Natick, Mass., USA -- Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the leader in industrial machine vision, announced that CEO Robert J. Willett will visit the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square today and ring the opening bell at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The company is commemorating its 40^th anniversary. Willett will be joined on the bell podium by a group of Cognoids, including members of the Cognex Leadership Team and the company’s Chairman, Anthony Sun.

“For four decades, manufacturers around the world have relied on Cognex machine vision to improve product quality, eliminate production errors, and drive down manufacturing costs,” said Robert J. Willett, Chief Executive Officer of Cognex. “We have a lot to celebrate today,” continued Willett, “not only is it Cognex’s fortieth anniversary, but we have also just surpassed $1 billion in annual bookings for the first time in our history.”

Founded in 1981 by Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex has pioneered the field of machine vision. Today, machine vision plays a critical role in factories and distribution centers around the world. For more information on Cognex and the history of machine vision, visit Cognex’s website at www.cognex.com..

“Annual bookings” is an internal operating metric that reflects customer purchase orders with firm requested delivery dates. Bookings are not necessarily indicative of future revenue as delivery schedules may be extended and orders may be canceled.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a wide range of image-based products, all of which use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that give them the human-like ability to make decisions on what they see. Cognex products include machine vision systems, machine vision sensors, and barcode readers that are used in factories and distribution centers around the world where they eliminate production and shipping errors.

Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 3 million image-based products, representing over $8 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Cognex has offices and distributors located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For details, visit Cognex online at www.cognex.com