203: Progress far beyond expectations

After four hours of relentless effort, he finally completed the head model for the first design, but didn't have time to integrate it with the main body.

In addition, the space on the two floppy disks Yao Meiling lent them to store data was almost exhausted; each disk could only hold 2.88 MB of data, meaning it was nearly impossible to add more content.

"Once I'm capable, I absolutely must invent the USB drive; this thing is simply too inconvenient." Xu Ning swore silently in his heart as the administrator reminded him it was time to leave.

During dinner, Xu Ning updated his companions on the situation.

Despite this, submitting the assignment on time was still feasible; it just meant Tang Ziwei and Old Wei no longer needed to work as desperately as before.

Given the tight timeframe from completing the research and development to final submission, Zhao Zhide, who was responsible for writing the report, needed to start preparing immediately, advancing their respective parts in sync with Xu Ning.

As for the specific content of the writing, it would be executed strictly according to Xu Ning's instructions; Zhao Zhide only needed to focus on creating the text and charts.

While Xu Ning was eating and assigning tasks, at another table not far away, Yao Meiling was discussing the latest project progress with two lab partners.

Although last night's experience had frustrated her greatly, as a doctoral student, she had never thought of giving up when faced with a challenge.

Today she specifically went to the library to look up relevant books on DAMP language and the dipole grid method, and also searched online for additional information.

Although she couldn't completely master this knowledge in a single day, she was already confident that this research path was worth trying.

"The dipole grid method..." Sitting opposite was a gentle, well-haired young man named Fang Bo:

"Junior Sister, do you really think so? Although our previous CFD/CSD coupled simulation method was not very efficient, its accuracy has indeed been gradually improving through continuous refinement.

Now that the project is past the halfway point, is it wise to change strategies at this time?"

Yao Meiling put down her chopsticks, looked directly into Fang Zheng's eyes and said, "Senior Brother Fang, we both understand that simply relying on minor adjustments to the existing method is not enough.

Although the initial accuracy improved by 15%-20%, such results are barely sufficient for a final report, and in reality, this method is time-consuming, laborious, and lacks practical application value.

As researchers, we should pursue higher goals.

I believe the dipole grid method has immense potential; it just requires spending time to learn new techniques."

Although Fang Zheng seemed to be only one year ahead of Yao Meiling, because she entered the doctoral program directly from undergraduate studies, there was actually a significant age difference between the two.

In research work, whether it was her senior brother or even her advisor, Yao Meiling would not easily compromise.

Seeing the tense atmosphere between the two, the short girl next to them, Xia Tian, quickly interjected:

"Junior Sister Yao, how did you suddenly come up with this new idea? I haven't heard you mention it before, but today I saw you bring back a pile of books from the library."

For her, the technical direction wasn't the key; what was important was avoiding conflict within the team.

Unexpectedly, her question left Yao Meiling momentarily speechless.

"Actually... I learned about it from a senior student who had participated in similar research," Yao Meiling replied, a little awkwardly.

In reality, this senior student was just a group member from her undergraduate days and wasn't some seasoned expert.

Moreover, the way that group member spoke always made Yao Meiling uncomfortable.

"Senior student? Are there others in our department also researching this field?" Fang Zheng asked curiously.

After all, in that era, research resources were very scarce, and the situation in each lab was generally known to others.

"Well, that was a senior student from my undergraduate period; he has already graduated and left here," Yao Meiling explained.

Fortunately, Fang Zheng and Xia Tian did not press further.

To ease the tension, Fang Zheng suggested, "Xia Tian, you take charge of the CFD/CSD part; we've already built the basic framework for this section, and you just need to proceed step by step.

Yao Meiling and I will try to explore the new path of the dipole grid method."

This arrangement not only ensured the project's progress but also allowed experimental space for the new method.

Although as the Big Brother of the team, Fang Zheng always preferred a more stable approach, his suggestion this time received everyone's approval.

"Agreed," Yao Meiling nodded and said.

And all these changes were simply unbelievable for Xia Tian; she was actually assigned such an important task.

On the other side, Xu Ning found that Zhao Zhide hadn't shown up for two consecutive days.

According to their previous agreement, Zhao Zhide should have already started writing the report.

This left Xu Ning extremely confused, because in his memory, although Zhao Zhide wasn't very interested in academics, he usually kept his promises and completed tasks.

On the morning of the fourth day, just as Xu Ning was about to seek help from the counselor or even consider calling the police, Zhao Zhide suddenly appeared.

"Hey, Lao Xu, remember you mentioned the issues with computer time and storage space?" Zhao Zhide said mysteriously, putting down his backpack, unzipping it, and revealing a laptop and a stack of brand new floppy disks.

"I got this laptop, and some new floppy disks."

Xu Ning was extremely surprised when he saw the classic IBM logo on the laptop.

At that moment, he realized that having a friend who was keen on business but didn't care much about studying was actually pretty good.

"Where did you get it?" Xu Ning asked curiously, opening the laptop, the keyboard slowly rising with the screen, first separating and then closing together.

This was an IBM 701C, a machine that would almost become a collector's item in the future; buying it now would cost at least tens of thousands of RMB, and that was tens of thousands in 1996.

"I met a senior student from Renmin University while doing business; he lost money running a restaurant, so he sold me this computer to recoup some funds.

I also asked him to help you install those two software programs over the past two days," Zhao Zhide explained.

Although Xu Ning felt the story sounded familiar, he didn't have time to dwell on it, quickly turned on the computer, and inserted the floppy disk containing the project data.

For the next half month, Xu Ning dedicated himself entirely to work, getting up early every day, and aside from attending classes, he was optimizing the intake duct research and development, conducting various simulations and tests.

Without the constraints of computer time, his progress far exceeded expectations.

Not only did he develop a satisfactory new nose cone, but he also modified the J-7 fighter's wing shape to improve handling performance under subsonic conditions.

Although similar modifications had already been implemented on the J-7E, as it was an active service model, Xu Ning couldn't obtain its research and development data and had to re-develop it himself.

After the project was completed, Tang Ziwei drew several conceptual illustrations of the modified J-7 participating in aerial combat based on the 3D model Xu Ning created.

The research and development presentation was similar to a graduation project defense, only on a larger scale, usually held in a large research lab, attended by all classmates in the group and several judging professors.

In that era, computers were not yet widespread in research labs, and drawings could only be displayed using a projector.

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