Voelcker was born in January 1930 in Tonawanda, New York.[1] At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),[6] Voelcker studied mechanical engineering,[1] before going to the University of Rochester and Cornell University.[1] At MIT, Voelcker was part of the rifle team and the rowing team, becoming a collegiate rifle champion in 1950.[2] Voelcker then served with the 82nd Airborne Division,[7] and was part of the army team that won the national team rifle title.[2] He earned a Fulbright Scholarship and went to the Imperial College of Science in London, England, to study electrical engineering.[2] During the 1950s, Voelcker also coached the rifle team at MIT.[1]
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne,[8] Voelcker competed in the men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions event, finishing in tenth place.[9]
He taught at the University of Rochester, where he was awarded with the university's top prize in 1969.[2] Voelcker's work in 3D modeling led to the use of CAD/CAM engineering.[10] In total, Voelcker spent more than twenty years as a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and worked at the Cornell University College of Engineering.[2] He was a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.[11] In 2014, he was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.[12]
Voelcker died at the Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, New York, in January 2020 at the age of 90.[2][13]
