Rod Boyer, RBTi Consulting
2019 Award Recipient
Nominated by the ASM International
Rod Boyer
RBTi Consulting
Rod Boyer, RBTi Consulting, has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Industry Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of his many contributions to the aviation industry as a titanium specialist investigating the metallurgy of titanium and developing techniques for fabrication of titanium alloy air frame components. He was employed by The Boeing Company from 1965 through 2011 and now operates a consulting practice.
At Boeing, his efforts were focused on increasing the understanding of titanium metallurgy, including the effects of processing variations resulting in microstructural variations and the resultant effect on the properties of titanium alloys. He conducted research on all product forms used on aircraft and studied almost all of the processes involved in the fabrication of titanium components, from melting to mill processing, secondary processing (forging, extrusions, etc.) to machining. The result of his work was implementation of several new technologies on Boeing and other aircraft.
He directed the industrial effort on titanium alloy development for the NASA-sponsored High Speed Civil Transport Program and has been involved in several Air Force-sponsored Materials Affordability Initiative Programs involving advancing the understanding of titanium metallurgy. He focused on powder metallurgy during his last three years at Boeing, both blended and pre-alloyed. He led the effort in obtaining static design allowables for the blended elemental powder metallurgy product which has been approved by Boeing. Powder metallurgy ensures very low waste levels compared to most other material commodities, such as forgings and plate, helping Boeing achieve environmental goals.