BSChE 1955 - CBEEPete Johnson is a 1955 graduate of the OSU Chemical Engineering Department and a member of the department's advisory board. After spending 15 years in various chemical engineering positions in California, he went to work for Evans Products in Corvallis, and managed the production unit and designed new battery separator manufacturing plants. In 1980, he started a venture with his own new patented idea for making battery separators. He is the founder and owner of Tekmax, Inc., that is now the worldwide leader in battery plate enveloping and automated transfer equipment. He holds 12 patents on various machine components, and every battery maker in the US uses his patented method. Tekmax now produces 50 machines a year--the newest highly automated model was introduced in 1996. Pete and Rosalie Johnson have recently established the Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Engineering.