Management Team

Russell Fadel, CEO & Co-Founder

Russ is the CEO and co-founder of ThingWorx™ and a serial entrepreneur. Prior to ThingWorx, Russ was the CEO and co-founder of Lighthammer Software Development where he was responsible for helping conceptualize and bring to market the world's first application composition platform targeted at real time manufacturing. Russ successfully established Lighthammer as the recognized market leader in the manufacturing intelligence and application composition markets. Lighthammer was later acquired by SAP AG, the leader in enterprise business software.

Prior to founding Lighthammer, Russ also co-founded two successful companies that design, market, sell and implement manufacturing operations software and hardware. The first, Q-mation, is a successful regional VAR of Wonderware software and associated hardware. The second, STRONGARM, is the leading designer and manufacturer of ergonomic, industrial operator workstations.

Russ has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.

Rick Bullotta, CTO & Co-Founder

Rick is the CTO and co-founder of ThingWorx. Rick was previously CTO at Invensys Wonderware, a leading global provider of manufacturing operations software solutions, and was a vice president with SAP Research in the areas of future manufacturing and the "internet of things".

Rick was also the CTO and co-founder of Lighthammer Software Development, where he was responsible for conceptualization and development of innovative web-based and service-enabled software products targeted at the manufacturing industry. At Lighthammer, Bullotta identified and created a new market segment for "manufacturing intelligence and integration" software. He has contributed to a number of industry standards efforts and open source software projects.

Rick has been involved in the industrial sector in diverse roles, including factory operations and management, systems integration, sales and marketing, product management, and industrial engineering. He holds a degree in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University.

John Richardson, COO & Co-Founder

John is the COO and co-founder of ThingWorx. Prior to ThingWorx, John was the CEO and founder of CIMNET Inc., a publicly traded market leader in Manufacturing Execution Software (MES) which was acquired by Invensys Plc in 2007. Previously John was Vice President of Manufacturing Software at Wonderware the market leader in real-time operations management software. At Rockwell International, now Rockwell Automation John was an Industrial Engineer and programmer working on the automation of manufacturing processes

John is responsible for driving ThingWorx sales, operations and growth. With more than 25 years of experience, John demonstrates sustained success at all levels of sales, marketing, business development and corporate management. John is responsible for expanding ThingWorx market share through direct and partner sales engagements globally, as well as overall business development.

John began his professional career in the US Air Force where he proudly served 4 years in aviation for the 1st Fighter Wing Tactical Air Command F-15 program.

Dave Westrom, Vice President Business Development

Dave is Vice President Business Development of ThingWorx. Prior to ThingWorx, Dave Westrom was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at BL Healthcare where he was responsible for corporate strategy, global sales and marketing. Dave also served as an advisor to the Managing Director and CEO of SoftDEL. Prior to BL Healthcare, Dave was a Global Account Director with SAP Americas. Dave joined SAP as the result of the SAP acquisition of Lighthammer, where he was Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Accounts.

Dave has also successfully held executive level positions in sales and marketing with Invensys, Wonderware, Pavilion Technologies, and ABB. Dave holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

John Schaefer, Vice President of Product Development

John is the Vice President of Product Development for ThingWorx. Prior to joining ThingWorx, John was a Vice President of Solution Management for manufacturing products at SAP. Before moving to solution and product management, John was the manager for the Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and PLM development teams for SAP Labs North America.

John was also the Vice President of Product Development for Lighthammer Software Development, where he was responsible for the development and consulting teams. John has been involved in the conceptualization and development of Internet-based products since the mid-1990s, primarily related to manufacturing industries. Prior to working in product management and product development, John was a consultant and implementation specialist, working with many fortune 500 companies on process automation, MES and supply chain solutions in a variety of industries.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a MBA from Villanova University.

John Canosa, General Manager, M2M

John is the General Manager responsible for M2M solutions for ThingWorx. John came to ThingWorx from the Palantiri Systems acquisition, where he was founder and CEO. John has over 25 years of experience in the electronics, software and device networking industries. As manager of the electronics group of the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics, he was responsible for the development and deployment of what was at the time the largest networked microprocessor control system in the world. In his following years as CTO of Questra Corporation, Mr. Canosa was the main driver in that company's transition from a traditional consulting firm to a leader in the M2M software space.

John is a contributing editor at Embedded Systems Design magazine and was recently named an "M2M Pioneer" by M2M Magazine for his strategic vision and the advancement of machine-to-machine technology.