Alumni Newsmakers

Rocket scientist, dragon dancer

Wayne Wong dives into space science and ethnic culture with equal zeal

As chief of the thermal energy conversion branch at the NASA Glenn Research Center, Wayne Wong ’89 helps design power systems that will allow the U.S. to explore deep space. As a leader in Cleveland’s Asian American community, he helps to animate and showcase Asian culture for everyone to explore.

Both roles fit the personality of the outgoing aerospace engineer who dives into science and culture with equal zeal.

Wong appeared in news reports in May as the campus community celebrated Asian American Heritage Month. He’s a vice president of the Greater Cleveland chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans — and the leader of its dragon dance team. He leads a noisy, mystical dance designed to bring good luck to all who see it.

“My ethnic identity is something that I cherish and am very proud of,” Wong told The Daily, CWRU’s online news source. “My involvement with these organizations is ultimately because I’m invested in seeing the growth and continued vitality of this community.”

Wong immigrated with his family from Hong Kong as a boy and grew up in Cleveland’s AsiaTown. He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Case Institute of Technology while active in the Asian American Alliance.

About a decade ago, Wong helped found the Cleveland Asian Festival, which showcases the art, foods and performance groups of the region’s Asian cultures. Typically, the festival includes a dragon dance — led by a Case engineer.

“I’m happy to support AsiaTown and Cleveland’s Asian community in any way I can,” Wong said. “These are all opportunities to reach out to the wider Greater Cleveland community to show that we’re part of America, but we come with a different background and a different point of view. Let’s enjoy this together.”

Now hiring, engineers

Led by a Case engineer, Nexus Engineering finds a winning formula

One of Cleveland’s fastest growing engineering firms, Nexus Engineering Group, has gotten good at creating jobs while raising Ohio’s stature in the oil and gas industry. The 180-employee company, co-founded by Jeff Herzog ’79, MBA ’86, was awarded a $1 million Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit in June as the state recognized its potential.

Headquartered in Playhouse Square, Nexus plans to about double in size over the next five years and has committed to create 65 full-time jobs in Cleveland and Maumee, Ohio, where it recently opened an office.

The firm offers engineering services to oil refining, petroleum midstream, chemical, energy and manufacturing industries.

It employs structural, civil, electrical, mechanical and process engineers, as well as professionals with instrumentation, design and construction management skills. Herzog, the company president, started his career at the Standard Oil Co. as a project engineer. He launched Nexus in 2005 with a former SOHIO colleague, Marianna Corrao, who earned her chemical engineering degree at Cleveland State University. The pair built an engineering dynamo.

Nexus reported 20 percent growth each of the past two years and was credited by Crain’s Cleveland Business with helping to make Ohio a larger player in oil and gas refining.

Herzog, the former president of the Case Alumni Association, credits the company's success to its innovative approaches to engineering projects and an enthusiastic staff. "We have a lot of really smart people and if you give them a mission, they're going to deliver,” he told Crain’s. “Every day we've got to figure out a way to get better or we'll be left behind."

So far, that has not been a problem.