The Man Who Lit Up China with LED (Zhang Guoyi)

Anecdotes about Professor Zhang Guoyi

Author / Tang Guoqing

My first meeting with Professor Zhang Guoyi seemed to be in Shanghai. He came to Shanghai to establish "Shanghai Peking University Blue Light" (later renamed: Shanghai Blue Light). I picked him up at the airport and hosted a dinner to welcome him. His partner, General Manager Li Shuming, also attended. At that time, I concurrently served as the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Optoelectronics Trade Association (SOTA), so I was considered the host!

Professor Zhang is clearly a good person—tall, very handsome, with a slightly magnetic voice. His intellectual traits become evident when he talks about LED; his words flow endlessly, leaving you mostly to listen or diligently take notes in a small notebook.

In 1997, the team led by Zhang Guoyi at Peking University successfully developed China's first GaN-based blue LED chip (sapphire substrate). In 2000, Shanghai Beida Blue Light was officially established, and by 2003, it became the first to achieve mass supply of domestic GaN blue LED chips. Their company is located in Zhangjiang (Development Zone), while my company, Dacheng Optoelectronics, is in Jinqiao (Development Zone). They handle the front-end, we handle the back-end, perfectly aligning within the industry chain.

You should know that the national Semiconductor Lighting Engineering Leadership Group was established, sounding the charge for the LED lighting project, in June 2003. This shows how early Professor Zhang Guoyi's team was! I remember there was also a core member of his team, Teacher Tong Yuzhen, who was short in stature but all-around capable, knowing everything, forming a "golden partnership" with Professor Zhang.

Professor Zhang is a pioneering and practical expert, a model of combining theory with practice, and has a special affinity with enterprises. Just look at his resume as a founder:

2009 Dongguan Zhongjia Semiconductor

2010 Zhongtu Semiconductor

2012 Led the establishment of the Peking University Dongguan Optoelectronics Research Institute

Later, companies such as Zhongjing and Zhongshichuang were successively launched.

At that time, I had the opportunity to join Professor Zhang Guoyi's team. We met once in Beijing, where he extended an invitation (verbally). The Dongguan Optoelectronics Research Institute was being established then, and he suggested I serve as a deputy director or something similar. I took it as a joke and did not take it seriously.

Afterwards, I visited Dongguan many times. Once, we arranged to meet him, but he had gone to the city for a meeting. Teacher Ding Xiaomin (Professor Zhang's wife) personally received me; she was formerly from the Organization Department of Changchun City. It was somewhat reminiscent of the famous novel "The Young Man Who Came from the Organization Department" by Wang Meng—warm, generous, and kind. When Professor Zhang returned, he was holding a major award: the 2015 Dongguan Science and Technology Award, with a prize of 500,000 yuan. Of course, he treated us to a meal. I remember several teachers gathering together, sharing a few drinks to celebrate.

When the third-generation semiconductor materials rose comprehensively, LED was consistently "set aside," although I know this was intentional by the organizers to draw greater attention from national authorities. I have listened to so many reports on "third-gen semiconductors," but Professor Zhang Guoyi explained it most clearly, giving listeners a sense of sudden enlightenment and clarity.

Reasonably speaking, Professor Zhang had the opportunity to apply for academician selection. He won numerous national and local awards and successfully industrialized multiple technological achievements, some of which reached the industry's peak. However, he seemed to have his own insights. In our hearts, he should have long been an academician, and indeed a highly productive and esteemed one!

Professor Zhang Guoyi has a wish, I wonder if it has been realized? It is to travel throughout the beautiful Xinjiang. He asked several times: Is it possible to brew wine at 44° north latitude (the world's recognized golden winemaking line)? Can we visit your pasture grass factory built in Xinjiang? Later, he heard that there are special train tours in Xinjiang for leisurely travel. I wonder if he and Professor Ding went?...

Series Recommendation:

Tang Guoqing | The Person Who Lit Up China with LED (Jiang Fengyi)

The person who lit up China with LED (Shuji Nakamura)

Source: Tang Shiyi