Shillman founded Cognex Corporation in 1981 while a member of the Electrical Engineering faculty of Tufts University. He left academia to start Cognex,investing his life savings of $86,000 into the company. He invited two MIT graduate students-–Bill Silver and Marilyn Matz–-to embark on this business venture with him,offering free racing bicycles to convince them to leave MIT for a summer. These three individuals gave Cognex its start and its name,which was derived from the phrase "Cognition Experts".[13]
Cognex was one of the first companies to explore commercial applications for machine vision in the early 1980s. By the 1990s,Cognex's business had grown substantially due to the demand for machine vision to help automate semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. The company went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1989.
Professional recognition
Shillman was named Inc. magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1990,received an Achievement Award in Leadership from the Automated Imaging Association in 1992,and received the North American SEMI Award in 2005[7] for his contributions to the semiconductor industry. He has published more than 20 technical papers and is recognized as an expert in the field of optical character recognition (OCR) and industrial uses of machine vision.
In June 2000,Shillman received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Northeastern University in recognition of his work in the field of machine vision technology in factory automation. In September 2008,Shillman was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Waseda University in Japan for his work in establishing an entrepreneurship program at Waseda and for his contribution to the development of machine vision systems.[9]
He has been described as a counter-jihad "elite" and high-profile financier.[5] In and around August 2017,he funded several far-right counter-jihad activists who were appointed "Shillman Fellows". Among these fellows were Laura Loomer,Raheem Kassam and Katie Hopkins.[5]
In August 2018,it was revealed by The Times that Shillman had been providing finances to British far-right activist Tommy Robinson by helping to pay his "five figure salary".[18][6]
In January 2021,it was revealed by OpenSecrets that Shillman paid nearly $214,000 in 2017 to help Dutch politician Geert Wilders pay for his successful legal defence in an indictment for hate speech against Muslims in general and Moroccans in particular.[11][19]
In November 2025 it was revealed that he pulled a $2,000,000 pledge from Turning Point USA due to Charlie Kirk's involvement with Tucker Carlson. [20]
Philanthropy
He instituted the Cognex Community Donations Program,which supports several causes in the towns and cities where the company's regional offices are located.[21]
Shillman also established the Perseverance Awards at Cognex to reward those individuals who have devoted significant time to the company's success. The awards increase in value,and when an employee reaches 25 years of service they are given the opportunity to become a philanthropist. The company sets up a charitable giving account in the employee's name and under their control,funded with $25,000 to donate to the employee's choice of IRS-approved charities.[21]
Shillman has made substantial financial gifts to Northeastern University,which named a classroom building Shillman Hall in his honor,and to Waseda University,which named the building housing its Center for Entrepreneurship in his honor,and to the Technion –Israel Institute of Technology,which named the plaza of its physics center in his honor. He has endowed three professorships,the Robert J. Shillman Career Development Professorship at MIT,the Robert J. Shillman Trustee Professor of Entrepreneurship at Northeastern University and the Robert J. Shillman Career Advancement Chair at the Israel Institute of Technology.[9][22]
Starting in 2006,Shillman has waived his annual salary and bonus at Cognex and has requested that those amounts be donated each year to charity.[21]
12345"Advisory Boards". Northeastern University College of Business Administration. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
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