His work experience includes researcher at NASA and IBM and professor at Howard University. He is a recognized pioneer in the fabrication of plasma semiconductor devices, and his patent "Process for Controlling the Slope of a Via Hole" was an important contribution to the process of plasma etching. This procedure is now used by many semiconductor manufacturing companies. Alcorn was one of the first scientists to present a computer-modeling solution of wet etched and plasma etched structures, and he has received several cash prizes for his inventions of plasma-processing techniques.
He has received numerous awards and honors for his work. He has been a member of several professional organizations, including IEEE and the Electrochemical Society.