Mr. Marcel Joseph Vogel

A research scientist who worked at the IBM San Jose Research Center for 27 years, he is sometimes referred to as ?Dr.?, although this title was based on an honorary degree, not a Ph.D. Born in San Francisco, he attended the University of San Francisco. Before joining IBM he was an established expert in the fields of magnetics, chemistry, phosphor technology, liquid crystal systems and luminescence (light occurring in low temperature). He joined IBM as a full-time research scientist in 1957, when his company, Vogel Luminescence was sold to Ultra Violet Products. During his tenure at IBM he greatly refined Parry?s initial magnetic stripe work by eliminating the use of Mylar tape. He received 32 patents for his inventions. Among these was the magnetic coating for the 24? hard disk drive systems still in use. After 27 years of service, the unconventional scientist retired from IBM in 1984and focused on human-plant communication. Prior to his career at IBM, he had become interested in various pseudoscientific theories of quartz crystals and other occult and esoteric fields of study. The Vogel Crystal type cut was created by him. It is claimed that he began his research into luminescence while he was still in his teens. This research eventually led him to publish his thesis, ?Luminescence in Liquids and Solids and Their Practical Application?, in collaboration with University of Chicago's Dr. Peter Pringsheim in 1943. Two years after the publication, he incorporated his own company, Vogel Luminescence, in San Francisco. For the next decade the firm developed a variety of new products: fluorescent crayons, tags for insecticides, a black light inspection kit to determine the secret trackways of rodents in cellars from their urine and the psychedelic colors popular in "new age" posters. He pioneered black-light technology, spawning the development of several identification and tagging products, as well as the widely popular and iconic black light of the 1960s. At his funeral, IBM researcher and Sacramento, California physician Bernard McGinity, M.D. said of him, ?He made his mark because of the brilliance of his mind, his prolific ideas, and his seemingly limitless creativity.?