Wang Qidong was born in 1921 in a family of patriotic high intellectuals. His father was a famous professor of chemistry and received his science education in USA from 1909 to 1915 and participated in founding several colleges of science in several universities in Nanjing and Hangzhou. Dr. Wang’s mother was a famous primary school teacher. He thereby received very good family education and well influenced by his parents when he was young.

He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineer of Zhejiang University and started to work as an assistant in 1943. He won a scholarship for sending college graduates to peruse advanced degrees in Western countries through a competitive examination organized by the Ministry of Education. He received his Master's degree on industrial engineering from Stanford University in 1948 and his doctorate degree on heat power engineering from The University of Iowa in 1951. He returned to China Mainland immediately after he obtained his doctorate degree and started his teaching and research career in Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. Under his leadership the Specialization on Foundry Technology, the Department of Metallurgy, and the first Department of Materials Science and Engineering in China were established one after the other in Zhejiang University (in 1953, 1958 and 1979 respectively). He dedicated all his time and energy to the founding, teaching and doing scientific researches for the three newly established institutions, since in scientific discipline they were all different from what he had learnt before yet demanded urgently by the country. In the period from 1955 to 1978 his scientific researches were all done for the urgent demand of industries in China. The important contributions he made in scientific researches in that period of time were the intensification of cupola process, the successful operation of cupolas with multilayer small tuyeres using low quality coke (1955-1966), the finding of the applicable ductile cast state high speed steel and the technology of casting complicated high speed steel tools with lost wax casting technology (1972-1976).

Only since he organized the department of materials science and engineering, he began his teaching and research on the hydrogen storage alloys he widened his view on the benefit for the entire mankind. When he realized that the wise and scientific use of hydrogen as a fuel or a combustion promoter for the combustion of conventional fossil fuels could lead to the conservation of fossil fuels and the corresponding reduction of harmful emissions with great benefit for the mankind, he started to organize a new research group in 1979. For the faster growth of his teaching and research group, he led them to learn from Western universities and to join several well established scientific societies including the International Hydrogen Association, the Internal Symposium on Metal Hydrogen Systems, the International Symposium on Renewable Energies. Although his team was young, through earnest and hard work they made several well known contributions in their researches such as the mish-metal nickel five hydrogen storage alloy, (MsNi5) which had as good properties but was one third cheaper than the conventionally used lanthanum nickel five alloy (LaNi5) and the use of mechanical milling instead of melting technique for preparing the mish metal and lanthanum nickel five alloys for fabricating the electrodes for hydride storage batteries as the activity of the electrodes thus made were increased noticeably. Due to their contributions, the 1998 International Symposium on Metal Hydrogen System was held in Hangzhou China and Dr. Wang was assigned to be the president of that symposium. And they won several awards from China and foreign countries.

In the same period of time Dr. Wang made two important contributions to Zhejiang University. One was that on his persuasion, a team of executors and professors was formed in Zhejiang university to visit 12 well known universities in USA in 1979 and they were enlightened and determined to establish several new and important disciplines including the computer science and engineering, the industrial management, the biomedical science and engineering to make Zhejiang University more well known in China. His second contribution was that he persuaded the Deputy Governor of the Central Government of China, Mr. Li Nan Qin to combine the four best universities in Zhejiang Province into the new Zhejiang University, which became the first well known new comprehensive university in China with high potential for developing new disciplines and doing scientific researches.

Due to his dedication to the promotion of higher education, teaching and scientific research he has won one National Invention Award, 6 Provincial Invention Awards and 18 patents. His group has published 480 papers among which over 260 papers were enlisted in SCI and EI. For his distinguish contributions, he has been awarded many personal awards such as the Zhu Kezhen First Class Award for Distinguish Teaching, and the Award for Supervisors of Doctorate Students with 100 Best Thesis, the member of the Distinguished Engineering Academy of University of Iowa and the Hydrogen and Energy Award from the International Symposium of Hydrogen and Energy. He became a very well known professor in China and thereby he has been elected to the vice president of the standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Congress for four consecutive terms, namely the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th sessions, the member of standing committee in the 8th National People Congress, , the president of the Sciences and Technologies Society of Zhejiang Province for two terms. In these posts, he made many valuable suggestions, including the allowance of professors and engineer to work for other institutes during their vacations, the allowance to establish private primary, middle schools and colleges, the establishment of consultation committees in the societies of the Science and Technology Society of Zhejiang Province.

Besides his contributions to comprehensive universities, he also concerned very much the vocational education in Zhejiang Province. He has persuaded the governor in Zhejiang Province to establish the Zhejiang Engineering College, which grew very well since established. Presently it changed its name to the Zhejiang Institute of Science and Technology and cooperated with several German colleges. Dr. Wang was the honorary president of the academic committee of that institute. Dr. Wang believed that the way of running community colleges in USA might work very well in China for local economy and industries; he persuaded the Taizhou Government to build up the Taizhou Community College and cooperated with the Ohlone Community College of California in USA. That college invited him to be the honorary president of the college up to now. As he initiated tennis in Zhejiang Province he was elected as the President of the Tennis Association of Zhejiang Province for ten years and is now the honorary president of that association.