Sonic Drill Corp., an NGWA manufacturer member, celebrated the production of its 100th original flagship 50K Sonicor sonic drill head.
“When you start out developing a new technology, you wonder if you’ll ever get to a milestone like this one,” said Ray Roussy, PE, president and CEO of Sonic Drill in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. “I’m glad I was able to see this happen during my lifetime because many developers and inventors don’t get that opportunity.”
Roussy, who is the patent-holder of the original award-winning technology, has made the commercialization of sonic drill rigs his life’s work for more than 30 years. During that time, other companies have attempted to imitate the technology but it was Roussy’s engineering breakthroughs that created a robust, reliable drilling method that is now used around the world.
“While it’s great to know that the other 99 drill heads are scattered around the world, working on a variety of different projects, the 100th head is going to stay right here in Canada and be used for our contracting division, Sonic Drilling Ltd.,” Roussy said.
Roussy received the NGWA Technology Award in 2012. The award is presented to a person who has made a major contribution to the groundwater industry in the development of ideas, tools, and equipment; techniques of well construction; exemplary service to coworkers throughout the industry in sharing these developments; and/or performing service for the protection of the groundwater resource and the consuming public.