EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Materials and Corrosion, Institute of Physical Chemistry, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1987

       Dissertation: "Effect of Electrochemical Polarization on Corrosion Fatigue Crack Growth Rates in Steels and Titanium Alloys"

       The first Ph.D. in Russia awarded for research on environment-assisted cracking of materials using fracture mechanics.

       Adviser: Dr. Viktor A. Marichev

• Research Internship, Chemistry/Materials Science, Institute of Physical Chemistry, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1981–1983

       Research area: Environment-Sensitive Mechanical Behaviour of Materials (Rehbinder effect). Adviser: Prof. Eugene D. Shchukin, NAE​

• Lieutenant Engineer Officer (Reserve), Army ROTC, Fuel Transportation, Storage, and Distribution—graduated with a grade of “Excellent” (top 5%) on the State final exam, Moscow Institute of Petroleum and Gas Technology, 1981 (promoted to Senior Lieutenant in 1984)

• Mechanical Engineer’s degree (5-year program), Moscow Institute of Petroleum and Gas Technology (a.k.a. Gubkin University), 1981

       Thesis: "Designing an Assembly Line for Tricone Bit III 215.9 (8.5 in.) SZ-GV with Welded Teeth, Centrifugally Reinforced with PCD Inserts" 

       The world's first assembly line for manufacturing drill bits with teeth welded onto bit cones – a groundbreaking innovation at the time.*

       Adviser: Prof. Konstantin A. Krylov (Design and Manufacturing). Co-Adviser: Dr. Sergei N. Bobrov (Materials Characterization)

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( * ) In roller cone drill bits, the teeth are traditionally either milled directly into the cone (milled-tooth bits) or made of tungsten carbide to be pressed into pre-drilled holes in the cone (insert bits). The semi-automated assembly line designed by Shipilov enabled, for the first time, welding steel teeth reinforced by PCD inserts directly onto cones.

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Accredited Technical Training:

• Certified Lathe Operator, Class 2 (exams passed for Class 3), Krasnodar Oil Drilling Machine Factory “Neftemashremont,” 1979

• Federal Certificate, Aircraft Mechanic, Level 3 (airframe and powerplant), Ministry of Civil Aviation of the USSR, 1976

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Academic Appointment: Adjunct Professor, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 2018-present

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AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST/EXPERTISE

• Long-term performance and integrity of materials under in-service conditions

• Lifetime prediction of materials behaviour in corrosive environments; microstructure long-term stability

• Stress corrosion cracking (SCC), corrosion fatigue, and hydrogen embrittlement

• Irradiation-assisted SCC (IASCC) and irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking/fatigue (IASCF)

• Corrosion and corrosion control science and technology

• Environmentally induced aging and degradation of engineering equipment

• Biocompatibility and medical implant device corrosion and durability

• Applied (experimental) fracture mechanics; metallurgical failure analysis

• High-strength low-alloy steels, stainless steels, carbon steels, ductile iron, and alloys based on aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and nickel

• Nuclear power systems, aerospace and space technology, naval technology, medical devices, oil and gas pipelines, and public infrastructure: water mains, bridges, railway bridges, water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants.

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The expertise has been sought by companies, government agencies, research groups, and leading research institutions in 17 countries on five continents, including the U.S. Department of Defense, Transportation Safety Board (TSB) Canada, India’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Russian [Atomic Energy] Research Center “Kurchatov Institute,” “Sevmash” – the world’s largest submarine construction yard located in Russia’s Far North, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier military installation on the West Coast.

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INVITED PRESENTATIONS AT THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

• S.A. Shipilov, “Corrosion and Materials Research to Meet 21st-Century Defense Needs,” Teleconference Meeting of DoD Corrosion Policy and Oversight (CPO) and Military Department Corrosion Control and Prevention Executives, chaired by CPO Director Daniel J. Dunmire, February 17, 2016.

• S.A. Shipilov, “Advances and Challenges in Understanding the Influence of Environments on the Long-Term Stability and Integrity of Materials” Meeting at the DoD Corrosion Policy and Oversight (CPO) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)), chaired by CPO Director Daniel J. Dunmire, Department of Defense, Alexandria, VA, January 14, 2016.

 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PUBLICATIONS

• S.A. Shipilov, “Impact of Materials Deterioration and Corrosion on the U.S. Naval Aviation’s Readiness,” Proc. 2023 Department of Defense Corrosion Prevention Technology and Innovation Symposium: Corrosion Prevention as Readiness Enabler, paper no. DOD-AUG22-19858 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2019). [online]

• S.A. Shipilov, “An Experimental Irradiation Assembly for the Investigation of Corrosion Fatigue Crack Growth in the Structural Components of Naval Reactors,” Proc. 2019 Department of Defense-Allied Nations Technical Corrosion Conference, paper no. 2019-0099 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2019). [online]

• S.A. Shipilov, “Corrosion Fatigue Crack Propagation in a Stryker Combat Vehicle,” DoD CorrDigest, 1(2), 2018, 18-24 (Cover Article/Feature
  Article). Reprinted from Proc. 2017 Department of Defense-Allied Nations Technical Corrosion Conference, paper no. 2017-761104 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2017). [online]

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NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS AND HONOURS (since 2000)

• Morris Cohen Award for “advances in the fundamental understanding of environmental effects on mechanical properties and integrity of materials,” The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), 2025

• O.T. de Rincón Field Applied Technology Award for “achievements in applying engineering and scientific principles to protecting and preserving
  the U.S. Army’s double V-hull Stryker combat vehicles,” Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP), 2023

• Finalist for the MP (Materials Performance) Corrosion Innovation of the Year Award, 2021 and 2023

• Best Paper Award in the Corrosion Resistant Materials track (Top Honour), 2017 U.S. Department of Defense-Allied Nations Technical Corrosion
  Conference, 2017

• CIM Fellowship Award, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), 2016

• R.A. Brannon Award, The Signature Award of NACE International, 2015

• Fellow of the American Society for Metals (ASM) International, 2014

• CIM Distinguished Lecturer Award, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), 2012

• G. MacDonald Young Award, ASM International, 2011

• Fellow of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International, 2011

• Named a 3M William L. McKnight Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2011-2012

• Technical Achievement Award, NACE International, 2010

• ASM-Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) Visiting Lecturer Award, 2007. Host: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay

• Morris Cohen Award, The Metallurgical Society of CIM, 2007

• Foreign Visiting Professorship, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2007. Host: University of Science and Technology Beijing.

• Distinguished Service Award, NACE International, 2007

• ASM Canada Council M. Brian Ives Lectureship Award, 2005

• Special Recognition Award, The Metallurgical Society of CIM, 2005

• Elected to Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honour Society, 2003

• Fellowship, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnología, Portugal, 2000

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Other Highlights (partial list)

• Key reference author for the 2021 IMPACT Canada Study: International Measures of Prevention, Application, and Economics of Corrosion
  Technologies. Houston, TX: NACE International, 2021

• Featured on the homepage of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Corrosion Policy and Oversight’s website for 12 months, 2018-2019

• Cover/feature article, Spring 2018 edition of DoD CorrDigest, the biannual publication of the DoD Corrosion Policy and Oversight

• Appointed an Adjunct Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, 2018

• NSERC Site Visit Committee, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen’s University, 2017

• Pioneered research on irradiation-assisted stress corrosion fatigue, which affects the structural and functional integrity of internals and core components in aging water-cooled nuclear reactors, including naval reactors, 2016

• A $950,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Laboratory Directed R&D (LDRD) Grant in Transformational Nuclear Science and Technology,
  2016 – the only one awarded within the ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division, consisting of over 200 Ph.D. researchers

• Invited Lecturer/MeV Faculty, DoE’s Modeling, Experimentation and Validation (MeV) Summer School “Addressing Nuclear Fuel and Structural
  Materials Challenges for Current and Future Fuel Cycle Technologies,” 2016

• Awarded a $1 million contract by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the request of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, 2016

• Achievement Congratulations Letter from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thomas Mason, March 30, 2016

• The only expert sought by U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Kendall L. Card (Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations and Director of Naval

• Intelligence, for advice on tackling corrosion issues faced by the U.S. Armed Forces, 2015

• Cover/feature article, August 2015 issue of Materials Performance – MP 54(8), 2015, 30-37 (with J. Beavers and F. King).

• NACE International Expert Panelist on “Pipeline Stress Corrosion Cracking: Detection and Control,” 2015

• Interviewed by Materials Performance, the flagship publication of NACE International and the world’s most prominent circulation journal dedicated exclusively to corrosion prevention and control – MP 54(6), 2015, 70-72.

• Appreciation Letter from The Hon. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport of Canada, April 16, 2015

• Participated in an advisory capacity to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (Rail Transportation), 2014

• Interviewed by CIM Magazine, Canada’s #1 mining and minerals magazine – CIM Magazine 8(2), 2013, 79.

• Past Chairman (Chairman, 2008-2010), ASM Canada Council, 2010

• ASM Ontario Chapter 2007 Annual Keynote Lecture, Education Night “Partnering with Students,” University of Toronto

• Guest Scientist, Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, India, 2007

• Visiting Professor, Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 2007

• Best Student Paper Award to Vicky Carathanassis (4th-year student), 44th Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2005), Calgary, Alberta, 2005. Paper: “Calibration of the Electrical Potential Technique for Monitoring Corrosion Fatigue Crack Growth with Finite-Element Method” (with F. Wang and S.A. Shipilov).

• Chair and Organizer, Second International Conference on Environment-Induced Cracking of Metals (EICM-2), Banff, Alberta, 2004

• CIM Materials Performance and Integrity Section Luncheon Lecture, 43rd Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2004), Hamilton, Ontario

• Visiting Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 2004

• Visiting Professor, Faculty of Materials Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2003

• NSERC Site Visit Committee, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 2003

• Visiting Professor, Faculty of Materials Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2003 – “MSU News: Faculty of Materials Science,” Moscow University, 8(4028), February 2003.

• International Expert Panelist on “Perspectives of Localized Corrosion Modeling,” SCK-CEN: Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, 2002

• Guest of the Organizing Committee, XIIth International Colloquium on Mechanical Fatigue of Metals, Miskolc, Hungary, 1994

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Five Most Notable Contributions

•  2020 – Authored the first fact-based report on the impact of materials degradation and corrosion on the readiness of U.S. naval aviation. It was prepared for the National Commission on Military Aviation Safety, created by the U.S. Congress in 2019 out of concern for the increase in military aviation accidents. The work was recognized as “the most comprehensive account of corrosion-related issues in the U.S. Armed Forces and the military overall” (J. La Scala) during the 2023 U.S. Department of Defense Corrosion Prevention Technology and Innovation Symposium.

• 2016-2017 – Served as the principal investigator for “the first groundbreaking R&D project ever conducted within the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Laboratory System in metallurgy/materials science and corrosion” (R.W. Staehle, 2016). The project focused on the world’s first exploration of in-core irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking/fatigue (IASCC/F), a highly complex and multivariable mechanism of materials degradation, which has been identified by the DoE among the top priorities affecting the lifespan of commercial nuclear reactors. It also poses a serious risk to the U.S. sea-based strategic deterrent, as it could jeopardize the integrity of reactors in 11 out of the 14 Ohio-class ballistic-missile nuclear submarines (SSBNs) with the U.S. Navy.

• 2016 – Invited to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to assist in tackling corrosion in military equipment and infrastructure, which costs $20 billion annually and continues to rise. In response, two programs were developed, described by Daniel J. Dunmire, then Director of the DoD Corrosion Policy and Oversight, as “the only way to reduce the costs.” These programs are the first and only science-based strategy for managing corrosion in the U.S. Armed Forces.*

• 2013-2014 – Inspected two Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) trestles, known as the East Don Trestle, and three GO Transit bridges in Toronto, each over 100 years old. These inspections led to extensive repairs ordered by The Hon. Lisa Raitt, then Minister of Transport Canada, in 2015, based on recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The repairs, costing tens of millions of dollars, likely prevented train accidents. As of August 2025, work continues on three bridges, with one fully replaced in summer 2025. Notably, over the past decade, these are the only bridges out of 212 railway bridges in Toronto that have undergone major repairs or renovations. It remains unclear whether all other bridges in Canada are safe for railway operations or if they are deemed safe simply because they haven’t been inspected by Dr. Shipilov. This question is especially relevant, given that only GO Transit, the regional public transit service for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, carries over 70 million passengers each year. READ MORE

• 1992 – Invited to the Kremlin to serve as a technical consultant on seawater corrosion for Alexey V. Yablokov, who was President Boris Yeltsin’s State Advisor on Environmental Policy and a member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Shipilov’s expertise helped justify the creation of the Government Commission on Matters Related to Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea (“Yablokov Commission”), which produced a report titled “Facts and Problems Related to Radioactive Waste Disposal in Seas Adjacent to the Territory of the Russian Federation” (a.k.a. “Yablokov Report”), later discussed by the U.S. Congress in 1995.

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(*) An additional task Dunmire asked Shipilov to undertake in 2017 was to clean up the mess caused in 2004 by the Defence Science Board Task Force on Corrosion Control, which was composed of randomly chosen individuals. This issue is unlikely to be resolved without a significant financial investment and considerable time, indicating that the Task Force members did not fulfill their responsibilities adequately. Their errors have already cost the Department of Defense at least $100 billion over the past 20 years, with many parties benefiting from corrosion in the Armed Forces. This $100 billion loss is the most conservative estimate of what could have been prevented with minimal effort if the Task Force had included subject matter experts; in fact, the figure could be as much as twice as high.

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Plenary and Keynote Lectures

• Keynote, European Corrosion Congress (EUROCORR 2017) and 20th International Corrosion Congress (20ICC), Prague, Czech Republic, 2017

• Keynote, 56th Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2017), Vancouver, BC, 2017

• Plenary Lecture, NACE Corrosion Shanghai 2011 Conference and International Marine Coatings Summit (IMCS 2011), Shanghai, China, 2011

• Keynote, Plenary Session, NATO Research Workshop on “Corrosion Protection of Pipelines Transporting Hydrocarbons,” Biskra, Algeria, 2010

• Keynote, 48th Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2009), Sudbury, Ontario, 2009

• Opening Keynote Address, NACE Northern Area Eastern Conference, Toronto, Ontario, 2008

• Keynote, 47th Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2008), Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2008

• Keynote, Iranian Corrosion/2007 ICA International Congress (ICIC 2007), Tehran, Iran, 2007

• Keynote, 16th International Corrosion Congress (16ICC), Beijing, China, 2005

• Opening Keynote Address, NACE Northern Area Western Conference, Saskatoon, Sask., 2005

• Plenary Lecture, 5th NACE Latin-America Region Corrosion Congress, Santiago, Chile, 2003

• Keynote, 42nd Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2003), Vancouver, BC, 2003

• Keynote, Opening Plenary Session, 2nd China International Corrosion Control Conference (CICC’2002), Beijing, China, 2002

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Some Highlights and Recognitions from the 1980s and 1990s

• Logovaz Travel Grant, International Science Foundation/Soros Foundation (USA), 1996

• Guest Lecturer, Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal, 1995

• MacArthur International Travel Grant, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (USA), 1995 [read more]

• International Conference Travel Grant, Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Physical Sciences: Condensed Matter Physics), 1994

• Guest of the Organizing Committee of the XIIth International Colloquium on Mechanical Fatigue of Metals (ICMFM XII), Miskolc, Hungary, 1994

• Patent No. SU 1413488 A1 (Feb. 24, 1987): “Method for Measuring Corrosion Crack Growth Rates in Metals,” USSR’s Bulletin of Inventions 28 (1988), 182 (with V.A. Marichev)

• USSR Academy of Sciences Doctoral Fellowship, the most prestigious and highly competitive fellowship in the country that provided a full stipend for three years to pursue a Ph.D., 1983

• USSR Academy of Sciences Research Internship, granted to recent master’s-level graduates with strong academic and research skills that provided a full stipend for two years before entering Ph.D. studies,* 1981

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( * ) In the Soviet Union, in addition to a university degree (equiv. to a master’s), the law required two years of work experience in the relevant field after graduation and passing three highly competitive exams to gain admission to doctoral studies.