He is determined to leave his mark on the world, even though his mark is so small you’ll need a microscope to see it.

Mr Stott, who hails from Bowral, worked in the financial services industry for 20 years before he changed direction and got into information technology.

He moved to Bathurst 14 years ago, but has offices in China and Taiwan.

For him, Bathurst is the centre of his world – he can talk to his offices in Asia, before heading out the front door to fly one of his beloved aeroplanes.

At 64, Mr Stott is far from slowing down.

He is focused, committed and determined to stop some of the most clever criminals in their tracks.

The company he co-owns has its roots in a tiny invention made by one of the world’s superpowers during World War II.

“It was invented by the US military in World War II and was used as espionage,” he said.

“We discovered the technology on the internet in the late 90s and thought, well, no-one’s really done anything with this for the last 40 years.”

This technology, some of it so small the naked eye can’t see it, is part of a company called DataDot Technology Asia.

“It’s the equivalent of a synthetic DNA,” Mr Stott said.

The dots protect a huge range of items, including cars, motorbikes, tools, boats and plant machinery.

“In the case of cars, it [the dot] records the 17-character VIN (vehicle identification number). There’s 7000 micro-dots sprayed on underneath the car in all the expensive components: the engine, the gearbox, the suspension and the brakes,” he said.

“The technology is so widely recognised as a security measure that 48 car manufacturers worldwide now use DataDots as standard.”

The technology has since become even smaller (two to 10 microns). 

What is known as DataTrace can be found in items you may not initially think need protection, such as casino chips, alcohol and tobacco packaging, spectacle frames, pharmaceuticals and car parts.

The dots are so small you can’t see them, and so highly advanced that authorities can tell almost immediately if they are on a genuine item.

Mr Stott’s business has three focuses: asset protection, product authentication and anti-counterfeit measures.

It may all seem like something out of the latest spy movie, but Mr Stott said counterfeiting cases across the glove have skyrocketed.

This year it is predicted that a staggering US$1.7 trillion will be lost in revenue to genuine manufacturers across the globe due to counterfeited products, according to Mr Stott.

“Counterfeit products are so good that the manufacturers themselves often have trouble detecting what’s the real one, what’s the counterfeit one,” he said.

“Counterfeit guys will even print the company logo and the serial numbers of the original product.

“Often the counterfeit products will look the same, but will be sub-standard in the way they’re manufactured.”

When Mr Stott isn’t out making life hard for criminals, he can often be found in the air.

A pilot for 42 years, he said part of the appeal of moving to Bathurst was the chance to have an acreage on which he could build an airstrip.

It’s the stuff of boyhood dreams, according to Mr Stott. What started with him joining the local aero club has ended with him owning Central West Flying School.

He originally thought his flying would “only be half a day on the weekends”.

“Central West Flying was just meant to be a hobby,” he said.

The business now has six planes and employs seven instructors.

Mr Stott says keeping busy helps keep him young. 

In previous years he raced a production car (formerly Group E) in the Australian Production Car Championship.

“I did that for six years and raced on all the circuits in Australia, including Mount Panorama. That was in the 80s,” he said.

Mr Stott will present a free talk, How Australian technology thwarts counterfeiters, at Charles Sturt University’s Bathurst campus next Wednesday, March 18.

For more information, contact Olivia Wyborn on 6338 4645 or owyborn@csu.edu.au.

Light refreshments will be served at the end of the public lecture.