As many of you know, I love cars—especially fast cars. So I recently decided to test-drive my dream vehicle—a brand new DeLorean fitted with some very special electronics and a heavy-duty plutonium power source. I revved up the engine, punched the accelerator and quickly hit 88 mph.

And then, something incredible happened. There was a blinding flash of light and…ZAP! I was instantly transported back to 1981, the year Cognex was born!

Now I have to figure out how to get back to the future. But along the way, I’ve decided to relive some of Cognex’s greatest successes by visiting those milestone years. Hey, if you’ve got the keys to a time machine, you might as well use them! So I’ve programmed the DeLorean’s navigation controls for several key dates through our history—or our future, depending on what year you’re currently in.

The journey will take me—and you, Cognex’s loyal shareholders—on the ride of a lifetime. If my calculations are correct, we can drive across the space-time continuum together to experience our many achievements. It’s déjà vu all over again—from the original DataMan launch to our first acquisition to the introduction of the fantastic In-Sight vision system.

There may be a few bumps along the way, and we may run into a bully named Biff, but that’s nothing that 1.21 jigowatts of power can’t fix. So fasten your seatbelt and get ready to go!

Now if I can just get this baby back up to 88 mph…

Robert J. “Doc” Shillman
Founder, Chairman
and Chief Culture Officer