Hydroid Makes Changes in Leadership Team

Hydroid, Inc., a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime and a leading manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), announced changes in its leadership team.

Christopher von Alt, one of the company’s founders and primary forces in its extraordinary growth since its inception in 2001, has elected to resign from his current position as president, effective January 1, 2014. Hydroid’s board of directors has selected Duane Fotheringham, Hydroid’s vice president of operations, as his successor. Von Alt will retain his current position as chairman of the board and in addition, will undertake special long-range technology-centered projects that will focus on the advancement of REMUS technology.

In the late nineties, von Alt led the team of engineers at The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that invented the REMUS technology base, and later founded Hydroid in 2001. Since then, von Alt has led as the company’s president and chairman, growing Hydroid into the world’s largest provider of AUVs and overseeing its acquisition by Kongsberg in 2008. The AUV market has grown exponentially over the last decade, and Hydroid’s REMUS vehicles have beome the tool of choice for most navies around the world.

Fotheringham assumed the role of vice president of operations in 2008. He has been instrumental in the growth of the company, establishing it as a reliable organization capable of executing complex programs under tight time constraints for both U.S. and international organizations. Under Fotheringham’s leadership, Hydroid has become a trusted provider of high quality, reliable REMUS AUVs.

“I could not be more comfortable with Duane as my successor; he is an extremely capable leader,” said von Alt. “With Duane managing the company, I now have the flexibility to focus on Hydroid’s future technological developments.”

“Chris and I have worked closely together over the past five years and I have learned a tremendous amount from his leadership,” said Fotheringham. “We have a good team in place, and I look forward to the continued collaboration and the future potential as we both take on our new roles.”