Tubing innovator, Forney, to receive ITA’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award
Published 3:30 pm Thursday, September 22, 2016
Auburn’s Clyde Forney receives the International Titanium Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s 32nd international conference and exhibition in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sept. 26.
Forney enjoyed a distinguished 45-year career in the titanium industry and was instrumental in the development and commercialization of Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy as the material of choice for aircraft hydraulic tubing and many other industrial and commercial applications.
He was the director of marketing and sales at Sandvick Special Metals in the Tri-Cities from 1981-99. He sold the first order of titanium tubing to The Boeing Co., his primary customer.
“I feel very fortunate and very pleased to receive this award,” Forney said. “The people who have won this award have done remarkable things in the titanium industry. It’s an honor for me to be among them.”
In 2000 Forney joined Ti Sports in Pasco as vice president of sales for titanium bicycles and specialty tubing. The company shifted its operations, became Ti Lite, and focused on using Ti-3Al-2.5V in the production of wheelchairs. Forney stayed with the company for four years.
Retired, Forney, 80, works today out of his Auburn home as an international consultant on titanium. He remains an interested observer of the titanium industry and is intrigued by potential next-generation applications for titanium in medical, dental and consumer markets.
