Frederick En-Yu Wang

Frederick En-Yu Wang, 89, of High Point, NC, passed away Monday, January 3, 2022, at Westchester Harbour Assisted Living.

Born August 1, 1932, in Shetou, Taiwan, he was the second son of the late Eng-Siek Wang and the late Sim-Chu Wu.

Frederick earned a B.S. in Physical Science in 1953 from Southwestern at Memphis, Tennessee, a M.S. in Physical Science in 1957 from the University of Illinois, Champagne Urbana, and a PhD in Solid State Chemistry from Syracuse University in 1960. Frederick went on to do post-doc work under Nobel laureate Dr. William Lipscomb at Harvard University studying boron hydrides in 1961.

While at Syracuse University, Frederick met fellow student Mary Jo Walker. They were married in 1962 in Tulsa, Mary Jo’s hometown. In 1963 son Fritz was born, followed by a daughter in 1964, Terry. Frederick and Mary Jo were divorced in 1989.

Frederick worked as a Solid-State Physicist at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Maryland from 1963 to 1980, where he was the co-discoverer of the memory alloy, Nitinol. During this time, he became a U.S. citizen, enabling him to work on top-secret projects for the Navy. Frederick wrote more than 50 papers and filed dozens of patents during his career. Frederick’s real passion in life was the founding in 1980 and leadership of his company, Innovative Technology International, Inc. (ITI), a research and development company focused on the use of Nitinol in the medical industry, primarily stents. After retiring from ITI in 2012, Frederick relocated back to Taiwan, where he worked until 2017 as a Nitinol consultant to a public/private metals R & D center. He also taught graduate classes in superconductivity at the National Cheng Kung University.

In 2005, Frederick authored Bonding Theory for Metals and Alloys, published by Elsevier, in which he laid out his ground-breaking theory about metallic bonding. A second edition was published in 2019.

He is survived by his son, Fritz Wang and wife Amy of Thomasville, North Carolina; daughter, Teresa Finlay and husband Matthew of Far Hills, New Jersey; sister, Sharon Kao and husband Jason of Taiwan; grandchildren, Patrick Wang and wife Lilli, Jeremy Wang and wife Darby, Max Wang and wife Jessie, Samantha Wang, Walker Finlay, Oliver Finlay, and Christian Finlay; great-grandchildren, Autumn Wang, Scarlett Wang, Cooper Wang, Adelaide Wang, and Jordy Wang.

In addition to his parents, Frederick was preceded in death by his brother, Ying-Xiang and grandson, Nicholas Finlay.

A memorial service will be held in the spring. Date and location to be determined.

Wright Funerals-Cremations is in charge of arrangements.