who we are
Leadership Team
David Wortman
Executive Chairman
dwortman@akoyainc.com
Dave Wortman is an experienced executive and entrepreneur who serves as director, advisor and CEO for emerging technology and life sciences companies. In addition to Akoya, Wortman serves as Executive Chairman of SonarMed, an early stage medical device company. Wortman is a Venture Partner with Spring Mill Venture Partners, an Advisor to ARCH Development Partners and a Managing Partner with Midwest Venture Partners, a fund in formation.
Wortman previously served as CEO of Mezzia, developer of a capital spending management system used by healthcare deliverers, initiating the process that resulted in the company’s sale to VFA. He served as chairman and CEO of Made2Manage Systems, developer of enterprise business systems for small and medium manufacturers and distributors, where he led the company’s initial public offering and took the company private with Battery Ventures. Wortman was co-founder and director of Pritsker Corporation, an internationally recognized leader in computer simulation based decision support software for business, industry and government, until the company’s sale to Symix.
He was director of Cohesia, a software company delivering solutions for managing manufacturing specifications across distributed supply chains, until its sale to Powerway. He was director of publicly held trade management solutions provider Vastera until its sale to J.P. Morgan Chase. He is former director of Walker Information, a privately held developer of customer loyalty management solutions. Mr. Wortman has received numerous honors during his career, including the Ernst & Young Indiana Entrepreneur of the Year Award in technology. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue University.
Karen Caswelch
Chief Executive Officer
kcaswelch@akoyainc.com
Karen Caswelch has experienced global success in senior level positions across industries. She has proven herself capable of thriving in fast paced, constantly challenging environments. Previously, Caswelch was VP of Purchasing at Allison Transmission, where she headed supplier quality, controlled the $16M expense budget and developed and led a purchasing plan to build low cost products in China and Korea. Caswelch also headed a department restructuring by instituting a zero tolerance standard for defects, ensuring overall product excellence. She achieved a $12M reduction in materials costs, a 30% improvement in supplier defects and $2M in departmental budget savings within 1 year.
As a manager at GM for 16 years, she developed supply chain management strategies for Asia Pacific, led a seven member regional team and monitored the establishment of order to delivery. She also realized more than $12M in savings across a three year project lifecycle by recommending a new project structure accepted by 75% of the global team. As Director of Manufacturing & Quality Planning for GM in Asia Pacific, Caswelch led manufacturing functions and built high caliber initiative teams. She realized a 30% improvement in “JD Power Initial Quality”, launched quality plan initiatives in Asia Pacific and was also recognized as a manufacturing expert, leading the Y2K readiness initiative for plants in six countries.
Caswelch has an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and a BS in mechanical engineering from MIT. She holds the Managerial Excellence Award from National Women of Color, the Quarterly Diversity Champion Award from Allison Transmission and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Center for Leadership Development. She also served as Chief Marketing Officer for the International School of Indiana in 2009.
Alan Stacklin
Chief Technology Officer
astacklin@akoyainc.com
Alan Stacklin has decades of experience developing and commercializing advanced software. He has been critical to Akoya's product development and ongoing customer satisfaction. Previously, Stacklin was EVP of Information Resources, where he envisioned technology and product platform strategies to replace aging, vertically focused products. He developed and validated a product segmentation strategy and a pricing program that created a 20% revenue gain over current products and created a successful market strategy, leading to new customers and over $30M in new revenue. At MetFabCity, a B2B exchange of business process ideas for the metal fabrication industry, Stacklin served as CTO, where he envisioned and presented corporate technology strategies to investors, suppliers, and fabricators, securing a $10M investment. He defined business requirements, use cases and work flows to expedite the business processes of metal fabricators, saving over 20% of costs.
Stacklin’s responsibilities at both Element K and Ziff Davis culminated a VP of Technology role. At zdu.com, an online B2B technology education platform, he helped grow revenue from $0 to $12M in two years and launch new capabilities quarterly. He also launched an Oracle-integrated online bookstore offering 2-hour shipping and reduced the cost of internal systems by 25% through process improvement and automation. Stacklin has an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester's William E. Simon Graduate School of Business, an M.S. from Union College and a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh.
