Cognex Corporation has named Tom Nash president of the Surface Inspection Systems Division.  Mr. Nash reports to Dr. Robert Shillman, chairman and CEO of Cognex.   

Cognex’s Surface Inspection Systems Division specializes in developing turnkey vision systems that are used to inspect the surfaces of metals, paper, plastics, and other materials manufactured in a continuous process. Mr. Nash takes over management of this division from Markku Jaaskelainen, who has taken on the responsibility of building a team to develop and market a low-cost and easy-to-use PC-based vision system for inspecting the surfaces of materials.  Dr. Jaaskelainen will continue to report to Mr. Shillman.

Mr. Nash joins Cognex after serving as vice president of operations and marketing for BTU International, a global supplier of thermal processing and automation systems for the electronics, semiconductor and solar equipment markets.  At BTU, he was responsible for marketing, product development, and engineering for the Electronics Business Group, and he simultaneously managed two manufacturing facilities located in the U.S. and China.