Mark H. Soffa – President/CEO
Mark Soffa has over 25 years in sales, design and marketing. He was president and CEO of Scorpion Trading and Promotions, LLC, from 2003 to 2009, a factory direct trading company assisting promotional products distributors in design, manufacturing, production and logistics for large quantity custom electronic IC design and other custom proprietary products. Scorpion’s distribution to blue chip customer base includes HBO, Poker Stars, Carnival Cruise Lines, Abbot Laboratories, and Bloomberg Financial. As executive vice-president of Sweda Co. LLC from 1993 to 2003, Mr. Soffa increased promotional product cumulative sales to over $400 million. He was also responsible for managing a U.S workforce of 450 people. With a total workforce of over 2700 people, they engaged in manufacturing and supplying promotional items in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and the Middle East. During Mr. Soffa’s tenure, SWEDA continued to climb the charts as a top 25 supplier in a field of over 4,000 supplier companies serving the $18 billion promotional products industry. Mr. Soffa studied language at Hazorea in Israel and mathematics at The Technion, Israel Institute of Technology located in Haifa, Israel.
Douglas Hungerford, B.S.E.E. – CTO
Doug joined Fuel Doctor two years ago with a large and varied engineering background encompassing many fields of electrical engineering. Specialties include engineering design, prototype manufacture and production seen through from concept to completion for product and turnkey systems.
His “easy going and relaxed” attitude along with the ability to explain complex system functions to any range of customers from engineers to six year olds has helped Fuel Doctor to be better understood by the general public. Doug heads up the design, development and production of three new products to be introduced in 2012.
Since graduating in the early 1990’s from University Of Central Florida, Doug has worked in a variety of capacities that have ranged from component level integrations and redesign to complete multi-million dollar system designs, builds, integrations, programming, startup, testing and trouble shooting. He has truly worked at all levels of engineering and has completed projects both domestically and internationally with some of the most prestigious firms and corporations.
Doug is genuinely passionate about engineering and is co-owner of the nonprofit organization BDCOTSRUS Inc. and was the electrical engineer for the 100MPG Saturn that was one of the 22 finalists for the Automotive X-Prize competition.
Doug is a member of The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).
Tanya Hall – Senior VP Motorsports
Tanya is a native of Silicon Valley, California and received both her undergraduate degree and an MBA in Finance from Santa Clara University. Tanya began her career in law enforcement as a Police Officer in Los Gatos, California. In addition to being a Police Officer, Tanya also provided consulting services with McGladrey & Pullen LLP, Certified Public Accountants as well as provided auditing and consulting services with Andersen Consulting.
In 1994, Tanya went on to start her own consulting company in the auto racing industry providing teams and drivers with marketing and sponsorship opportunities throughout the CART, IRL and NASCAR sanctioning bodies.
Tanya also partnered with Provident Partners Companies in 2002 providing strategic investment advice and sales strategies increasing the company’s origination revenues in three short years to over $400,000,000.
Tanya is a single mother and in her spare time enjoys the beach, waterskiing, traveling and snow skiing with her daughter.
Igor Kholkin – Director of Digital Operations
Igor Kholkin is a Los Angeles native whose career began well before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from California State University, Northridge. Combining his passion for marketing and personal interest in web technologies, he developed a set of intangible skills necessary for a successful career in digital operations.
Igor helps brands develop and implement online strategies and coordinate them with business development efforts. He has worked for companies as a consultant and as a full-time employee, helping them optimize efficiency and increase the value of their web assets. Igor joined the Fuel Doctor team in early 2011.
Advisory Board
Robert McNeill, B.S.M.E., M.S.I.E.
Co-Founder and CEO of BDCOTSRUS, LLC. Robert has had a diverse engineering background that has ranged in almost every facet of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. Specialties include: complete product development from concept through production for multiple projects, parts and turnkey systems.
His no nonsense attitude combined with keen engineering common sense and ability to know when to give in and when to refuse or waver from engineering decisions is what has made him so successful in his career and so valuable to Fuel Doctor for assistance with their new products currently under development. Just ask him the same question twice and ask him to guess the second time to which you will always get the response “It’s hard to say without knowing“ that many love and at the same time hate to hear.
Robert McNeill earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and his graduate degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida. He is a registered engineering intern in the State of Florida.
Career highlights include:
- Engineering manager for components for use in automotive, medical and military devices and systems.
- Member of the research and development team for automotive industry for injection molded and stamped components.
- Tradeshow and marketing industry.
- Entertainment field designing and developing methods to enhance buildings throughout the United States and Europe.
- Teaching graduate and undergraduate engineering level lab students.
Robert is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Bruce Chesson, B.S. Comm
Alternative Fuel Program Manager for NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and managing the KSC Alternative Fuel Vehicle Strategy Plan, and ensuring that strategic analysis, planning and communications are integrated and aligned with the center and agency mission and goals.
Bruce continues this effort as an advisor for Fuel Doctor in the areas of strategic plans and alternative fuels. Though we cannot talk about some projects that Fuel Doctor has in process, Bruce’s advice and experience have helped to guide Fuel Doctor on exciting paths for the future and also improving the environment.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Florida Southern College and has served proudly in the U.S. Navy. Bruce began his career with NASA in 2004, after working several years with United Space Alliance and Lockheed at KSC.
Bruce has extensive professional experience in managing and coordinating logistics and logistics-related functions including transportation, warehousing, maintenance, and supply. Bruce has been recognized by NASA with numerous awards while supporting off-site transportation and planning for the Orbiter landing and recovery operations. Mr. Chesson also has broad-based experience in freight traffic, packaging, shipping, travel office, railroad operations and government vehicles. In 2008, Bruce was awarded the Federal Energy and Water Management Award, Vehicle Fleet Management Category, Individual, for Kennedy Space Center’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle Management. Also, in 2008 he received the Blue Marble Award for Energy Conservation and Environmental Awareness for Government Transportation.
Sales Organizations
CMI
CMI offers over 50 years of service, with a history of mutually profitable business relationships that have positioned us as the number one rep in the Minneapolis/greater Minnesota and Upper Midwest marketplace. Their path to success is paved with the close relationships they have established and nourished with their buyers, merchandise managers and executives at Best Buy, Target, ShopNBC, Advance Auto, Menards and the dozens of other retail and wholesale accounts they serve. The long tenure they have enjoyed with the leading consumer electronics, housewares and automotive products manufacturers we represent is testimony to their knowledge of the right roads to take and their ability to stay on course in an ever-changing environment.
CMI provides real-world solutions to both its retail and vendor partners. From competitive product analysis to category management, from forecasting and sales analysis to inventory control and management, from reverse auctions and competitive line reviews to OEM and Asian product sourcing, CMI leads the way.
Orion Advanced Marketing
Orion Advanced Marketing in Schaumburg, IL. is a private company categorized as a Marketing Agency, established in 1993 and incorporated in the state of Illinois. We currently have a staff that consists of (6) sales representatives, with (3) office/customer service/support personnel servicing the everyday needs of the vendor partners & retailers we represent. Orion Advanced Marketing offers sales consulting and marketing/sales expertise services for vendors that desire to market their goods and services to the accounts we work with. Orion Advanced Marketing has developed key, mature relationships with both national retail accounts, as well as specialty audio/video, custom installation and automotive aftermarket retailers. Our key relationships open doors for the vendors that commission Orion to develop and sell new business opportunities.
Principal Owners: Steve Block – President/ Partner, Larry Lebbing – Partner, Andy Birnbaum – Partner.
