Chemistry

3. Old steel(3)

After a while, the number of people taking their seats in the conference room started to increase. Jeong-woo looked around and took note of the positions of some of the people sitting nearby, feeling nervous.

There were experts with high positions in various fields, such as a professor of architecture from a famous university, the head of the technical department at a railway construction company, mid-level executives from large construction and shipbuilding companies, and logistics warehouse companies.

The atmosphere was academic and serious, and Jeong-woo felt overwhelmed just by being present in this room.

Chan must have seen this scene. He was surprised that his little brother was doing so well in his social life.

‘What does it matter to be fifth in the class?’

Jeong-woo felt a bit jealous of the rankings he had never experienced before.

A government official approached the center of the conference room. He was wearing glasses and appeared to be in his forties. After checking the microphone, he spoke immediately.

“We will now begin the seminar. For those who are still outside, please enter quickly.”

About ten experts with speaking rights sat around the central table. With the exception of Song Boyeong, who appeared to be the youngest, most of them were in their fifties and had experienced appearances.

“I am Yang Gi-cheol, in charge of social facilities planning. On behalf of the mayor, I would like to thank all of you who have come from various fields.”

Starting with Yang Gi-cheol’s greeting, Professor Hwang Soo-gon, a permanent consultant at the City Planning Department, continued with his keynote speech.

“…They are like cancer cells in nature, melting bridges, making it impossible to use the materials stored in warehouses, and making homes, cars, fuel tanks old…”

Jeong-woo scanned the seminar materials that had been distributed to everyone while listening to the speech.

It’s a staggering fact that the amount of loss caused by maintenance work related to greenery in Seoul for a year is enormous. To prevent this, reinforcement work is being done, numerous anti-corrosion agents are being used, and paint is being repeatedly applied.

This could be a business model that could generate tremendous profits for construction companies or chemical companies like KG Chemicals, if looked at from the opposite perspective.

“Next, we will hear a presentation on the results of a comprehensive survey of Han River bridges’ management.”

As Yang Ki-cheol finished speaking, Lee Sang-seok, the head of bridge safety, stood up.

“As you can see, 22 of the bridges on the Han River are managed by Seoul, and 8 are managed by other agencies. Let’s look at the bridges with maintenance priority first.”

Jeong-woo paid attention to the part about the Han River Iron Bridge that he passed by this morning on the screen shot by the BIM project.

“That yellow paint was from Yujin Chemicals.”

It was a company name as familiar as KG Chemicals. He couldn’t help but pay attention to the cost and effect of the competitor’s chemical products.

“There will be a question and answer session. Please speak freely.”

First to speak was Kang Young-tae, who identified himself as a professor of architecture and structural engineering.

“Excuse me, Manager. Will you only paint a few priority bridges next year?”

“We plan to supplement at a similar level since we do not plan to increase the budget next year.”

“It’s frustrating. The lifespan of the corrosion inhibitor coated in a humid place is at most one year. Even if we have long rainy seasons in the summer, will Jamsu Bridge get rusted right away? They don’t even have the budget to repair all the bridges with problems, so what kind of management are they doing?”

Jeong-woo was slightly surprised to see Professor Kang, who expressed hostile opinions towards the city from the start. He thought that Professor Kang was too critical, as if he would make the city employees sweat.

“This is the time for long-term structural improvements. If we use high-performance steel to improve the bridges at once, they will last for at least 30 years. The budget needed for the next 30 years will still leave us with plenty of money. We can also reduce wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money.”

“…The city is considering all opinions.”

“Especially that Han River Iron Bridge. It worries me every time I see it. Do you really need to paint the bridge that was opened in 1994 repeatedly? It’s not that, they said something fell off today, didn’t they?”

People’s attention turned to the railway company representative sitting on the opposite side as Professor Kang asked the question.

“I’m Kim Dae-cheol, the head of KORAIL technology. We dealt with the accident this morning, and there were no major damages.”

“What was the cause of the problem?”

“We believe it was due to a deterioration in durability caused by an increase in railway traffic, rather than a structural defect. Also, we have adopted a new coating system using the coating material that was researched in collaboration with KG Chemicals to prevent corrosion on the Han River Bridge…”

When they talked about the coating material, Song Boyeong’s eyes sparkled.

“Mr. Kim, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Just because something can be painted doesn’t mean it becomes sturdy when it’s at risk of corrosion.”

“Well…”

“I’m Song Boyeong, a researcher at KG Chemicals. Let me explain that part.”

As the young-looking woman spoke into the microphone, the people outside the table felt a murmur.

“Go ahead and speak.”

Professor Kang looked at Song Boyeong with a confident face, ready to refute any logic.

‘Wow, this pressure is no joke.’

Jeong-woo felt tension just from watching. Witnessing the spectacle of Professor Kang shutting down the city officials and even the railroad construction personnel made him worried about Song Boyeong.

Song Boyeong opened the materials she had prepared and said, “The result of this study is a quasi-crystalline coating material that is smoother than Teflon and harder than stainless steel. The minimum expected lifespan is not one year, but three years. The production cost is half. Contrary to Professor Kang’s concerns, it is expected to bring a significant cost reduction.”

“Quasi-crystalline? It’s the first time I’ve heard that. I don’t even know if it’s true…”

“Yes, it is true. Experts from the KG Chemical Research Center participated in the project to verify the results. The compound, made with the latest chemical processes, is a reliable basic material just like steel.”

As she spoke, government officials, construction and shipbuilding company representatives, and officials from other agencies showed interest and started to examine the materials.

“I see,” said Professor Kang, momentarily speechless, effectively putting a halt to his argument.

The head of the railway company nodded appreciatively towards Song Boyeong. She shrugged nonchalantly and glanced briefly at Jeong-woo with a quizzical look.

He applauded softly. “Not bad, you know. You held your own among the experts.”

Song Boyeong was in Research Room 1, which was known for its aces. Unlike herself, she had studied hard and accumulated a level of chemical knowledge that was above average.

Bae Ki-tae, who was sitting next to him, was watching her with a look of admiration on his face as she spoke.

Moderator Yang Gi-cheol said, “If there’s nothing else to discuss, let’s move on to the next Q&A…”

“Just a moment.”

Just when it seemed like the argument over the Han River Bridge had been settled in Song Boyeong’s favor, someone raised their hand to speak into the microphone.

“I have something to say about the bridge.”

A man in his mid-forties, wearing a sophisticated suit, turned to look at the audience. Jeong-woo looked at his name tag and was taken aback.

Director of the Yujin Chemical Research Center.

Compared to the general researchers sent by KG Chemicals, the competitors on the other side had significant personnel attending the seminar.

“Hello, Professor Kang. It’s Yoon Jaegil. You fought with me last year, but this year you’re fighting with a pretty lady. You’re still a fighter, as expected.”

Professor Kang turned away from Yoon Jaegil’s gaze with an annoyed expression.

The concentration of the people in the conference room turned to Yoon Jaegil’s comment, which was filled with laughter.

Yoon Jaegil pointed at the beam projector with momentum and said, “Let’s start by looking at the prepared photos. Please, this section chief.”

A slideshow of rusty iron, columns, and corroded steel beams under the elevated highway followed in succession.

“This is from a few years ago. This is the current appearance after cleaning with our company’s rust remover and painting, one year later.”

A partial photo of the Han River iron bridge appeared on the screen. The appearance of clean legs with green paint was visible. Yoon Jaegil lightly joked as he watched it.

“As you can see, it perfectly prevents corrosion from the outside. What about the inside? According to the precise investigation carried out by Yujin Chemical, only 0.1% of the thousands of rivets became loose, and there was no corrosion at all.”

Yoon Jaegil turned his gaze to the head of the railway construction department.

“Numerous traffic on subway and railways in the metropolitan area. This is also while experiencing tremendous vibrations and impacts every day. I want to ask the head. Adding a new coating to a perfect iron bridge like this, isn’t it a waste of budget?”

“It’s for safety, so I don’t think excessive investment is a waste.”

“Even if it receives a higher safety score than other bridges?”

Kim Dae-cheol, the head of the department, could not continue his speech as controversy intensified in this regard.

“And that pretty lady over there.”

As Yoon Jaegil kept calling her “pretty lady,” Song Boyeong’s eyebrows twitched.

“You mentioned the Department of Corrosion Management earlier. Do you know the story behind how it was created?”

“I don’t… know.”

Song Boyeong could only shake her head.

“The steel structure in New York, which can be said to be a symbol. Do you know the story of how the Statue of Liberty was almost collapsed due to corrosion?”

Yoon Jaegil’s tone was so skilled that he was digging into the parts that Song Boyeong didn’t know, and he had the power to lead the discussion.

“The method that corrosion experts around the world used to remove and restore the rust on the Statue of Liberty. We followed that method and carried out a major construction project on the Han River Bridge last year, and the subway has been operating without any problems to this day.”

Yoon Jaegil began to tell his story, unfolding a logical argument that Song Boyeong could not refute.

“Yujin Chemical’s zinc paint is remarkable. They borrowed a patent developed by NASA. It has been recognized for its performance even in Hawaii, which is very humid and has a lot of salt. Because of its cost-effectiveness, we now have many more buyers placing orders with us.”

The conference officials began to thoroughly examine Yujin Chemical’s data.

“However…”

Song Boyeong could not provide a proper opinion. They had only conducted research on their own coating products and had not prepared to identify the pros and cons of the competitor’s products.

“The quasi-crystalline coating material. It’s good, and cheap. But it’s not suitable for the Han River Iron Bridge. This is a place where corrosion is already rampant and requires total management by specialized companies like our company, Yujin Chemical.”

As the discussion, which began with Professor Kang Young-tae, seemed to turn into a battle of pride between the two companies, both Yang and Ju, who were in charge of the meeting, grabbed the microphone.

“Please calm down and provide constructive opinions.”

“When you say constructive, it makes me more curious. Why did KG Chemical send such an inexperienced researcher to this important meeting? At least, shouldn’t there be a senior researcher attending?”

“You are being too harsh.”

“If you’re going to blame me for telling the truth, then I have nothing to say.”

Yoon Jaegil raised both hands and made a gesture, indicating that he was calm. Song Boyeong’s eyes widened as she looked at him. Yoon Jaegil had been consistently composed throughout the meeting, and his class in debating was evident.

‘Because our understanding of our products is intertwined, there is no room for compromise.’

Thanks to Yoon Jaegil, Song Boyeong’s angry eyes had turned into eyes full of frustration and helplessness.

‘What can I do? They are not even saying anything wrong… Huh?’

Jeong-woo had to swallow a groan as he looked at the image of the Han River Bridge on the projector screen.

The reason was that with the unfamiliar chemical formulas, constellations of elements suddenly came to mind like a 3D image.

The sight of the entire conference room floating in space was strikingly similar to that of the weekly meetings. In addition, interesting molecular compounds caught his eye.

‘What should I do?’

Jeong-woo scratched his chin as he saw Song Boyeong trembling under the table with her fists clenched.

This seminar is not about winning or losing, but Song Boyeong’s defeat would also mean KG Chemical’s defeat.

“I have a question, sir.” Jeong-woo raised his hand.