Mr. Yan Dapeng changed the global layout of laser industry: The national interests are supreme in pursuit of dreams and laser innovations.

From 1996 to 2006, to 2016, Yan Dapeng experienced two decades. The seemly simple figures and time change have been filled with his deep love, endless feelings and tireless exploitation and dedication. Facing reporters, Yan Dapeng just said, “one decade proved my right decision to go and the other decade proved my right decision to return back. That’s enough.”

“To our motherland, I always feel ashamed deeply.”

Optics Valley of China, Wuhan. The words of“The national interests are supreme”impressively stand in Raycus, in which Yan Dapeng serves as a vice president and the chief engineer. The reason why Yan Dapeng takes this sentence as the core value of the company is not casual. He said,“To our motherland, I always feel ashamed deeply.”

In 1996, Mr. Yan Dapeng was in his 40s, he was successfully in his career and served as a professor in East China Engineering College (now Nanjing University of Science and Technology). In this year, he who had a dream was sent to America for further study.

At that time, the fiber laser was sprouting in America and rarely known by people in China. This fiber laser releases laser energy through a fiber as thin as a human hair and can be widely applied in communication, medical, chemical, national defense and other fields. Its energy conversion efficiency is 20% higher than that of the traditional laser. The laser features less power consumption, small size, no noise and no pollution. Mr. Yan Dapeng saw its wide development prospect and started to research it.

The one-year study period came to the end soon. Go back or not? At that time, he was stricken with emotion and reason. To study the techniques, he decided to continue to study in America after thinking it over.

Mr. Yan Dapeng who never slackened his effort felt more nervous, “I never take my holidays, I take my Thanksgiving Day and Christmas in the lab.”

Soon, Mr. Yan Dapeng became an outstanding person in the fiber laser industry, he was favored by American Outstanding Talent Program and he got a green card. When he found the product whose research and development he took part in in America was exported to China at a high price, he felt very upset. Then Mr. Yan Dapeng at the age of 51, resigned resolutely and returned to China for pioneering work with his whole family.

“The national interests are supreme” reflects his heavy duties and deep love.

“Create Chinese people’s fiber laser industry chain.”

In 2006, Yan Dapeng came to Wuhan with an overseas top talent delegation and participated in the “Conference on Overseas Chinese Pioneering and Development in China”. At that time, the domestic leading laser enterprise HGTECH was looking for a leading person. They quickly became partners and soon established the first Chinese fiber laser manufacturer –Raycus. Since then, Yan Dapeng has been changing the global layout of laser industry.

For a long time, due to foreign technology blockage and price monopoly, core domestic laser technology and components have always been at the laboratory stage. Although Raycus has mastered the core technology, its products are of high cost and lack of competitiveness, due to the lack of a complete industrial chain in China.

In order to make domestic fiber laser stand firm and blend in the world competition tide, we must create “an industrial chain of fiber laser industry chain owned by the Chinese people”, which was the determination Yan Dapeng had secretly made when he was in America. To this end, he traveled around to teach technology and teach enterprises to produce components hand by hand, with an effort to promote the designated production of all fiber laser components. On the basis of absorbing the most advanced technology, he constantly innovated technically and directed the industry to produce “joint effects”. Finally, a 100% domestic fiber laser industry chain was completed.

This has broken the monopoly of foreign companies in the fiber laser field and also has directly lowered the price of imported products, with a drop of 60% or more. In the past, America sold the 20W pulse laser for marking at a price of 150,000 yuan, and now Raycus sells it at the price of 12,000 yuan, and its product performance can rival with foreign products. In 2013, China's first high-power fiber laser was developed in Raycus, which was an important milestone in China's industrial development and indicated that the Chinese independent fiber laser research and development capabilities had reached the world-class level. At the same time, Raycus, as a fiber laser manufacturer, has ranked second in the production level and third in the production scale in the world and its products have been exported to more than 20 countries, including America and Germany, and its direct economic benefits are expected to be more than 500 million yuan this year.

“Now America still lays embargo on the exports of high-power fiber lasers above 1,000W to China, but we can produce 10,000W or above high-power fiber lasers. With the integration of upstream industrial chain, we have had the capacity to do as we want.” Mr. Yan Dapeng said proudly.

“On the vast land, an undertaking stage can be established everywhere.”

Since he return to China, science and technology support programs and major projects have come to him as if a continuous stream. For the heavy duties assigned by the state, Mr. Yan Dapeng considers they reflect the state’s full trust and ardent hope for the returnees like him. Respected teachers of the alma mater that sent him to go abroad for further study also give him their hearty affirmation.

Mr. Yan Dapeng knows that fiber laser production needs team work. To expand the team and attract talents, he has always advised others by using his own experience, “On the vast land, an undertaking stage can be established everywhere.”

Since Mr. Yan Dapeng cooperated with HGTECH, many world-class talents, such as Xu Jinlin and Xiao Liming, have successively joined in the team and many young people with doctorate degrees have come to Wuhan to go to Mr. Yan Dapeng in order to learn the most advanced technologies. At that moment, “Yan Dapeng effect” emerged in the industry.

Now “Yan Dapeng effect” has become much wider and deeper. To attract talents, he attracts Li Cheng, Lu Kunzhong and other experts in the “Thousand Talents Program” to return for pioneering work with his own shares. With talent introduction by talents, Chinese fiber laser business has become much livelier and more vibrant.

The 3D laser printer is in the ascendant, but its core component — laser — still mainly relies on foreign products. Mr. Yan Dapeng dares not slacken his efforts. He said, it is the obligatory duty of him and domestic laser enterprises to use the domestic laser in the 3D printer and better serve the “manufacturing power”.