Co-honoree Maurice Sabado has been dedicated to the advancement of science and technology for more than 30 years.

Currently Vice President of Technology Solutions at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a research and engineering firm in San Diego, Sabado has published more than 30 papers on fusion and biomedical technology and holds two patents.

From 1991 to 1998, Sabado led the management and operations of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an international fusion energy project design integration center in San Diego. The center provided interoperability with two international centers separated by several times zones, enabling design engineering around the clock. His team wrote and implemented software to automatically integrate worldwide research and design among the parties to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations protocol agreement.

This work followed design and construction of the Tokomak Fusion Test Reactor at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory where he was the Deputy Project Manager and Engineering Manager overseeing design and construction.

Sabado has made technical and managerial contributions to accelerator projects at major research facilities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Accelerator projects excite particles such as protons or electrons to high velocities (almost the speed of light) with electric fields and use magnetic fields to guide their direction so they can interact with various targets such as tumors in cancer treatment, weapons for defense or materials for research.

Sabado was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, and raised in Seattle. He attended West Seattle High School before transferring to George Cannon High School on Midway Island.

After a stint with the United States Navy Seabees—the Naval Construction Force—as an engineering aide, he returned home to Seattle and joined The Boeing Company as a draftsman. “I was rising quickly at Boeing, and my wife encouraged me to return to school and become an engineer,” says Sabado. “Highline represented the perfect place to renew myself and demonstrate that I could handle college-level work.” He graduated in 1970 with an associate’s degree in mathematics.

Attending Highline has been a family affair. “Over 30 years ago, my wife, Joan, and our sister-in-law Linda Sabado took art classes at Highline,” says Sabado. “I have two brothers, Ron and Paul Sabado, who also graduated from Highline.” Ron Sabado is now a tenured faculty member in the Accounting department at Highline.

Maurice Sabado went on to the University of Washington and earned his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He is a member of the Engineering honor society.

He and his wife live in La Jolla, California, and have three grown children and three granddaughters. He serves as a director on the board of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, which furthers public interest in science and technology, and is active in his church and the Rotary Club.