11th Annual AIA Business Conference Set for February 5-7, 2003 in Orlando

Ann Arbor, Michigan -- The 11th Annual Automated Imaging Association Business Conference will be held February 5-7, 2003 at the new Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Florida.

More than 125 machine vision industry executives are expected to attend in order to network with their peers and hear presentations on key issues that impact their companies.

The economic outlook for the industry will be of primary concern at the 2003 event, according to Jeff Burnstein, Executive Director of the Automated Imaging Association.

'As the economic downturn continues, business leaders are looking for information that can help them plan their company's strategy for the next several months.  That's why we're going to open the conference with a global economic outlook presentation by Dr. Sung Won Sohn, Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Officer at Wells Fargo Bank.  Dr. Sohn was recently selected by Bloomberg Magazine as one of America's top five forecasters of economic growth, ' Burnstein said.

Nello Zuech, the machine vision industry's leading market analyst, will present the first look at his findings on the 2002 results and forecasts to 2007, the basis of AIA's annual market study on the industry that will be released in the Spring of 2003.  The conference also features updated information on the European and Japanese machine vision markets.

Several top industry executives also will speak at the 2003 event, including Robert Steinke, CEO, DVT Corporation; Rafi Amit, CEO, Camtek; Ian McEvoy, President, Universal Instruments Corporation; Amir Novini, CEO, Applied Vision Corporation; John Stack, President, Edmund Industrial Optics, and Edison Hudson, CTO, MetaControls Technologies.

'This is one of the finest lineups of speakers we've ever had at the Business Conference,' Burnstein said.  'We're gratified that so many top executives will share their insights on key issues related to building a successful machine vision company.'

Other topics to be discussed at the Conference include how to open a foreign sales office, the pros and cons of technologies such as FireWire, Camera Link, and USB 2.0, and how companies can protect their intellectual property.

Founded in 1984, AIA is the only trade group in North America organized specifically to promote the use of image capture and analysis technology.  Its 210 member companies include suppliers of complete vision systems, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from around the world.

For more details on the upcoming Business Conference and other AIA activities, visit www.machinevisiononline.org or contact AIA Headquarters at 734/994-6088.