Memorial planned for engineer Henry Guckel

A memorial service planned Saturday, July 22, for UW–Madison microelectronics pioneer Henry Guckel will showcase the engineer’s far-reaching impact on industry and the careers of his students.

Guckel Related stories: Smaller, Taller Micromachines Show Commercial Promise

The memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 22, at the Wisconsin Center, 702 Langdon St.

Guckel, who died June 5 after a brief illness, was one of the leading figures in the development of micromachines, which are devices often smaller than the width of human hair. The tiny devices are bringing a new level of control and precision to technology in the medical, computer and automobile industries.

A professor here since 1970, Guckel created the university’s first silicon fabrication program and founded the Wisconsin Center for Applied Microelectronics. Both of those efforts have international reputations for developing innovative technology.

“Professor Guckel had a strong dedication to teaching and to bridging the gap between academic research and industry,” says Craig Rypstat, a former graduate student of Guckel and UW–Madison psychology researcher.

Guckel held more than 80 patents in microelectronics devices and in the use of x-ray lithography and electroplating techniques. Licensed devices are being used to improve balloon angioplasty for heart disease, tiny switches for pay-per-view TV, and precision devices for watches.

Among the scores of companies Guckel worked with are Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Allied Signal, Quantum Devices of Barneveld and SSI Technologies of Dodgeville. He also had licenses with companies in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.

Kevin Fischer, one of Guckel’s current doctoral students, says Guckel formed the careers of about 20 Ph.D. students and countless masters students. Many of them went on to prominent management roles at Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, and the federal Sandia Research Laboratory.

Fischer says the memorial service is likely to draw and international group who have either studied under or worked with Guckel.