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| Steve Case, Founder and Chairman, CyberOptics, Inc
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Dr. Steve Case, Founder and Chairman of CyberOptics, Inc was killed Tuesday night in a small plane crash. He attempted to land at an airport near his home in Minneapolis, MN during bad weather returning from a business trip in Georgia.
Steve, 60 years old, was an industry veteran, member of several industry associations and a friend to many industry colleagues. In the 25 years since he founded CyberOptics in 1984, while a Professor at the University of Minnesota, Steve has helped shape the PCB and semiconductor industry with his technology and leadership.
Steve successfully grew CyberOptics providing proprietary laser measurement and alignment technology. I first met Steve during a Nepcon West show in 1987 and asked him to help develop a non-contact measurement system for our dispensing systems when I was President of Camelot Systems.
Steve’s typical response was “sure, that sounds interesting, let me visit you to review the application.” Steve was a “hands-on” engineer with dozens of patents to protect the company’s intellectual property. Steve was also a prominent technical speaker presenting papers around the world.
Kathleen P. Iverson, President and CEO, CyberOptics, Inc, said: "Everyone at CyberOptics is shocked and deeply saddened by Steve's death, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife and family. He was a brilliant engineer, whose many inventions and technological breakthroughs not only established the foundation for CyberOptics' success, but also helped transform the surface mount electronics industry.
"Most importantly, Steve was a wonderful friend and colleague to everyone who worked with him. He established a strong and capable management team, and we will do what Steve would want and that is to continue aggressively pursuing the ideas and promising opportunities he helped set in motion."
Bob Black, President and CEO of Juki, commented: “Steve Case was a brilliant scientist and engineer, and a smart entrepreneur. In more than 20 years working together he proved on many occasions that there were better ways to do things. Juki owes a good deal of its success in the SMT market to innovations designed and manufactured by CyberOptics and Steve Case.
"But Steve was more than a great supplier partner, he was a good friend. I have met few kinder or more considerate people in my life. We met last at the Protec Show in Tokyo two weeks ago. He was full of enthusiasm for the new projects we were working on together. I hope the industry comes to recognize what a giant Steve truly was.
"SPI, AOI, Placement Systems, Screen Printers, Circuit Drilling, his innovations affected all of these products and many more in the Semiconductor Equipment Industry as well. We’ll miss you a lot Steve, but we will carry on, finish your work, and see to it that your last innovations change the industry as well.”
Dr. Bob Shillman, Chairman and CEO, Cognex, offered: “Steve was more than a brilliant and creative engineer. He was more than a smart and ethical businessman. He was more than a thoughtful and caring human being. He was my friend…and I will miss him.”
Steve was a devoted family man and avid photographer, each year he would send Christmas cards of his entire family which made him so proud. His offices at the CyberOptics facility are full of photos he took at Yosemite National Park and he told me if it was good enough for Ansel Adams, it was good enough for him…
Last December during my visit, I met with Steve and the management team to talk about upcoming new products they were excited to launch. I was fortunate to attend a “CyberFest Luncheon” which is a company sponsored lunch for the entire organization. “Cyber” as he referred to his company was like an extended family, and I’m sure the entire team will miss Steve’s optimism and ingenuity.
The industry will miss you, your friend,
