Welcome to Inductyne Instruments!
Our aim is to provide premier instrumentation to the frequency domain electromagnetics (FDEM) market using a first-principles approach of starting with fundamental geophysical theory and adding modern electronics and software.
Fundamentally, physics doesn’t change. This market was largely pioneered by Geonics, Apex Parametrics, and others – many of whom are no longer in operation. Inductyne aims to carry on their legacy, without simply rebuilding older designs. We have a goal of a modular, hackable product, that can be pre-configured as a turnkey product for specific non-technical users, or integrated as an OEM solution for other users. We’ve assembled a team of experienced instrumentation designers, coders, geophysicists, and industrial manufacturing experts. As we’re in the early stages, many of these goals are aspirational, but stay tuned to this space!
The Team
Troy Unrau
Prior to Inductyne, Troy delved into the many various geophysical pursuits, from planetary science, mineral exploration, environmental and geotechnical consulting, to instrument hardware and software development. This experience has spanned Canada and beyond, from the oil sands in Alberta to the metal-rich deserts of South America to contaminated cold war era outposts in the high arctic. Furthermore, he has a history in open-source software design and a predisposition towards ‘outside the box’ solutions. When a geophysical solution doesn’t exist, but should, Troy is the one to make it happen. Troy is also the Technical Lead and co-founder of Lithogen Inc.
Unrau, T. (2019) Towed Capacitively Coupled Resistivity Systems in Arctic Exploration - Advances in Equipment Design and Handling of Very Large Resistivity Surveys. AGU Fall Meeting 2019, San Francisco. Abstract: NS22A-07.
Tomasz Kalkowski
Tom has a diverse educational background that includes degrees in mechanical engineering, geology, physics, and business administration. Similarly diverse are his past professional careers, which include automotive prototype design and manufacturing, military engineering, mineral exploration, infrastructure management, and aviation. His particular passion for earth sciences has given him the opportunity to work all over Canada conducting a variety of geotechnical, geological, and geophysical surveys. A jack of all trades but master of... some.
Markus Svilans
Markus has a B.Sc. (Honours) in Computational Geophysics from Carleton University. Throughout his studies and early career, Markus worked in airborne geophysics where he developed data acquisition instrumentation, processed data, designed survey plans and worked in the field across North America and the Middle East. Later, Markus joined an R&D group at Vale (known as Inco back then) where he worked on 3D visualization tools and geophysical processing codes for air, ground and borehole EM data. Some of these projects live on in popular commercial packages used by geoscientists today. Along the way, Markus co-founded a TTE (through-the-earth) communication startup that used low frequency magnetic methods to send voice and data between underground and surface. Markus also operates Aeonyx Research, where he creates new time domain EM instrumentation and innovates new sensor designs for near surface work, and provides consulting services in various domains.
Seogi Kang
Seogi Kang is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Geophysics at the University of Manitoba, where he leads the Electromagnetic Geophysics Lab. His research focuses on advancing subsurface imaging techniques using electromagnetic methods to address challenges in groundwater sustainability, mineral exploration, and environmental change. He combines field geophysics, inverse modeling, and data science to develop scalable approaches for interpreting large geophysical datasets.
Dr. Kang is a co-creator of SimPEG, an open-source framework widely used for geophysical simulation and inversion, and leads the development of Fastpath, a web-based platform for groundwater recharge assessment. He has contributed to large-scale airborne electromagnetic surveys and open data initiatives in California.
He earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of British Columbia and previously held a postdoctoral position at Stanford University. His work emphasizes open science, interdisciplinary collaboration, and real-world impact.
Richard Smith
Richard Smith is a geophysicist with extensive experience in electromagnetic geophysics. He has used the UTEM and Zonge CSAMT systems to explore for lead-zinc deposits in Australia. Richard has also worked on the development of the low-frequency multicomponent fixed-wing GEOTEM system and its sibling, the high-powered MEGATEM system, for the latter he has inducted into the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame -- Exploration Category. In the 2000s he was involved in the development of the rotary-wing HeliGEOTEM system, which later became the HeliTEM. He has also worked with the fixed-wing TEMPEST systems. One of his interests is extracting information from on-time transient EM data. The on-time quadrature data can be used for detecting very weakly conductive bodies and on-time in-phase data for extremely conductive bodies. Richard has patented a multi-component transmitter and receiver system that could be used on the ground, or in the air with the transmitter on an airship and the receivers on drones.
For more information and partial lists of publications, see the following webpages
Google Scholar
Laurentian University
Researchgate