The Origin of Our Microscopes

At LAVA, we believe in the potential of technology, no matter when it was developed. Over the last 36 years, we have come to recognize and appreciate technologies that serve us just as effectively today as they did upon their original creation. LAVA’s microscopes are an excellent example of how we apply this philosophy.

While our microscopes currently sit within LAVA’s facility in Toronto, their place of origin lies halfway across the world in the former Soviet Union. Under the Soviet’s production model, certain products for both domestic use and exporting were collectively manufactured in a single location. At the time, they had a reputation for manufacturing high quality optics, including microscopes tailored for advanced work.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990’s, it triggered the gradual privatization of companies that had formally served the state. The transition caused drastic downsizing within organizations, which resulted in an excess of unemployed workers and costly industrial equipment. Around this time LAVA’s CEO and founder, Roman Wynnyckyj, was exploring business ventures in the town of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine and entered discussions with the owners of a Hraviton circuitry plant. This plant used high-tech microscopes for quality control testing IC chips, yet as their operations were dramatically scaling back a number of microscopes would have been thrown away. However, Roman recognized the opportunity in front of him and gave some of those microscopes a second life by bringing them back to Canada.

Today, those microscopes are used regularly by our production team for a variety of applications. Despite their age, the quality of their optics is comparable to modern-day microscopes. Their versatility allows us to use them for an array of advanced functions, including product repair, prototype building, and any other work that requires a finer attention to detail.

From the time they were first brought to Canada to the present-day, our microscopes continue to be a useful tool in bringing our ideas to life, while serving as a reminder of LAVA’s history. They exemplify that you don’t always need the latest technology to create highly effective products. At LAVA, we understand the significance of innovation and exploring new ideas, and experience has taught us the value of leveraging older technology for modern applications.