Craig is a charter member of the MIT Club of Orlando. He lives in Longwood at Village on the Green. He grew up in Tientsin China, an industrial city south of Beijing. His father managed Butterfield & Swire, a British company, one of the largest shipping and commercial companies in China. The Cheng family had relations to the Imperial Family. His grandfather on his mother's side was one of the first 100 Chinese students chosen by the Emperor to attend western universities. This grandfather was later knighted by King George V.
Starting with the 4th grade Craig attended Tientsin American School for U.S. Businessmen's children. When Craig was 12 the children of both of his neighbors were kidnapped for ransom money. At age 13 he and his brother were sent to Hong Kong. When he was 17 he attended Hong Kong University and was accepted to study at Cambridge University. It was his father's wish that he attend MIT and obtain a technical degree. The next year he left for MIT on the American President Ocean Liner. On the way Craig got a chance to stop in Hawaii. He thought it was nice there so wired his father saying he had gone far enough and would like to stay there. It did not take long to get a return wire with instructions to continue his 3 week voyage to California and then on to MIT.
Once at MIT Craig studied chemical engineering and later became interested in economics. Prior to graduation he was accepted into the Harvard Business School. His father continued to insist on a technical education and instructed him not to attend Harvard. Craig received a BS in chemical engineering and an MS in physical chemistry.
Because of the Japanese entry into the war he did not return to China. He entered a U.S. Steel service engineer training program. Because of his nationality Craig could not join in the war effort at first. Later he had the opportunity to join the Marines as an Interpreter but would not be allowed to wear the Marine uniform. He did not like that restriction and did not accept the offer. When the Chinese Army started a B-24 training program Craig joined the Chinese Army in the US. It did not take long for the Chinese Army to recognize Craig's academic background. Once they did that was the end of B-24 training. Craig was assigned to various research labs for the rest of the war.
Following W.W.II he applied for a position with International Nickel, USA. They chose the young Craig over an older MIT Chinese professor because of Craig's practical background. He spent his first year in Nickel Alloy training. The training was in the U.S., England and Canada. On the trip to England he ended up on the Queen Elizabeth with a State Room reserved for one of the Board of Directors. After returning he met his American wife in New York where she was teaching school.
In 1946 Craig was made manager of the International Nickel Technical Information Office in Shanghai. There he had the opportunity to convince the government leaders the value of exporting Tsingtao Beer. They were contemplating closing the Brewery which was operated by a German Brew Meister but was having trouble with welds on the nickel vats. Craig made a trip to the US and learned how to weld nickel. When he returned he personally provided training on nickel welding and the problem went away. While there, he also was involved in designing a new Chinese Central Nickel Mint which was never built. Due to the impending Communist takeover Craig made reservations to leave Shanghai on the last Pan Am flight. It would also carry the grandson of President Teddy Roosevelt. At the last minute Craig and his brother decided to take a boat one last time down the coast. He later learned that his Pan Am flight crashed. In 1949 Craig's son was born. Two years later his daughter was born.
From 1955 to 1965 Craig worked for General Electric Company in Schenectady, NY. There he was a chemical materials engineer to the Large Steam Turbine-Generator Department to conduct and direct investigations on materials problems, and selections on coal-fired and the first commercial boiling-water nuclear reactor (Dresdenel) propulsion plants. Later he was head of the corrosion section on structural materials at their Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, with responsibility to investigate, define and solve problems in applied chemistry, metallurgy and corrosion, relating to numerous materials selections and specifications in naval nuclear reactors and propulsion plants.
From the autumn of 1965 to 1979, he was on the research staff of Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, directing investigations on failure analysis of structural components in water-cooled nuclear reactors. He also served as consultant to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Electric Power Research Institute, and various electrical utilities. In addition he conducted corrosion coating, creep fatigue and fracture mechanics studies on stainless steels and alloys of nickel, titanium and vanadium in high temperature air and liquid sodium, under in-reactor and ex-reactor conditions.
In 1978 he was made materials-engineering manager of the Energy and Environmental Systems Division. He established and directed the materials assessment program for the solar heating and cooling demonstration branch of the Department of Energy (DOE); he also served as materials consultant to the division on ocean technology, geothermal and geopressure energy, and coal gasification.
From 1980 to 1983, Mr. Cheng was President and sole owner of ECA Inc. (Energy and Conservation Applications) in Lisle, Illinois; his duties included planning, staffing and managing DOE contracts as subcontractor to US national laboratories and/or DOE regional offices, on various assignments associated with energy and environmental systems.
Craig's published articles have been widely quoted and referenced in scientific journals and at international conferences. An accredited corrosion specialist of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, Mr. Cheng was the plenary lecturer at the 5th European Corrosion Conference in Paris, France in 1973. Upon receiving the invitation to the Conference he was told that the DOE would only provide him with $400 to attend the Conference. He made it known that he would not be able to attend. A short while later he received a letter from the French Government with first class flight tickets and accommodations for 2 weeks during the Conference. Craig is listed in "Who's Who in the Midwest" and in 1985 was one of 25 Americans chosen each 3 years to be listed in "The International Who's Who of Intellectuals" by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge England.
It is always a pleasure associating with Craig at Club events. He has enjoyed golfing but lately is bothered by arthritis in his shoulder and unable to continue golfing. At one of the Club events another attendee mentioned having a good response from a local Acupuncture specialist. Craig would be interested in speaking with that person.