Eureka's joint plan

In the mid-1970s, Western Europe gradually fell behind the United States and Japan in science and technology, especially in high technology. After 1980s, the gap widened further. If Western Europe doesn't take measures to catch up, it may become a technologically "underdeveloped continent" at the end of the 20th century. At the same time, western European countries also realize that in this high-tech competition that determines the future fate, only a Europe that concentrates manpower, material resources and financial resources can effectively maintain its economic position in the future world. In addition, the "Star Wars" plan put forward by the United States and the fierce military competition between the United States and the Soviet Union have also objectively promoted the revival and unity of Western Europe, giving it a strong sense of urgency to take the road of unity and gather the strength of all countries to catch up with the United States and Japan in the high-tech field. The Eureka Plan was conceived by the foreign ministers of France and the former Federal Republic of Germany in March 1985, and was formally put forward by French President Mitterrand in April 17. Once the resounding name Eureka was spoken, it quickly attracted the attention and welcome of most countries in Western Europe. At the end of June, the European Community Summit agreed in principle to the Eureka Plan. 17 In July, foreign ministers and scientific research ministers of western European countries held the first Eureka meeting in Paris, France (the second Eureka meeting absorbed Turkey), initially agreed on the outline of the Eureka plan, and issued a communique in June 18, announcing the official birth of Eureka. The "Eureka" plan suggests that western European countries strengthen cooperation in the field of cutting-edge technology and gradually establish a "European technology body". The specific cooperation initially includes five aspects: (1) computer: establishing European software engineering center and developing advanced micro information processor; (2) Automation devices: develop civil safety automation devices and all automation factories. (3) Communication: develop information network for scientific research and develop large-scale data exchange. (4) Bio-engineering: research on artificial seeds and control engineering. (5) New materials: study the structure of new materials and develop high-efficiency turbines. There are more than 300 projects, including 24 key research projects. By the end of 1993, Eureka had held 1 1 ministerial meetings. The number of members increased from 17 to 22 countries except Council of Europe. 1992 Hungary joined Eureka and became the first country in Eastern Europe. Russia also applied to join Eureka in 1993. In addition, enterprises and scientific research institutions from non-Eureka member countries such as the United States, Japan, Canada, Israel and Poland also participated in 26 Eureka research projects. The implementation of the Eureka Plan has had a great impact not only on Europe, but also on the economy and politics of the whole world.

"Eureka" originally meant the European research coordination agency, and later used to refer to "outstanding invention activities". The eureka plan is of a civilian nature; Its research projects are put forward by enterprises and scientific research units from the bottom up and decided by the countries concerned; Each research project must involve enterprises from more than two different countries; No more than 50% of the funds come from the national fund, and the rest are provided by the business community, and so on.

The most striking feature and advantage of Eureka is that it is not a research plan with established projects, but an "open framework" for European cooperation, with the principle of "bottom-up". Grass-roots participating units choose their own topics and establish cooperation partners, cooperation scope and cooperation methods. There is only a permanent secretariat and a national counterpart responsible for organization and coordination. It closely combines enterprises and scientific research institutions, and solves the problem that basic research is out of touch with the market.

According to Eureka's annual report 2000/200 1, there are 703 ongoing projects, with cooperative investment of nearly 2.2 billion euros, and 3007 enterprises, scientific research institutions and government agencies participating in project cooperation. According to the survey, the prize of the Eureka World Invention Expo in Brussels is set at 1950, which is held once a year in Brussels, Belgium. It mainly displays civil industrial technological inventions. China has been exhibiting since 1986. However, at the 36th Brussels Eureka World Invention Expo in 1987 alone, 102 China products won prizes, including 50 gold medals, 34 silver medals and 8 bronze medals. You know, these awards account for half of all awards in China International Import Expo(CIIE). At the 37th China International Import Expo(CIIE) 1988, China products won 38 gold medals, 3/kloc-0 silver medals and 26 bronze medals, accounting for more than half of all the winning projects in China International Import Expo(CIIE).

Floran Godin, managing director of "Eureka World Invention Expo", admitted to the reporter that this Expo is a commercial exposition and has not been recognized by the academic community. Interested people can participate in the exhibition as long as they register, fill in the form, pay the exhibition fee and bring goods or technical solutions, and then they can win prizes and get various medals. The more money you pay, the more projects you can exhibit and the more awards you will win.

The gold medal of Eureka World Invention Expo is not fake, but it is a real gold medal linked to money and has no academic value. Brussels, Belgium. A young inventor from China boarded the podium of Eureka Gold Award in the 46th International Invention Expo. When Mr. Guiard, the chairman of the jury, introduced the winners to the jury members and delegations from all countries that the winners were veterans who won the gold medal for the world invention Eureka again, the audience applauded warmly. The veteran who won the honor for China's scientific and technological inventions is named Huang Zuoxing. He has 1 1 national invention patents, won the "Eureka Gold Award" twice, won the "First-class Knight Medal" of world invention, and won the first prize of Romanian international invention.

1978, Huang Zuoxing retired from a certain unit of the Beijing Military Region and returned to Wenzhou to work as a marketing valve. In dealing with valves, Huang Zuoxing learned that China's valve manufacturing level is far behind that of western countries, and many important engineering valves in China have long relied on imports. So he decided to give up marketing and invention, and let China's valves go to the world. Huang Zuoxing's choice is really shocking. However, Huang Zuoxing said: "People who are soldiers and challenge themselves will never change." Huang Zuoxing worked as a mechanical soldier in the army, systematically studied the basic knowledge of machinery, and mastered a set of techniques such as turning, planing, milling and cutting. After leaving the army, he had dealt with valves for many years and thought that he "knew valves better than his own body". No matter whether it is domestic or imported, he can tell its model, structure, performance and origin even if he closes his eyes and touches it with his hands. He believes that he has the ability to make China's valve technology reach or exceed the world level.

At the end of 1988, Huang Zuoxing made up his mind to quit his job and go home. He didn't go out, didn't have guests, didn't watch TV, didn't let his family interfere, and buried himself in books. Huang Zuoxing's research is unofficial, non-unit, totally single-handedly, and the difficulty can be imagined. A few months later, he bought books to run a research institute, and the savings that the couple worked so hard to save were all spent. Unfortunately, during this period, Huang Zuoxing's father and two older brothers died one after another, which not only severely hit his spirit, but also made his R&D funds "worse". In desperation, he went to the bank for a loan, but he didn't have anything of value as collateral and no one guaranteed him. He borrowed money from the rich, but when he spoke, the interest was surprisingly high. In the face of despair, his wife, who has always understood and supported him, held her breath: "Forget it, there are thousands of roads in Qian Qian. Why do you have to take this road?" Huang Zuoxing said firmly, "I was a soldier and experienced hardships. I won't be intimidated by this difficulty. I will continue to sell land and sell houses and iron in shabu-shabu. " He said to his wife, "I want to sell that room at home." This house was shared by Huang Zuoxing's three brothers and was the only source of income for this family. The wife was very surprised: "If we sell it, what will our family live on?" What his wife said made Huang Zuoxing feel very guilty. He looked at his beloved wife with tears in his eyes and said, "I have finally come this far." If I don't go on, I will give up all my efforts and give up. I am sorry for myself and I am sorry for you. " He gritted his teeth and sold the facade house to others for 30 thousand yuan, and then borrowed more than 20 thousand yuan from relatives and friends to make up the development funds. After more than 100 days and nights of research and more than 50 failures, a new type of valve-medium pressure regulating butterfly valve came out. This invention was recommended to the State Patent Office and the State Science and Technology Commission. The State Science and Technology Commission recommended this product to the 43rd World Invention Research and Industrial Innovation Expo in Brussels, and won the Eureka Gold Award in one fell swoop. Seeing that the valves developed by himself have been used in the construction of national key projects such as Qinshan Nuclear Power Station, Capital Airport, Shanghai Baosteel, Daqing Oilfield, and light oil pipelines for field troops, and also exported to Britain, the United States and other countries, Huang Zuoxing was filled with emotion: "Without the solid foundation laid by military career, it is impossible to have my success today."