Bergey named 2002 Outstanding Engineering Alumni
John M. Bergey (IE, '56) was honored by the College of Engineering with a 2002 Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award at its annual awards convocation held April 15, 2002. The Penn State Outstanding Engineering Alumni Awards were created in 1966 to recognize alumni who have reached exceptional levels of professional achievement and to demonstrate the College's appreciation of their example, dedication, and loyalty. John Bergey is perhaps best known as the "father of the digital watch." Following graduation, Bergey spent three years in the U.S. Air Force as a weapons officer. He then joined Hamilton Watch Company as manager of the military products division, directing the development of electro-mechanical devices for military weapons applications. When in 1966 film director Stanley Kubrick commissioned Hamilton to build a futuristic digital clock for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bergey was involved in the development of defense technology he thought might be applied to watches. Named Hamilton's director of research and development in 1968, Bergey led the team that planned, developed and manufactured the first digital timepiece. "My industrial engineering background helped me take a product from concept to mass production," he said. The first Pulsar digital watches hit the market in 1972 and were an immediate success. Eventually, Hamilton's Pulsar division was spun off into a separate company, with Bergey as president. When Pulsar was sold in 1972, Bergey left to start a new venture called Novatec, Inc., which specialized in electronic health care products for the home. After six years, Novatec was sold, and Bergey joined defense contractor Ferranti Technologies, Inc., as director of business development. Since his retirement in 1992, Bergey has concentrated on his golf game and volunteering as chair of a local hospital board. He has two children and lives in Lancaster, Pa., with his wife, Joan. His advice to students: "Don't be afraid to take risks." He says his career often followed the road less traveled. "I was usually willing to take on the unknown," he recalled. "Not much of it was planned or predicted."