ANDERSON, Ind. — “You don’t see something like that every day,” seventh-grader Tristan Dixon said Tuesday, after he and his classmates got a firsthand look at the future.
In this case, it was the Vertiscooter. The gasoline-powered personal hovercraft was one of a handful of cutting-edge inventions that Anderson entrepreneur Pete Bitar brought to demonstrate to students of Anderson Preparatory Academy on their aerospace day.
A line formed to take a ride on the Vertiscooter after school Commandant Robert Guillaume expertly glided the stand-up hovercraft to a stop mere feet from cadets watching the demonstration outside the school.
“That was pretty cool,” Guillaume said. ”It was excellent,” ninth-grade English teacher Brenda Maxfield said after her ride. And when science teacher Anita Burt stepped off, she said, “It was awesome. ... I can really see that being the future.”
Bitar was invited to speak to students who had just completed aerospace projects on which they had worked together over the last month. Before demonstrating the Vertiscooter, Bitar had shown cadets inventions that are in the field, contracted to the Defense Department.
On the gym wall, he shone handheld lasers that are in use by U.S. soldiers staffing checkpoints in Iraq and elsewhere. Their light — by design — can be blinding.
Bitar, who has been featured in programs on the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, then walked to an innocent-looking briefcase sitting on a tabletop.
“This has no practical application,” he said, then caused the briefcase to burst forth a small, continual, controlled burst of electrical lightning whose zapping sound was worthy of Nikola Tesla.
The captivated cadets let out a continual, controlled “wow.”
“I’ve always been a sci-fi nut,” Bitar told the students. “You can see how things really could be if you used your imagination.”
He urged students to look to those who are doing challenging, technical work in the fields they are interested in. “Learn how they do things, learn how they process things.”
APA aerospace teacher Natalie Carter met Bitar through a firm she operates, NRC Business Development Consulting, and invited him to speak at the school.
“They don’t have to be 30 or 40 years old to have an invention,” Carter said. “They can do it now. ... His inventions, they’re awesome. And he’s doing it right here in Anderson.”
Bitar told students that invention doesn’t always involve a bolt from the blue. “Some of what you have to do is build on technologies that exist today,” he told students.
By that standard, seventh-grader Shane Jones was already thinking about the next generation after watching the Vertiscooter in action.
“I’d probably put some wheels on it,” Jones said. “And make sure it’s Earth-friendly.”
Breaking News
Related Photos
-
John P. Cleary
-
John P. Cleary
-
John P. Cleary
Related Links
Discussion
Aerospace inventor wows students
Bitar's work has been featured on History Channel, Discovery Channel
- Breaking News
-
-
Adele top winner with 6 Grammys
Adele, who captured the world's heart with an album about a broken romance, emerged as the top winner at Sunday's Grammy Awards, winning six trophies including the prestigious trifecta of record, song and album of the year.
-
Muncie mayor keeps pledge, reopens 2 fire houses
Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler has reopened two closed fire stations, keeping a promise he made in his successful campaign last fall.
-
Elwood mayor says new administration has had zero firings
Mayor Ron Arnold, who took office Jan. 1, said his administration has not fired a single employee.
-
Whitney Houston recalled as happy in days before death
Whitney Houston's death Saturday afternoon in a Beverly Hills hotel room came hours before she was scheduled to appear at an annual pre-Grammy party that introduced her to the industry decades ago and was expected to honor the six-time Grammy winner.
-
Fuel removal under way on Italy cruise ship
Underwater pumping operations began Sunday to remove some of the 500,000 gallons of fuel aboard the Costa Concordia, officials said, nearly a month after the cruise ship ran aground off Tuscany.
-
Indiana's inheritance tax on chopping block
State legislators looking to phase out or scale back Indiana's inheritance tax which brings in some $150 million a year, say they would lean on anticipated money from online sales tax collections and growth in other revenues to make up the difference.
-
No discipline planned at North Dakota degree mill
No immediate discipline is planned for any Dickinson State University employees in the wake of an audit determining the school awarded hundreds of degrees to foreign students who didn't earn them, the chancellor of North Dakota's university system said Saturday.
-
Downtown Indy got bulk of Super Bowl excitement
Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown Indianapolis for Super Bowl festivities, but outlying communities that served as official hosts to out-of-town fans generally didn't see as much excitement.
-
Maine GOP chairman says Romney wins caucuses
Mitt Romney narrowly won Maine's Republican caucuses, state party officials announced Saturday, providing his campaign with a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week. But the former Massachusetts governor won just a plurality of the Maine vote, suggesting he still has work to do to unite GOP voters behind his candidacy.
-
Indians defeat Arabians in girls basketball sectional final
Anderson held Pendleton Heights to two points in the fourth quarter and brought down the three-time girls basketball sectional champion Arabians 40-38 Saturday.
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
Adele top winner with 6 Grammys
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting
Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote
Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport
Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China
Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
