in the suburbs of Weihai. Integrating the sterilization cabinets of Weigao Group and the capabilities of textile women workers of Dishang Group, this new factory can produce 65,000 pieces of protective clothing in one day. Ling Wen said that telling stories about the birth of new machines in this series of crises is to emphasize the importance of scientific literacy and engineering ability for people to solve problems, and education needs to focus on cultivating students’ thinking ability in this respect. "Only when we have established a certain logical thinking, will we take the initiative to ponder the whole story and exert our creativity."Of course, it is not arbitrary to transform and create things. We should put engineering problems into the interaction and function of several elements of the whole system to understand and form an open and stable structure. This engineering thinking is the basis for solving complex problems.. When asked what are the core elements of engineering thinking, Ling Wen emphasized that solving engineering problems means following goal orientation, result orientation and problem orientation.
On the basis of respecting the law, it is widely crossed and integrated.
No matter the growth of individuals or the progress of mankind as a whole, problems and hopes appear alternately. Scientific literacy and engineering thinking can help us mobilize resources, give full play to our imagination and create a better future.. To reach this bright future, Ling Wen said, children must be encouraged to do what they like and are good at. This is the law of education, and what is more important above this law is extensive intersection and integration.
Recalling college days, Ling Wen was deeply happy. At that time, he could not only concentrate on studying professional knowledge, but also extensively and freely study art courses such as western music history and western art history. Every week, he would go to a symphony concert with three or five friends. Some time ago, he once suggested to Liao Changyong, a baritone singer and president of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, that he wanted to offer two courses, one for engineering students and the other for art students, so that they could understand and integrate with each other.
The transformative power brought by cross-border thinking is enormous. In recent years, Ling Wen has participated in many projects, such as building photovoltaic integration, magnetic levitation power equipment, marine pasture, clean and low-carbon coal projects and so on. "Our other team is currently promoting the research and development of BIPV buildings. In order to make a building generate electricity, photovoltaic panels can be hung on the facade of the building. This project is very simple, but its premise is that there must be a building, which is called BAPV, and BA is BuildingAttached, an annex building. Let’s further develop our imagination and turn A into I, that is, Integration and fusion. If the photovoltaic building is integrated, the photovoltaic panel itself is the building material of the facade, which can be wind-proof, waterproof, dustproof, earthquake-resistant and thermal insulation. Why not? " Ling Wen said that this technology is quite subversive, because building integration alone accounts for about 50% of the country’s carbon emissions. It is estimated that a BIPV building can basically reduce energy consumption by 30%.
"All construction machinery products, in order to reduce the wear and tear of parts caused by friction, usually choose to use special bearings or add oil to bearings. The magnetic levitation power equipment we are developing can not only ensure no contact friction, less energy loss, but also realize high-speed rotation of machinery. " High speed means high efficiency. Ling Wen emphasized that to promote the emergence of these subversive technologies, we should not only master the knowledge of science, technology and engineering, but also respect the law of development of things.
China is rich in marine resources and has broad prospects. In recent years, in order to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the fishery industry, Shandong has taken promoting the construction of marine pastures as a powerful starting point for developing the marine economy and building a strong marine province. At present, there are 44 national marine pastures in the province, accounting for 40% of the country. Ling Wen said that there are great defects in the traditional way of raising fish. Piling, casting nets and throwing seedlings in the offshore area are people-centered and cultured according to people’s ideas. He laughed and said, "Have we ever thought about how fish feel? Fish have their own growth laws. Migratory birds fly thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers, and so do fish. " In order to promote the development of fishery in the digital age, Ling Wen presided over the research and development of the "Guoxin No.1" aquaculture ship project. The fish tank carried by this project uses deep-sea water sources to change water 18 times a day, and the salinity, temperature, pressure, electrolyte and other indicators in the tank are consistent with the deep-sea environment. In such a space, the growth density of fish can be ten times higher than that of the outside world.
Ling Wen said that engineering problems are not one aspect or a local problem, but we should consciously and fully recognize the complexity of things, so as to identify the essence of things and the harmonious relationship with the surrounding world, and solve them according to the law on the basis of understanding nature, society and human thinking. In this process, it already includes scientific discovery, technical know-how and engineering realization. “In people’s traditional ideas, scientists’ status’ is the highest. But if I can define it, I would rather call the practitioners in these three fields scientists, technologists and engineers, who are equally important.. The integration of science, technology and engineering is the prerequisite for human beings to liberate productive forces, implement high-quality development, and develop scientific, practical and economical engineering and products.
凌文强调，要按照习近平总书记对战略科学家的要求，培养科技人才跨学科、跨领域的判断力、理解力和领导力，善于将自然科学和社会科学相融合，善于把科学、技术和工程相融合，善于把基础研究、应用研究和大规模工程实践相融合。“一定要鼓励跨界创新，即便在跨界过程中暂时出现失误也没关系，只要秉持严谨的科学精神，相互交流、相互促进，就可以奔赴我们想要的未来。”
江河入海。科学、技术、工程三个不同的支流，在广义上有一个共同的目标，即推动社会发展。辨析凌文解决问题的方法论，科学、技术、工程从来不是孤立存在，而是相伴而生。当下，事物的边界逐渐模糊，关联愈加无序，凌文的广阔视野和发散性思维，以及他所提出的教育观点，或许可以成为一种清晰的方式，给教育以考量。
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来源 | 本文刊于《教育家》2023年11月刊第4期，原文标题《改造世界，万变不离其宗——访中国工程院院士、山东省科学技术协会主席凌文》
作者｜王湘蓉 邓晓婷
统筹 | 周彩丽
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