FEBRUARY 14, 2008--Don W. Cochran, chairman and CEO of Pressco Technology (Cleveland, OH, USA; www.pressco.com), was presented with the 2008 Automated Imaging Achievement Award during a ceremony held at the Automated Imaging Association (AIA) 16th Annual Business Conference in Orlando, FL, USA. Cochran was nominated by AIA members and selected from a pool of candidates by its board of directors, who wished to recognize him for his accomplishments and for his outstanding contributions to the machine-vision and imaging industry. The award was presented by John Merva, AIA 2007 president and vice president--business development of CCS America (Burlington, MA, USA; www.ccsamerica.com.
Said Merva, "Don was a pioneer in the machine-vision industry and has been a driver and innovator to this day. Through his efforts and business practices, he has brought the benefits of machine-vision inspection to many companies. In doing so, he has helped the industry obtain a respectable, legitimate image from which we all benefit."
Cochran has more than four decades of experience in high-production manufacturing, factory automation, robotic systems, and automated machine-vision inspection. In 1982, he founded Pressco Automation Group, a provider of high-speed machine-vision inspection systems. The company's primary market focus is in the food, beverage, and container industries, with approximately 60% of its production exported internationally.
The annual award, sponsored by the Automated Imaging Association (AIA; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; www.machinevisiononlikne.org), honors one industry leader for outstanding contributions in promoting market acceptance of industrial and/or scientific imaging. It is presented each year at the AIA Business Conference, a members-only event that brings key industry executives together for two-and-a-half days of networking, important machine vision business discussions, and presentations that explore emerging markets and new technologies.
