On December 5, 2017, WipWare co-founder and President Tom C. Palangio was inducted into the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions to mining technology, innovation, and the mining supply and services sector.
The award was presented at Dynamic Earth in Sudbury during SAMSSA’s Annual General Meeting. The occasion also marked Palangio’s retirement as SAMSSA President after 15 years of service.
During the ceremony, his son Thomas W. Palangio, WipWare’s Chief Technical Officer, delivered a tribute recounting his father’s career, entrepreneurial journey, and contributions to fragmentation measurement technology. The full speech is available here.
SAMSSA has evolved since 2017 to become MineConnect.
From Humble Beginnings Come Great Things
The induction ceremony also provided an opportunity to reflect on Palangio’s career, from his early interest in engineering and explosives to his role in developing practical fragmentation measurement technology. His son, Thomas, recounted that journey in a tribute delivered during the ceremony, highlighting the personal and professional experiences behind his father’s contributions to the industry.
Tom’s story began when a couple of Italian immigrants, Vincenzo Palangio and Teresina Mastropietro, chose to call Northern Ontario home. Their children, including Tom’s father, in turn relocated throughout the region and set down roots of their own. In 1965, Tom moved to the Ottawa area and dabbled with electrical and mechanical engineering. While there, he met and married his wife, Phyllis. Eventually, he completed his education in architectural design and returned to Northern Ontario.
When an opportunity arose with Dupont, he accepted and so began his love affair with explosives. After 27 years with Dupont, later ETI, he became the Technical Specialist. He quickly realized measuring rock blasting outcomes might be a lucrative niche in the mining industry. So, in 1986, Tom Palangio, in collaboration with John Franklin and Norbert Maerz, created the Waterloo Image Enhancement Process, or WIEP. John and Norbert worked in Waterloo’s Earth and Computer Sciences divisions. Recognizing the importance and sales potential of their discovery, the trio founded WipWare to further develop and market the technology internationally.
Tom Has Taken Some Leaps
Prior to Tom’s induction into the SAMSSA Hall of Fame, Hugh Kruzel wrote a featured article on October 17, 2017. In this article, Hugh speaks with Tom about the leaps Tom has taken as an entrepreneur and innovator.
When Hugh asked Tom about his childhood, Tom explained how he liked to build things.
I was always drawn to art, mechanical, electrical and scientific topics at a time when space was in the news. I’m a real boomer. I liked to build things and take them apart and was resourceful but never thought I’d earn a living playing with the stuff that interested me. Leonardo da Vinci would be my history hero. My teachers said I was “disruptive” and it took me many years to realize that’s a good thing. — Tom Palangio
Image Analysis Technology – Mining Industry
In 1995, Tom started Topex Inc – his own explosives consulting firm. Later, he incorporated WipWare to commercially market and sell image analysis technology that improves blast fragmentation results.
The explosives business was “booming” and I worked in Peru, Chile, South Africa, Australia and Hong Kong in the next few years providing training, troubleshooting, blast designs, vibration control, high speed camera work and other specialized services. — Tom Palangio
One thing Tom has always believed in is mentoring newcomers to the world of business, because this creates new jobs, and Tom tries to participate in organizations that support this. After 15 years as President of SAMSSA, Tom decided to retire.
By the time of his induction in 2017, Palangio had accumulated more than 40 years of experience in mining and explosives. His previous recognition included the NOBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2003, export development awards in 2001 and 2002, the OACETT Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 2009, and the Northern Ontario Business Award for Innovation in 2015.
Under Tom’s direction, WipWare has received the Ontario Leadership Award in the Provincial Global Traders category in 2003, as well as being recognized by PROFIT 500 as being in the top third of growth companies in Canada in 2013.
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