“In engineering, there is always something to massage”

Engineering is problem-solving. Even if you have been working in machine vision and CMOS sensor design for a long time, each application requires special tweaks and adaptations. Industrial environments seem to always be throwing out new challenges in terms of lighting, positioning, data rates , resolution, and temperature. Sometimes that requires serious compromises, but often doesn’t have to. Going directly to your solution provider or even component manufacturer might reveal new possibilities. Many times you have to carefully spec your components and stick to the numbers, but if you are willing to keep an open mind and problem solve together, you might just come up with something much, much better.

Some companies will be receptive to working cooperatively with their customers. Some will actually love it. Matthias Sonder enjoys this kind of work that focuses on the end result: “You want customers to be successful with the device, not just get what they asked for.” That might involve a custom solution, or may simply be a conversation that gets you to the solution faster. You’ll never know unless you ask.