Fun facts about Cognex

  • Cognex stands for Cognition Experts
  • Cognex Founder Dr. Robert J. Shillman carried out research in human visual perception at the Cognitive Information Processing Group at M.I.T., where he received his doctorate degree in 1974
  • Since 1981, Cognex has shipped more than 300,000 vision systems, more than any other vision company
  • When Cognex’s first vision system, called “DataMan,” read its first character in 1981, the company’s three founders started a tradition of drinking a champagne toast to mark important company milestones. Today, the lobby of the company’s headquarters in Natick, MA includes a three story “Wall of Fame” covered with champagne bottles, each symbolizing a significant company achievement
  • Cognex sold its first vision system to IBM, where it was used it to read serial numbers that were etched by laser on the surfaces of semiconductor wafers.
  • Virtually every semiconductor chip manufactured in the world today is made with the aid of machine vision, and most of them are made with the help of Cognex’s vision systems
  • CEO Robert J. Shillman, who has made his fortune from the success of Cognex, has not taken a salary since 2001, and since 2004 has asked the company to donate his annual bonus to charity
  • Cognex founders Shillman, Silver and Matz received the 2005 SEMI award from Semiconductor Manufacturers International (SEMI), for their significant technical contributions to semiconductor manufacturing, and in 2004 were featured in Fortune magazine as “Heroes of Manufacturing”