Great poetry draws inspiration from the land; without traveling to Xiaoxiang, how could there be verse? From vast fields to lakes, seas, and mountains, from the boundless sky to the mysterious deep sea, from the nation's needs to the people's aspirations, on this fertile ground of innovation in the Three Xiang region, generation after generation of Hunan science and technology workers have strived in succession, dedicating their youth and passion to China's scientific and technological innovation, and creating one brilliant achievement after another across various fields of national scientific and technological innovation.

The Hunan Provincial Department of Science and Technology has specially planned a ten-episode special series, "The Hunan Science and Technology Army Bravely Scaling New Heights," in which ten Hunan science and technology workers share their stories, looking back on the magnificent history of Hunan's scientific and technological innovation, recreating the arduous journey of the Hunan science and technology army dedicating themselves to the country and bravely scaling new heights, profoundly interpreting the essence of the spirit of scientists, and igniting the passion for innovation across the Three Xiang land.

On October 23, "The Hunan Science and Technology Army Bravely Scaling New Heights" released its fourth episode, "Innovation," which follows the entrepreneurial journey of He Qinghua, founder of Sunward Intelligent Equipment, as its main thread, telling the inspiring story of Hunan science and technology workers represented by him daring to be pioneers and pursuing independent innovation, leading Chinese manufacturing to rapidly leap to ***.‍

Around the year 2000, Changsha, Hunan, set off a "wave of entrepreneurship," as more than 100 experts and professors took their scientific research achievements to "plunge into business" and start companies, planting seeds of entrepreneurship at the foot of Yuelu Mountain.

He Qinghua was one of them. In 1999, in order to better transform scientific research achievements into practical products, He Qinghua, then a professor at Central South University of Technology (now Central South University), founded Sunward Intelligent Equipment, becoming one of the ** batch of people to "eat crab" (take the plunge).

At the beginning of the startup, China's construction machinery industry was at a low point. "At the world's largest construction machinery exhibition, the overall momentum of Chinese enterprises was not even comparable to that of a single Korean company." He Qinghua believed that to change the situation of China's construction machinery lagging behind others, it was essential to have one's own "key core technologies," and he set his ** goal on excavators.

An excavator typically consists of thousands of components and is a flagship product of construction machinery. At the time, excavators in China were still a "bottleneck" product of a large system, and the supporting industrial system was relatively weak.

Without technology, they would research it themselves; lacking supporting supply, they would build it themselves. In 2001, Sunward Intelligent Equipment entered the field of small excavators. He Qinghua led the team to research bit by bit and improve one place at a time. After four months of hard work, they finally produced the ** model of small excavator, and the product ultimately gained market recognition. Sunward Intelligent Equipment also became the ** company in China to launch excavators meeting modern standards to the market.

As early as the beginning of the startup, He Qinghua proposed the concept of "pioneering innovation": not blindly following market demand, but proactively targeting a certain product or technology not yet available on the market, conducting forward-looking independent research and development and manufacturing, and making distinctive products to lead market consumption.

"Don't be a follower; be a leader." Driven by the concept of "pioneering innovation," He Qinghua led Sunward Intelligent Equipment to always adhere to the path of independent innovation, building a pioneering innovation model based on original innovation, integrated innovation, open innovation, and continuous innovation, and independently designing and manufacturing construction machinery products with distinctive Sunward characteristics one after another.

In 2003, the first domestically produced integrated down-the-hole drill rig rolled off the production line. In 2004, Sunward Intelligent Equipment's ** self-developed rotary drilling rig, the SWDM20, left the factory. In 2008, the prototype of the SA60L light sport aircraft, the first domestically designed and manufactured fully independent aircraft of its kind, rolled off the production line. In 2009, Sunward Intelligent Equipment launched the world's first intelligent excavator. In 2017, Sunward Intelligent Equipment released the world's largest walking-type rotary drilling rig. In 2019, the first domestically produced all-composite five-seat aircraft successfully completed its maiden flight. This year, the super-large-tonnage rotary drilling rig and the world's tallest fully hydraulic crawler pile frame, both independently developed by Sunward Intelligent Equipment, were successively put into application...

Today, from underground to above ground, from water to air, He Qinghua has led his team to develop more than 200 high-end equipment products with independent intellectual property rights and core competitiveness. Sunward Intelligent Equipment has also successfully ranked among the world's top 50 construction machinery enterprises, becoming an industry leader.

More than twenty years have passed, and the seeds planted during the "wave of entrepreneurship" have grown into towering trees—Sunward Intelligent Equipment, Longping High-Tech, Boyun New Materials, Jishan High-Tech... Enterprises founded or led by Hunan science and technology workers are playing the "Song of Lushan" on the world stage with one high-level scientific and technological achievement and one high-end product after another.