MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT DECEMBER 1998 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

A newsletter for alumni, students, and friends of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Outstanding ME Alumni Receive Awards at Engineers Day Ceremony

Two ME alumni were honored with Distinguished Service Awards on Engineers' Day, October 9. Bennett H. Tollefson and Raymond L. Degner were nominated by the ME department in recognition of their contributions to the engineering profession and received their awards at a ceremony in Madison.

Bennett H. Tollefson (26K JPG)

Tollefson earned his BS degree in 1942 and began his career with General Electric Company as a test engineer. In 1951, Tollefson opened his own consulting and engineering representative business, which he continued to operate until his retirement in 1986. Along the way, he developed and produced a long list of electromechanical devices, many specially designed for televisions, radios, and slide projectors. Tollefson currently resides in Tequesta, Florida.

Raymond L. Degner (46K JPG)

Raymond Lee Degner earned his BS degree in 1966 and his MS a year later at UW-Madison. After completing his PhD degree with honors at Stanford in 1971, Degner joined Semimetals, Inc. as a development engineer. After 27 years as an engineer, engineering manager, and corporate executive, Degner has begun a new venture leading the formation of Paragon Systems, a management buyout of the Flat Panel Display Equipment Division from Lam Research. He currently holds three patents related to the semiconductor industry. Before his current project, Degner worked for Lam in plasma etch technology which is used worldwide in manufacturing semiconductors.

Degner spent some of his growing up years on his family's farm near Spooner, Wisconsin, and now lives with his family in Los Altos, California.

DECEMBER 1998 Contents