About Us

Gary Agnew

CEO & CO-FOUNDER

Gary has been CEO at Ideon since March 2020, joining the team just as the global pandemic took hold. He has led Ideon through a relaunch of the company and the transition from R&D to early commercialization, through to a successful Series A raise in 2022.

He is a visionary with strong operational credentials and a track record of building teams that deliver extraordinary results. Prior to joining Ideon, Gary spent 25 years providing mining equipment, technology, and services in support of the global mining industry, including over 20 years at Finning International.

Doug Schouten

CTO & CO-FOUNDER

Doug is a global leader in muon tomography and one of the few people in the world with the expertise to turn muon research into industrial problems solved.

Doug holds a BSc. (Hons) in  physics and computer science from UBC, and a PhD in subatomic physics from SFU. Doug also has extensive expertise in computer simulation, data analysis and statistical inference – including machine learning methods and detector physics.

Krysta Chapman

CFO

Krysta, a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder, is a financial executive with over 15 years’ progressive success leading accounting, tax, and financial strategy for international venture capital and financing organizations.

Her experience includes CFO and senior finance roles at Winshear Gold, Tectonic Metals, Sandstorm Gold, and Pathway Capital (where she managed several private and public mining companies).

Kim Lawrence

VP, TALENT & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Kim handles employee experience and culture, talent management, brand and customer experience, marketing, communications, community engagement, and facilities.

She earned her undergrad degree from Queen’s University and completed graduate studies in Business Management (Asia-Pacific) from Capilano University before launching a career in high-tech. Prior to Ideon, she served for 8 years as CMO at the University of Calgary, one of Canada’s leading research universities with a focus on energy innovation.

Shawn Kovacs

VP, CUSTOMER PARTNERSHIPS

Shawn has a well-established vocation in near-surface geophysics with experience in mining as well as oil & gas. He has served as a leader in business development, relationship management, and solutions/services delivery on an international scale.

Shawn holds a PhD in Geosciences from McMaster University and an Executive MBA from the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, and is an avid lifelong learner. He is now leading our customer partnerships initiatives, driving adoption of and delight with Ideon’s subsurface intelligence solutions.

David Gionet

DIRECTOR, PROJECT DELIVERY & MANUFACTURING OPS

David works with teams of technical and non-technical colleagues within and beyond Ideon to ensure delivery of major project and relationship outcomes critical to the company’s success.

David earned a Master of Management Sciences in Management of Technology from Waterloo and a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill. He worked at MDA for many years in a range of technical roles and leading business development activities for space-based Earth observation for international markets, including oil & gas and mining.

Vlad Lavrovsky

DIRECTOR, HARDWARE ENGINEERING

Vlad is a scientist who became a tech entrepreneur in order to deploy new technologies into the world. With experience in commercial R&D and high technical-risk product development, he has successfully brought multiple products to market.

He earned a BHSc in Bioinformatics from UCalgary where he developed synthetic biology systems for oil spill bioremediation and biocompatible 3D printing. Vlad is now leading our hardware team through the product development lifecycle.

Chris Doucette

DIRECTOR, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Chris has worked in the software space since 2006 and most recently was the Director, Software Development for a visual data science software and collaborative technologies company, based out of Calgary, Alberta. Chris brings decades of experience at organizations from start-ups to large corporations, driving innovation in software and IT.

Originally from BC, he earned his degree in computer science from Vancouver Island University. Chris is now leading our quickly growing software teams.

Nigel Phillips

DIRECTOR, GEOSCIENCES

Nigel’s love of the outdoors led to geology fieldwork and then a degree in Geophysics. His 25+ year career in the mining industry has included working for major mining companies in North America, from Mexico to Alaska and many places in between.

Nigel earned a master’s degree at the Geophysical Inversion Facility at UBC and was a research associate at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at UBC. He will be leveraging his experience in geophysics, earth modelling, and data inversions to lead Ideon’s growing geosciences team.

Ryan Fearon

DIRECTOR, DEPLOYMENTS

Ryan is a PGeo and has worked in the exploration geophysics industry since 2012, specializing in ground-based operations in both greenfield and brownfield environments. He joins Ideon from Quantec Geoscience based in Toronto, Ontario. He held progressive roles there for 11 years, managing over 130 exploration surveys in 14 countries around the world.

Ryan earned his degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland, specializing in geophysics and seismology. He will now be leading our intrepid deployment team as they roll out Ideon’s subsurface intelligence solution worldwide.

Adam Melnik

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT LEADER