In November 2001 the Swedish company MALÅ, with it's GPR technology (Ground Penetrating Radar), was assigned the task of investigating and mapping the underground damages caused by the catastrophe at World Trade Centre. The assignment went on from December to January, and attracted a great deal of attention in the US. It has lead to an international break-through for the MALÅ technology, which has unlimited applications on the global market.

Great attention world wide

– A lot has been written about us, both in news media and in trade press, concerning our investigations at Ground Zero, says Tommy Leijon managing director at MALÅ. In December I was in New York for two weeks meeting with news media and trade press almost every day. CNN, CBS and the French 'Canal+' have presented our work at Ground Zero. The New York Times and international trade press have published big articles about us. The publicity has lead to a strong break-through for MALÅ.
– There is a growing interest for our technology, says Tommy Leijon. We are quite busy taking care of all new inquiries.

Three dimensional mapping of the underground without digging

MALÅ is a world-leading actor when it comes to GPR-systems. Some of its products and services are unique on the world market.

More than 10 percent of the annual turnover is used for the development of new products. The technology includes both hardware and software for registration, interpretation and presentation. The instruments of MALÅ show with centimetre precision where underground services are located, they also detect the extension of the utilities and possible leaks and damages. All kinds of material can be located: plastic pipe, concrete, optic fibre, iron, copper, wood etc.

Ground Penetrating Radar is the only tool that can detect plastic gas pipe and help the construction companies to avoid hitting the pipes when digging.

World leading actor

Beside the technology used at Ground Zero MALÅ has a wide variety of products for different purposes and for survey at different depths. These are some examples:

• RAMAC is the company's basic product with several advanced applications
• CART (Computer Aided Radar Tomography) is used for the mapping of underground utilities.
• Malå´s borehole radar is used for investigating the environment around deep bore holes e g for the construction of tunnels, oil prospecting and nuclear waste deposition.
• X3M, a new, easy-to-use GPR system for mapping. It was introduced in spring 2001 and has been very appreciated, especially on the US market.
• A number of new products with extreme performance qualities will be introduced during 2002.

Fast growing market

Earlier, MALÅ has worked intensively with scientific applications such as geologic mapping, ice and snow measuring, environmental and archaeological investigations and bore hole examinations.

– We are now moving strongly towards more commercial applications, says Tommy Leijon. That includes ground investigations for the construction of houses, roads and bridges, mapping for utility work, investigation of bore holes, inspection of concrete, pipes and conduits.

Break -through also for Malå's borehole radar

Also the MALÅ borehole radar had a break-through during 2001 but this was overridden by the commotion around the Ground Zero work. Since September last year MALÅ has received several orders for bore hole radar from tunnel contractors.

– These orders came at just about the same time that we got the job at Ground Zero, says Tommy Leijon. Now our borehole radar is used at several tunnel construction projects.

Mapping of urban areas saves a lot of money for Malå's customers

– Our fastest growing market is however the mapping of underground structures in urban areas: water and sewage pipes, electricity, telecom, gas and power lines. Our customers can save a lot of money by using our equipment. Excavation damages on electricity and gas appliances can halt the work process, cause explosions and breakdown in computer traffic, damages that may cause claims and costs for restoration. In the US the costs due to poor or no mapping are estimated to over $US 200 million per year. Nobody really knows what is in the underground and still the contractors take the risk of excavating. With the use of our equipment for mapping these damages can be totally avoided, so the market for these tools is huge. We are a technically leading company in this field and we are steadily reaching bigger market segments.

Secret tunnel systems and weapon depots were located by Malå's technology

The various GPR systems of MALÅ are not only used for construction and other ground work. They have also proved useful for more uncommon purposes e g archaeological investigations of unopened prehistoric remains and for mapping of tunnel systems, like the ones at the boarder between South and North Korea. The technology has also been used by several state intelligence agencies to locate underground depots of weapons and narcotics.

Growth plans and listing on the stock exchange

Due to the performance at Ground Zero and the new break-through order for the borehole radar MALÅ has reached a very favourable position. Today some hundred private shareholders own the company. It is not listed on any stock exchange but after the break-through this winter the interest from people to buy shares has increased a lot.

– We do not need new capital at the moment, says Tommy Leijon. The sales result has been better than expected during the fourth quarter of 2001, despite the economic recession. We also have the highest credit ranking, AAA, done by Dun & Bradstreet. MALÅ can either continue to reinforce and expand the company with its own capital or bring in new capital, maybe by taking on a solid investor. This would of course promote a faster growth, a step we will decide later on. Today we're focusing intensively on research and development and to expand our world wide marketing efforts.