{"id":8006,"date":"2025-06-18T15:26:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T19:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wipware.com\/?p=8006"},"modified":"2025-11-14T12:06:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:06:31","slug":"wipware-proudly-celebrates-30-years-of-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wipware.com\/hi\/wipware-proudly-celebrates-30-years-of-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"WipWare Proudly Celebrates Over 30 Years of Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a dusty DOS computer to AI-powered, real-time fragmentation analysis systems… WipWare has been at the forefront of fragmentation analysis for over 30 years of innovation, transforming how the world measures particle size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From humble beginnings to global impact, we\u2019ve come a long way. This year, we’re celebrating over 30 years of innovation in fragmentation analysis. Along the way, we’re taking a look back at the milestones. These milestones shaped us and the journey of making particle size analysis smarter, faster, and easier than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before WipWare was WipWare, our founder <\/a>\u091f\u0949\u092e \u092a\u0932\u093e\u0902\u0917\u093f\u092f\u094b<\/a> was in the field with North Bay DuPont. He was tackling real-world challenges with innovative thinking and a practical mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a photo of Tom from our archives. He was working on a project that would spark the idea for our very first product in fragmentation analysis: WipFrag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tom<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Men<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fragmentation<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Solving a Global Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, describing blast results in mines and quarries was limited to vague terms like “good,” “fair,” or “poor.” Manual sieving and particle counting were too costly and impractical until a team of passionate pioneers changed the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WipFrag was born in 1986 from groundbreaking collaboration between Franklin Geotechnical, DuPont\/ETI, and the University of Waterloo. It was the world\u2019s first digital image analysis software for measuring rock fragmentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging advancements in imaging and computer processing, they created a revolutionary tool. A digital method to analyze muckpile photos or video frames to produce a detailed fragmentation size distribution curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name itself carries the legacy: W<\/strong>aterloo I<\/strong>mage E<\/strong>nhancement P<\/strong>rocess for Frag<\/strong>mentation or “WIEP,” later shortened to just “WipFrag<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, our journey has been marked by bold ideas, hard-earned field experience, and a commitment to excellence that has brought us to where we are today. \u091f\u0949\u092e \u092a\u0932\u093e\u0902\u0917\u093f\u092f\u094b<\/a>, with his explosive expertise, innovative leadership, and close collaboration with Dr. Norbert Maerz and Dr. John Franklin laid the groundwork for much of what we now take for granted in automated material analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Trials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to real-world testing in 1980s-1990s at INCO\u2019s Copper Cliff and Coleman underground operations and Highland Valley Copper in BC, WipFrag proved its worth boosting productivity, reducing oversize, and optimizing blast patterns. Results included a 40% pattern expansion and 10% increase in mill throughput milestones that cemented WipFrag\u2019s value in the mining industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Old<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"WipFrag<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We owe this innovation to the visionaries who asked, \u201cWhat if we could measure fragmentation automatically?\u201d and then made it possible. Hats off to the original developers and researchers whose dedication paved the way for what WipWare is today, 30 years strong and still leading the future of photoanalysis technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WipJoint and System 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1990, WipJoint <\/strong>was introduced for measuring in-situ rock apparent block size and joint orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our journey into real-time automated analysis systems began in 1998, led by Thomas W. Palangio, the founder\u2019s son, as he joined the company and introduced our first hardware systems. System 1<\/strong> was released in 1998 with one camera for online analysis: a well-received innovation for the mining industry. The very next year, System 2<\/strong> was rolled out, boasting the capacity to integrate 12 cameras for real-time analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then another year later in 2000, WipFrag 2<\/strong> was developed, building on the success of the first WipFrag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WipWware<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this 2007 photo, WipWare team members gather around the first Solo system \u2014 a major step forward in automated material analysis. Originally built for conveyor belts and later adapted for vehicle loads, this early unit was the seed of what would become today\u2019s Solo 6<\/a> \u0924\u0925\u093e Reflex 6<\/a> systems \u2014 smarter, faster, and tougher than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pictured here are two faces still leading WipWare forward today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n