Ming Cheng, PhD
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Ming Cheng was named senior vice president and chief technology officer at A. O. Smith in July 2025. He oversees the company’s research and engineering.
Before joining A. O. Smith, he was the senior vice president of research and development for the Transportation and Electronics Business Group at 3M Company, where he worked for 25 years. Ming served as vice president of research and development in the Greater China area from 2015-2019. At 3M, he also worked as vice president of research and development for the electronics materials solutions division, laboratory director, laboratory manager, business development supervisor and research specialist.
Ming received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Peking University in Beijing, China, a Doctoral Degree in polymer chemistry from Cornell University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.