Management Team
Michael K. Lowe
CEO
Most recently, Mr. Lowe spent seven years at Philips Oral Healthcare (Royal Philips Electronics) where he worked in a variety of roles including global product management and brand management for Sonicare (Class I medical device, $350 million annual revenue). His experience comprises a range of marketing-related disciplines including dental professional sales management, sales training, promotion and advertising, market research, pricing strategy, and channel strategy development. While at Philips, he was nominated into the prestigious High Potential global management program, was listed as a co-inventor on a business application patent related to CRM, and developed a training program, Evidence-Based Dentistry, which won a regional MEDIC process improvement award for increased dental sales. He initially began working on the Sonicare business with Optiva, Inc. (1999 Inc. magazine Fastest Growing Privately Held Company award), joining Philips through the strategic acquisition process in 2000.
Mr. Lowe holds a BS in Biology from Louisiana State University where he graduated with honors. Subsequently he attended dental school at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans for two years, where he scored in the 90th percentile on Step One of the National Dental Board Examination, before an early departure to begin his commercial career in the dental industry. He graduated with an MBA from the Rice University Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management as Jones Scholar. While in business school, he was awarded numerous scholarships, was nominated for entry into the Texas Business Hall of Fame as an outstanding student, and completed two venture capital internships. While pursuing his MBA full-time, Mr. Lowe maintained several consulting contracts, including an agreement with an early stage dental technology company as well as a Houston-based orthodontic practice. Through the end of 2006, he served as interim COO of an Austin-based diagnostics company, departing upon the completion of a successful acquisition.
Michael Kaufman
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Mr. Kaufman brings over 25 years of international medical device experience in product development, business development and marketing. Mr. Kaufman spent 21 years with Wright Medical Technology Inc. holding various senior management positions in the USA and Europe. He led the marketing effort for the company’s next generation knee system, which provided affiliation with prominent surgeons and a new product performance standard in the marketplace. As the Business Development Manager for the newly created Bio-Orthopaedics division he was responsible for increasing sales from $2.5 million to $21 million in 3 years and the inclusion of human allograft tissue into the company’s medical devices. While leading the product development group 18 new products ranging from hip, knee, trauma, spine, hand and foot, were designed and commercialized with several others in the final stages of completion. Mr. Kaufman also has experience with start up and small size medical device companies working with the Israeli based company Impliant Inc. and the Japanese based company OrthoDevelopment Corp… Most recently Mr. Kaufman was the VP of Business Development for Tornier Inc. and responsible for the strategic planning and operational strategies of new products intended for the North and South American markets. Mr. Kaufman is responsible for the introduction of 5 new products for the shoulder and elbow and a total ankle system which achieved 50% market share in the second year.
Lawrence W. Swol
Vice President, Operations
Mr. Swol has over 25 years of diverse operations management experience including international operations of OEM Electronics and ISO certified Electro-mechanical Contract Manufacturing in both private and public companies. Prior to joining OrthoAccel, Mr. Swol was Chief Quality Officer and Sr. Vice President of Operations for Barton Medical Corporation, a global medical device start up company marketing safe patient handling equipment. At Barton, Mr. Swol was responsible for all supply chain management, engineering, and the company’s Quality Management System from the initial start up phase through the successful sale of the company in January 2008. While with Barton, he designed, implemented and acted as Chairperson for the new product development and corporate product roadmap planning processes. Mr. Swol successfully launched eleven new product offerings within a three year period, and was responsible for all FDA and regulatory compliance.
Mr. Swol has also served as Vice President of Operations for start up ventures D2Audio Corporation and Surgient Networks as well as Vice President and General Manager of International Operations at IEC Electronics, and Vice President of Manufacturing for Miltope Corporation and AT&T.
Mr. Swol received a BASc in Electronics Technology from Sienna Heights University and an MBA from Our Lady of the Lake University. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at Texas State University providing instruction and first-hand experience in Operations Management, Total Quality Management and Entrepreneurial Studies.
Joe Breeland
Advisor, Sales and Marketing
Mr. Breeland brings nearly 30 years of experience in building high-performance sales teams and organizations. Most recently in orthodontics, Mr. Breeland served as VP Sales & Marketing at OrthoClear, where he launched and grew a new orthodontic technology from scratch to a $30 million run rate in approximately 18 months. This sales trajectory is believed to be one of the most rapid in medical device history. Prior to OrthoClear, Mr. Breeland was the VP Sales at Align Technology (makers of Invisalign). His notable accomplishments at Invisalign include growth from $0 to a $180 million run rate in six years, and establishment of an 84-person field sales organization, often regarded as the most talented in the industry. Mr. Breeland’s orthodontic experience prior to the Invisalign business was as a Regional Manager at “A” Company, a full-service orthodontic appliance company that was later acquired. Prior to establishing his reputation in the orthodontic industry which included over a decade of remarkable achievement, Mr. Breeland managed sales forces across a number of device and pharmaceutical product categories at well-known companies, including Allergan and Eli Lilly & Co. Mr. Breeland holds a BS Pharmacy from University of Texas and an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA. He also served as a First Lieutenant and Officer-in-Charge at the Outpatient Pharmacy in the U.S. Army in Fort Ord, CA.
Waldemar “Val” B. Szwajkowski
Advisor, Strategic Development
Mr. Swajkowski’s relationship with OrthoAccel Technologies is primarily focused on strategic development of key markets, and alignment of its operating plans for growth. Mr. Szwajkowski’s background is particularly relevant to OrthoAccel’s development of the AcceleDent brand. His extensive experience includes international business development, sales and marketing, and general management. While at 3M Unitek, an orthodontic appliance business, his roles included market leadership in Latin American and Europe from the 1980s into the early 2000s. Mr. Szwajkowski also oversaw several acquisitions and new business launches prior to retiring as Global Head of 3M Unitek, a role he held from 2001 – 2007.