Shoreline resident honored as recipient of 2023 Diamond Award from the UW College of Engineering

Alain Adjorlolo, B.S. 1979 MSE;
M.S. 1981 MSE; Ph.D. 1985 MSE
Project Engineer, Lead,
Advanced Materials,
The Boeing Company

The University of Washington College of Engineering is committed to celebrating the many achievements and contributions made by outstanding alumni and friends. 

The College Diamond Awards honor exemplary individuals,

Named as the recipient of the 2023 Diamond Award for Translating Innovation into Impact is Shoreline resident Alain Adjorlolo.

This award honors outstanding alumni of the UW College of Engineering who have developed innovative technologies or enabled technology translation resulting in impactful solutions in industry or society.

Corrosion assessment and prevention is critical for aircraft design and maintenance, yet the topic has few experts due to its technically challenging nature. 

One such expert is Alain Adjorlolo, a pioneer and innovator in the field, who holds 10 granted patents and 11 patent applications on corrosion inhibitors, adhesives and composites. 

Adjorlolo has built a career and reputation as a highly respected engineer via technical advances that have influenced modern aircraft design and advanced sustainability across the industry.

After graduating from the University of Washington, Adjorlolo joined The Boeing Company as a fledgling support engineer, and today serves as a project engineering lead for advanced materials. Over his 31-year career, he has made many significant contributions. 

His design of a corrosion risk assessment tool is now industry standard for minimizing risk of galvanic corrosion of aluminum structures in assembly with carbon fiber composites, extending the airplane’s heavy maintenance interval from eight to twelve years. 

He streamlined production of the one-piece carbon fiber airplane frames used on all Boeing 787 aircrafts while maintaining compliance with corrosion requirements. 

With increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability, Adjorlolo is leading the charge to eliminate hazardous materials commonly used in corrosion prevention. In doing so, he’s built a roadmap for environmental sustainability to improve the commercial aviation ecosystem of the future.

His expertise is highly sought after across Boeing teams as well as in his home department at the UW. An affiliate professor of MSE, Adjorlolo is commended by his students for his unique ability to communicate complex information. 

In 2022, Adjorlolo was named a Technical Fellow at Boeing, a designation held by less than 500 engineers. He received the Black Engineer of the Year Award in Outstanding Contribution in Industry category from US Black Engineer and Information Technology in 2020 and was featured in Innovation Quarterly in 2021.