Patrick Callahan

Patrick Callahan: A Prominent Personality Trailblazing Data Analytics, Science, and Technology with Distinctive Solutions

A leader, innovator, and veteran, Patrick Callahan is the Director of Advanced Analytics at LabWare. He has a wide range of experience in Data Analytics, Science, and Technology. He has successfully served and led many leading positions on his career front.

Additionally, he is a Board Member of Delaware Data Innovation Lab, Delaware Prosperity Partnership – Economic Development, and Pete DuPont Freedom Foundation. He is a former board member of several other boards including Girls on the Run International.

A Sneak Peek into the Initial Life

Patrick grew up just north of New Orleans, Louisiana. Like any other kid his age of twelve, he started feeding his passion for technology with a Commodore Vic 20. Reminiscing those early memories, he fondly states that he can still smell it today (it had a scent). Armed with a tape recorder and a 300 baud modem – he would program whatever he could to connect to the outside world, even if it was just to see a prompt that said “please log in”.

Throughout his early years, he was hooked on this new technology and decided to pursue it. In 1988, Patrick attended Drexel University in Philadelphia PA. It was a formative time in the computer industry, as the internet was just coming to life. Being so far away from home, he would spend his nights and weekends in professors’ offices tearing apart their computers and connecting them online. He remembers vividly the day he saw his first webpage through the Netscape window and the day he downloaded statistics for the economics department from all over the world.

Spearheading Successful Businesses

Patrick has been fortunate to work with some incredible colleagues to build four organizations (CompassRed, Delaware Data Innovation Lab, Proximitry and The Archer Group). Some of these have been passed on to others and developed into international  organizations.

Each of his ventures have been fruitful and introduced him to a new concept he could learn from (user experience, data technologies, IoT, and product development). From a career perspective, he has learned more from his failures that have contributed to the successes and has a deep profound respect for those he has been in partnership with. He can’t think of specific accomplishments – but a thousand small ones that impacted other people’s lives both at work and home.

A Customer-Centric Organization

LabWare is obsessed with making its customers lifelong. It believes customers are the biggest assets and the heart and soul of everything LabWare does. It values its customers with the highest regard. By paying close attention to customer needs, making effective use of key technologies, and serving as a reliable and trusted partner, the company has emerged as the clear industry leader in laboratory automation.

In recent years, hundreds of companies and organizations all over the world have selected LabWare to be their solutions provider. In projects large and small, local and global, routine and complex, the organization has realized success by meeting commitments and exceeding expectations.

LabWare’s Enterprise Laboratory Platform is a unique and proven suite of product capabilities that encompass LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System), ELN (Electronic Laboratory Notebook), and LES (Laboratory Execution System) in an integrated and enterprise-ready solution.

Why do many companies in a variety of industries come to the same conclusion? One simple reason: Results count!

A Multi-Talented Global Team

LabWare’s global team includes the most experienced laboratory informatics professionals in the world. It is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, where all research and development activities take place. The organization has invested in establishing sales and support facilities worldwide to provide the best possible assistance to its customers around the globe. Its international network of over 40 offices across six continents ensures that customers will have access to a dedicated LabWare team close to them.

LabWare employees have an average of at least 10 years of industry experience, and many with more than 15 years of experience. The total base of experience across our company exceeds 2,200 years. It brings together the talents of chemists and biologists with those of engineers and software experts to develop products focused keenly on the needs of laboratory users. Whereas other vendors struggle to keep up with the burdens imposed by multiple overlapping and redundant applications, LabWare provides software solutions for all types of labs in an easily configured common platform.

Developing Excellent Solutions in Crucial Times

Looking back through time – true advancements and innovations have not come from times of complacency – but during times of change and challenge. COVID-19, like many times before, presented deep challenges and sadness to the world. However, this moment brought about new technologies and advancements in communication (i.e. Zoom) which allowed Patrick’s team to jump into action.

While at CompassRed, the team pulled together to develop a non-profit Data Innovation Lab focused on leveraging data in innovative ways to address COVID-related challenges in their community and beyond. That innovation lab still exists today and is producing talent and data innovations that continue to address challenges in their community that go well beyond COVID.

The way the team communicates, collaborates and understands its world has changed for the better. From the frequency of its meetings (daily quick check-ins) to the means of communication (it jumped into the virtual world), the teams tried all new advancements and decided quickly on what worked and what didn’t. Some of the measures are still in place today and were instrumental in the success of the organization.

Inspiration: A Fuel to Success and Growth 

Patrick’s sisters and his family gave him a moral compass. They have been with him since the beginning of his life. He fondly expresses that they continue to teach him, are ever-forgiving him, and are an important part of any accomplishment in his life. Their belief in him helps him to work harder each day and perform to meet their expectations to be the person they believe him to be.

Throughout his career, the people he has worked with and each employee has taught him something new about himself: both the good and that which needs improvement. He remembers each one and is eternally grateful that he was able to spend just a short amount of time with them.

It was not until recently that he was inspired by the founder of his company’s new home: Vance Kershner. As an engineer turned entrepreneur, he stands firmly by his principles no matter what the cost (literally). The tagline of the company he founded is “Results Count” and their employees and clients believe in every sense of the motto.

From company culture to client satisfaction, LabWare’s values are sewn into the fabric of the organization. Vance grew a company and product from nothing to global in a small amount of time through focus. In addition to his leadership at LabWare, Vance has carried his beliefs and support into their community through his efforts in education, community development, and the support of countless entrepreneurs in their state that now operate nationally. Patrick is inspired by Vance’s accomplishments and humility. “There are no airs about him, and that trait carries on to the company he founded.”

A Key Piece of Advice to Budding Business People

“Read. Read. Read. Never Stop Learning. Remember the only thing you know is that you don’t know anything. Never stop the pursuit of knowledge and experience. Respect others, as you are that other person to them. Know your career will be guided by the habits, beliefs, and mental models you practice each day. Those practices you grow will be what you unconsciously rely on in your career and at points when you need to make quick decisions you have no time to evaluate. Surround yourself with people you wish to be like. You will develop the habits that made them successful. They will push you. Results Count.”