The Neoteric Hovercraft Team

The Neoteric Administrative Team

An Australian-born engineer, Chris Fitzgerald is the founder and President of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. and its subsidiary, Hovercraft Pilot Training. He has trained and certified rescue, recreational, commercial and military hovercraft pilots for more than 30 years. Fitzgerald is also founder and Chairman of the World Hovercraft Organization and the DiscoverHover International School Hovercraft Program, as well as founder and former President and Treasurer of the Hoverclub of America, Inc. For decades he has served as organizer and Chairman of major hovercraft events throughout the world, including World Hovercraft Week 2002.

Fitzgerald and Neoteric were selected by golf pro Bubba Watson and his sponsor, Oakley, to design and create the BW1 hovercraft golf cart, and he is the hovercraft expert featured in Thinkmodo’s viral video, Bubba’s Hover, which became the #1 most shared video in the world. He also served as Judge in the Emmy Award-winning Junkyard Wars Hovercraft episode, televised by The Learning Channel, and is co-author of two hovercraft books, Hovercraft Technology, Economics and Applications and Light Hovercraft Design.

• First Entrepreneur in Residence at the leading engineering college in the USA, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• Recipient, Rotary International Foundation Award for worldwide hovercraft study tour
• Trainee Engineer, British Hovercraft Corporation
• Recipient, O’Shannessy Award, Society of Automotive Engineers
• Participant in the world's first hovercraft race, Canberra, Australia, 1964
• Service in the Royal Australian Air Force Air Training Corps
• Technical Assistant, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Melbourne, Australia
• Research Mechanical Engineer, Readymix Concrete Australia, Ltd.
• Production Manager, Fitzgerald & Sons Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
• Mechanical Engineering graduate, Victorian Institute of Colleges, Australia
• Aeronautical Engineering graduate, Farnborough Technical College, UK
• Member/paper presenter, Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute
• Member, Canadian Air Cushion Society
• Active, award-winning hovercraft racer

Rob Wilson – President, Neoteric Engineering Affiliates, Pty. Ltd; Australia / Technical Director, Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc.

Wilson’s credentials also include:

• 4-year apprenticeship / Automotive Technician’s Certificate, Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria
• Engineer intern, Steelweld Cranes Pty. Ltd.
• Project Engineer, REPCO Engine Technical Centre, Pty. Ltd.
• Product Development Engineer / Technical Director, Fitzgerald and Sons Pty. Ltd.
• Member, Australian Society of Automotive Engineers
• Member, Hoverclub of Australia.

A resident of Melbourne, Australia, Atkins operates his own design firm, David Atkins Design, Pty. Ltd., and has a long and varied career in product design in both America and Australia. His major clients include Telecom Australia and several governmental agencies. In addition to hovercraft design for Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc., Atkins has performed vehicle body design for Mercedes Benz and International Trucks. As former Designer for Australian Consolidated Industries, Ltd. and Crown Corning, Sydney, his skills are behind some of the most familiar products on the market in Australia. He is also recognized as a designer and manufacturer of fine jewelry with unique Australian motifs.

Atkins’ credentials also include:

• Product of the Year Award, Hoverclub of America
• Gold Citation, Design Institute of Australia
• Excellence Award, Institution of Engineers, Australia
• Designer in Residence, Indiana State University, Indiana USA
• Design professor, Melbourne Institute of Technology
• Diploma of Education, Victoria State College, Australia
• Associate Diploma of Industrial Design, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
• Victorian Student Award, Australian Design Institute
• Member, Design Institute of Australia

Sharolyn Herring is consultant to Neoteric in all marketing, public relations and corporate communications endeavors and is the author / SEO director for all Neoteric Hovercraft websites. She is the former Director of Corporate Communications, Sam’s Club/The Wholesale Club and Director of Marketing/Public Relations, Signature Inns, Inc. Herring’s career includes numerous awards for copyrighting, marketing, advertising and promotions in all media. She is an accomplished artist and recipient of awards for both fine art and advertising design. Herring studied Art, Creative Writing, and Marketing / Public Relations at Indiana University, the University of Nevada and Indiana State University.

Peggy Sun was born and raised in Beijing, China but has spent more than half of her life studying and working in the US. She became a US citizen in 2000. She came to Terre Haute to attend Rose-Hulman and get her Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Previous to that she used her automotive design degree to work for the Mercedes Benz maintenance service center in Beijing. She also worked for the Beijing Transmission Company in the engineering department working with the Borg Warner Co. in Muncie, Indiana, providing gearboxes for agricultural equipment. She also worked for Lufthansa Manufacturing company in Beijing where the company maintained and repaired aircraft. She worked in the ground support vehicle department to support their engineering needs.

After coming to Terre Haute and graduating from Rose Hulman Peggy worked for 7 years as a design engineer for Kentucky Trailer Manufacturing Company in Louisville, KY. She has also worked the last 15 years as a real estate agent. With her experience and communication and social skills she has become an agent for the Translation and Interpretation Services in Central Indiana. Many local businesses have benefitted from her volunteer services.

Barbara Johnson of Terre Haute, Indiana USA is the manager of the Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. office. Johnson has an Associates Degree in Business and performs all general office duties including bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll and has webmaster responsibilities for the Neoteric websites as well. She enjoys reading, baking, and candy making and is a member of First Apostolic Church.

Ryan Guthrie is the main computer engineer for the Neoteric information technology team, responsible for IT administration & infrastructure, development oversight, applications deployment, LAMP & WAMP administration, and directing workflow. His hobbies include computers, networking, robotics, gaming & game development, design, and 4-wheeling.

The Neoteric Manufacturing Team

Mark Dial - Fiberglass Fabricator

Mark Dial, originally from Champaign, Illinois USA, first worked for Neoteric during his high school and college years performing wooden and later fiberglass hovercraft construction; he now manages the Neoteric fiberglass manufacturing division. After earning a degree in business from Indiana State University, he continued to work for Neoteric until 1989.For the next 10 years Dial worked at Hyster Fork Lift Trucks in Danville, Illinois as a system parts analyst. He earned a Master's Degree in Instructional Systems Technology in 2000 from Indiana University.

Thiam Huat Ho, formerly of Malaysia, serves as a fabricator in the Fiberglass division at Neoteric. In Malaysia, he managed a gasoline station for a number of years before operating his own business selling telephones.

George Reedy, a native of Terre Haute, Indiana USA. Reedy served in the United States Air Force as an Aircraft Metals Technology and also a Structural Technician. He also worked for an Aero space manufacturing facility and fabricating machine shops. He is currently working in Neoteric as a Production Manager/Operational Supervisor.

From Peterborough, England, Neil Murtagh comes to Neoteric with experience in mechanical fitting, machining, and machinery maintenance. He is a Mustang enthusiast and is currently restoring a 1968 Fastback. He also has an extensive film collection.