34 Q&A
Q&A
Sam LopEz
European sales manager, Matrox Imaging
How did you come to be part of the expecting growth from that sector in the short
imaging/machine vision industry? term. However, there are industries that are
I started working at Matrox in 1986 as a weathering the storm better than others. Some
hardware design engineer. I worked on some are still in their infancy, as far as their adoption
of the earliest imaging boards for the PC. of machine vision technologies is concerned, so EMVA Business
Those were exciting times – PC technology demand for the technology is still increasing.
was new and we were pioneers. The PC-based As a result, we are focusing energy on those
systems started a revolution, and I wanted to bright spots. Also, systems used in security/
Conference 2009
be part of it. I moved to sales in 1990, and video surveillance applications still use a
my experience with our products grew even lot of analogue cameras and we continue to
more. Working with customers directly gave address those needs. But we see the number
me a new level of exposure to our products of applications for digital cameras (both IP
7
th
European Machine Vision Business Conference
and their application. and smart) and video analytics are on the rise,
so that’s good news for camera and software
May 15
th
and May 16
th
2009
‘The speed at which
How do you convince customers that vendors. Medical/pharmaceutical/life sciences
they need machine vision? industries are also enjoying an expansion right
new systems can be
Dublin, Ireland
Typically, customers come to us only after they now. The transition to HD is generating a
developed and released
understand they need vision. By the time they demand for new products.
come to us, they know they want to automate
www.emva.org/dublin
to market will increase
or improve some inspection system. They’re What do you see as the most important
looking to improve their returns. Choosing technological challenges facing the
beyond what we can even
the right components for a particular system industry?
imagine today’
can be overwhelming because of the range of If we want to see real growth for the machine
products, camera interfaces, and software tools. vision or imaging markets, vision technologies
om
As a vendor, our job is to facilitate the selection have to be adopted by industries outside our
ope.c
process and develop the components that give ‘traditional’ markets. This means vendors have
eur clients the best system for the best price. to adapt the technology for those ‘atypical’
.imv
industries. The challenge lies in simplification.
What role does Europe have in the Manufacturers of vision equipment need to
development of machine vision? simplify component integration and develop
Europe has always been at the forefront of software tools that are easier to use.
ch 2009 www
industry. Several European countries have
a strong reputation for innovation in the What do you see as being the most
factory automation sphere. Integrating vision significant commercial change in the
f
ebruary/mar
technology into those machines was a natural industry during the years ahead?
ope
progression for those particular countries. The speed at which new systems can be
Europeans are quick to embrace and promote developed and released to market will increase
new technologies. beyond what we can even imagine today. We
need to help customers improve their time-to-
What do you see as the major growth market without compromising capability or
sectors? limiting performance. The role of suppliers/
The global economic slowdown is having a manufacturers is to anticipate what our
The EMVA Business Conference
significant impact on our traditional machine customers need, and be ready to find solutions
is kindly sponsored by:
vision business, so I don’t think anyone is quickly. These are once again exciting times.
imaging and machine vision eur
IMVEfeb09 pp34-36 Q&A.indd 34 17/2/09 17:19:00
emva_Anzeige_IAMV_260109.indd 1 26.01.2009 13:13:44 Uhr
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