Since our company’s inception, it has always been a vision of our leadership team to host a conference like this. Beginning with 5 employees in 2010, the GeoRadar Group now consists of three companies and over 80 employees.
With sustained annual growth in revenue and staff, the timing was right. Bringing the company together served a number of purposes.
The Friday conference kicked off with a message from our Founder Will Meredith, who talked about the history of the company and how it has flourished in recent years. He touched on our culture, the technology we’re developing, and the direction in which we’re heading.
Concrete Scanning & Coring Across the Country
The first session was led by our Field Supervisor of Concrete Coring, Phil Bowden, and Senior Technician, Adam Kirk. Their chemistry and years of experience really showed as they told stories from sites and introduced their rapidly expanding team. The presentation finished with a few words from Adam that really demonstrate the strong culture we have at Xradar.
“One of the biggest sources of confidence for me as a technician in the field is knowing that my manager and my co-workers all have my back.”
One key takeaway from the weekend, which was on full display on Friday, is that we have a team full of bright individuals at the top of their game. This was evident during Simon Thorpe’s presentation on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in Ontario. Simon gave an expansive overview of the services we provide and provided some recent project examples.
Mike Neale, Field Supervisor in BC, also gave a detailed rundown on NDT and concrete scanning in Vancouver. As one of our founding members, Mike has a breadth of knowledge of methods such as Half-Cell Potential and Ultrasonic Pulse Echo. He took us through the applications and benefits of these cutting-edge techniques.
Next up was Jesse Hodgins. A longtime Xradar employee, Jesse recently expanded operations into Ottawa when he re-located to the Nation’s capital. He shared his successes over the past year, along with some challenges he has come up against. They were valuable insights for employees interested in opening satellite offices of their own – something we encourage at Xradar.
The Past, Present, and Future
Over lunch, we were treated to a trip back in time with Director and GPR pioneer Alex Tarussov. Alex has over 35 years of experience and a career that has taken him from Russia, the Arctic, USA and finally Quebec. A gifted storyteller and an expert in NDT, Alex gave an impassioned speech that concluded with a nice nod to Will Meredith and sister company GeoScan.
Our Director of Operations, Josh Cook, then took the stage to speak about our incoming CRM and reporting platforms. Josh has kept his eye on the future and is implementing programs that will not only improve efficiency, but will also facilitate growth and development.
Perhaps the most anticipated session of the day, Miro Doring dos Santos gave us a glimpse into the world of research and development. Miro’s presentation covered his research into developing a push cart system for 2.0 gHz. He also previewed future projects that only those in attendance can be privy to…
The day concluded with a few beverages and a couple hours of networking before everyone dispersed. The group got back together on Saturday evening for a group dinner and a hotly-contested quiz. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend that strengthened an already strong community and culture. We plan to do it again in 2023!
