171: Chapter 171 Agenda

After a brief meeting with Li Wei and Wang Zhe in the laboratory, Chen Youhua headed straight to Dean Tang Mingyuan's office.

The presentation on the Navier-Stokes Equation was a major event for the university and even the national academic community in the near future. As the absolute protagonist, he needed to finalize the details with the dean.

Chen Youhua arrived at the familiar door, knocked, and entered.

Dean Tang Mingyuan was sitting behind a large desk, his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, buried in reviewing a thick document.

The office bookshelves were filled with various academic works and management books. On the walls hung photos with celebrities and academic titans, as well as major honor plaques that Z University had received over the years.

"Youhua! You're back? Sit, sit!"

Upon seeing him, Dean Tang immediately took off his glasses, his face filled with a warm smile. He stood up to invite him to sit on the guest sofa and personally poured him a cup of hot tea.

"How was your trip to HF? You aren't too tired, are you?"

"Thank you, Dean. The trip was very fruitful; it was well worth it," Chen Youhua replied simply after taking a sip from the teacup.

"That's good, that's good."

Dean Tang sat back down opposite him, leaning forward slightly, his tone becoming formal and serious.

"The reason I rushed you back so quickly is mainly because the presentation date is approaching, and we need to finalize the details for next week's Navier-Stokes Equation presentation. This is the highest-level academic event at our Z University, and indeed in the national mathematics community in recent years. The specifications are extremely high, so we cannot afford any sloppiness."

He picked up a beautifully crafted folder from the coffee table and handed it to Chen Youhua.

"This is the final agenda, guest list, and venue layout plan. Take a look and see if there is anything that needs adjusting."

Chen Youhua nodded to show he understood, then took the folder and quickly browsed through it.

The agenda was planned extremely meticulously.

The morning session would be the opening ceremony, featuring speeches from leaders of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Natural Science Foundation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, followed by an address from the President of Z University and then Chen Youhua's keynote presentation, lasting 120 minutes, including a Q&A session.

The afternoon would consist of specialized seminars where top mathematicians from home and abroad would give thematic reports on the core aspects and application prospects of the proof of the Navier-Stokes Equation, followed by a closing summary.

The guest list included almost all the top scholars in the fields of global partial differential equations and fluid mechanics, as well as Academicians and Changjiang Scholars in related domestic fields; many of the names were of textbook caliber.

"The agenda and guest list are fine. Thank you and the organizing committee for your hard work, Dean," Chen Youhua said, closing the folder.

"This is what we should do; taking good care of you, our protagonist, is our primary task."

Dean Tang waved his hand with a smile, then his expression became more concerned.

"Youhua, what I am most concerned about is your side. A 120-minute keynote presentation is not a short time, and the pressure is significant. Although you completed the proof process single-handedly, facing so many world-class experts in the audience, especially those old timers who might ask extremely sharp questions, thorough preparation is essential."

He asked carefully.

"Have your speech draft and PPT presentation been finalized? Have you asked others to help you look them over and offer suggestions? For a presentation of this level, every citation of a theorem, every step of the derivation, and even every word must withstand the most rigorous scrutiny. We are aiming for zero errors."

Chen Youhua nodded and said.

"Rest assured, Dean. I have polished the PPT and speech draft many times long ago. For the key and difficult parts, I have prepared several exposition plans with varying levels of detail, which can be flexibly adjusted according to the time available and the audience's reactions on site. I have also prepared various intuitive ways to interpret the core logical chain and key lemmas of the proof to ensure that scholars from different backgrounds can understand its essence."

He paused and added.

"Academician Zheng also reviewed the outline and some details earlier and provided some suggestions on how to make it easier for scholars with a physics background to understand, which I have already incorporated."

"Good! Good! That's good!"

Dean Tang nodded repeatedly, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I was just afraid that you might be thinking of improvising on the spot. For this kind of presentation, brilliance can be improvised, but rigor must be pre-set. All improvisation should be well-designed."

As if remembering something, he smiled and said.

"It is said that for the reports where Wiles proved Fermat's Last Theorem back then, every detail was rehearsed repeatedly as well."

"I certainly understand," Chen Youhua agreed.

"Mathematical proof cannot tolerate the slightest ambiguity. I have already marked out the weak points that might be questioned or areas that need further explanation, and I have prepared additional supplementary materials and small inserts to ensure that no matter which direction a question comes from, I can respond promptly."

Dean Tang was very satisfied; he seemed much more relaxed, as it appeared he had been working hard these past few days to organize this presentation.

"With those words from you, I am completely relieved. I absolutely trust in your ability; I was just afraid that you young people might find the preparation too tedious. Oh, right, there are a few small things to confirm with you."

"You need to attend the official press conference after the presentation. The office has already drafted standard responses for several core questions; I will send them to you later for your review."

"The IMU president and secretary-general will both be coming. There will be an informal, small-group meeting during the conference break, mainly to express appreciation for your work and intent for future cooperation. This is just a polite formality, so be prepared for that."

"Also, the editors-in-chief of several top international academic journals want to have a brief chat with you regarding the formal publication of the paper. How do you think we should arrange the time?"

Chen Youhua thought for a moment and replied.

"The press conference is no problem; I will look at the response draft. The IMU meeting can be arranged. As for the journal editors, please help me arrange that for the second day of the presentation. I really cannot spare a block of time on the first day."

"Alright, I will coordinate these."

Dean Tang took out a pen and noted it down in his notebook.

"Lastly, there's the venue. Do you want to go to the site this afternoon to check it out? Try the microphone, laser pointer, and slide clicker, and get familiar with the podium environment? Although they are top-of-the-line equipment and there are specialists to debug them, testing it yourself is the safest."

This time, Chen Youhua did not refuse: "Alright, I will go over this afternoon to familiarize myself with it."

"Good!"

Dean Tang stood up happily and patted Chen Youhua's shoulder firmly.

"Youhua, this is the highlight moment of your academic career, and it is also a glorious moment for Z University. The university is your most solid backing; you don't need to worry about any administrative, logistical, or technical support matters—leave it all to us. You just focus all your energy on preparing for this academic presentation that is bound to go down in history!"