Contact:
Skip Burdon at ABYC
(410)
990-4460, x25
sburdon@abycinc.org
Contact:
Dave Gerr at Westlawn
(207)
853-6600, x50
dgerr@westlawn.edu

Westlawn Signs on Two New
Instructors
May 11,
2010, Annapolis, MD and Eastport, ME:
The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology
announced
today that two new instructors have joined the ranks of their growing staff. Both
talented individuals are intimately familiar with the Westlawn design
curriculum and bring with them extensive, real-world experience in boat design
and construction.

Nicholas
Di Matteo
Nicholas Di Matteo is
a returning instructor and will now be grading and counseling Westlawn students
out of his home office in Stuart, Florida. An avid sailor, Nick was
senior design engineer at Tom Fexas Yacht Design for over 20 years. He has
exhaustive experience in all aspects of boat design from project management, to
bid specifications, through detailed design, to construction, to acceptance
trials and testing. A Westlawn graduate, Nick also has a bachelor’s degree in
electrical engineering.
Nick has worked on
mechanical and electrical engineering projects with the U.S. Navy PERA
(Planning and Engineering for Repairs and Alterations) as a subcontractor on
naval frigates and destroyers. Before his work at Tom Fexas Yacht Design, Nick
was a former instructor at Westlawn when current Westlawn provost, Norman
Nudelman, served as the organization’s Director.

Eric
Holohan
Graduating Westlawn in the
shortest time of any student in the past decade, instructor Eric Holohan
has spent three years living aboard a 40-foot sailboat. He brings with him 20
years of experience in restoration, construction, and maintenance of small
craft. He is a Lloyds certified marine surveyor and an ABYC Master Marine
Technician, holding ABYC certification in diesel, composite construction and
electrical.
Eric has his Yacht Master
Offshore and Ocean certificates, with a radar license, and SOLAS certificate.
He has been working as an assistant designer to McCurdy & Rhodes, naval
architects, and continues to assist in the current build of their 50-foot
historical oyster dredger project. Holding a U.S. Coast Guard 6-pack license,
Eric was a past recipient of the Hargrave Scholarship for Westlawn modules 3
and 4 and will be interacting with students out of his Long Island, New York
home office.
“We are very fortunate two
have such fine new instructors on our team and we know that they will further
enhance the Westlawn learning experience,” stated Westlawn’s Director, Dave
Gerr before a recent ABYC/Westlawn staff luncheon. “I know that our students
will gain much knowledge and added value from the experience you both bring to
the design table,” Gerr concluded.

The current Westlawn
faculty and staff in the Westlawn director’s office.
From left to right:
Dave Gerr, director; Nick Di Matteo, instructor; Patti Schulte, student
services coordinator; Eric Holohan, instructor; Norm Nudelman, provost.
Founded
in 1930, the Westlawn Institute of Marine
Technology is the only nationally accredited distance-learning school of
small-craft design in the United States. Westlawn is accredited by
the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), in Washington DC, and is listed
as an accredited school by the U.S. Department of Education and by the Council
for Higher Education Accreditation. As the not-for-profit educational affiliate
of the American Boat and Yacht Council, the mission of the
Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is threefold:
· To provide our
students with the skills and knowledge required to build a rewarding career in
the profession of yacht and small-craft naval architecture.
· To support continued
growth of the recreational and small-craft marine community through the
development of well-trained, safety-oriented, boat designers developing better
products for the benefit of the boating public.
· To provide continuing
education to marine-industry professionals.
To
learn more about Westlawn, please call (207) 853-6600 or visit the Westlawn
website at: www.westlawn.edu.