A little bit more about myself

In a former life, I designed the first two prototypes of the Margaritaville™ Frozen Concoction Maker and helped define criteria for dripless spouts on coffee pots (something almost everyone wants). Then I decided to get into high tech. At MicroE Systems, I was involved with high accuracy optical linear and rotary encoders for precision motion control. I then moved on to servo-controlled laser beam steering devices which are used in many laser applications from laser marking, semiconductor wafer processing to laser eye surgery. At Cambridge Technology, I helped launch 16 new products, including a family of enclosed scan heads.

I came to Cognex almost a year ago wondering if handheld barcode scanners would be as exciting as servo-controlled laser beam steering devices. I am happy to report, IT IS!

The great thing about my job is I get to be at the center of everything and see the big picture. With engineering I can dive into the technology as we work on bringing new products (specifically handheld barcode scanners) to market and develop algorithms for our existing platforms. With manufacturing I work through new releases and product introductions. With sales I answer detailed questions about products and work on interesting applications for customers. Interfacing with our customers allows me to see the amazing processes and traceability efforts being implemented with barcodes across so many industries.

I think people’s familiarity with supermarket laser scanners makes them not realize all the development and intelligence built into our high tech camera-based ID products. Of course our goal is not to make it complicated, but rather to harness the power and make it easy to use. Hopefully I can share some interesting details about barcodes and image-based barcode readers in this blog and make it an exciting and fun topic to learn about.

GO BARCODES!