National Instruments to Host NIWeek 2008 Graphical System Design Conference

National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced plans for NIWeek, the industry’s premier event on graphical system design that attracts more than 3,000 of the world’s brightest engineers, educators and scientists. NIWeek 2008, the company’s 14th annual customer and technology conference, opens Aug. 5 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, for three days of interactive technical sessions, targeted summits, hands-on workshops and exhibitions on the latest developments for design, control, automation, manufacturing and test. The conference also features keynote presentations and demonstrations that highlight how engineers and scientists can use NI graphical system design to test, measure and fix inefficient products and processes to improve everyday life. "NIWeek provides an exciting opportunity for engineers and scientists to exchange ideas while exploring new technologies and solutions,” said Dr. James Truchard, NI CEO, president and cofounder. "At NIWeek 2008, we will explore innovation in green engineering and look at how the graphical system design platform is leading to the more rapid design, prototyping and deployment of more efficient systems for automated test, industrial measurement and control and embedded applications.” NIWeek 2008 features nearly 200 technical sessions including hands-on workshops, case studies and panel discussions from companies and universities such as Averna, Cornell University, General Electric, Texas Instruments and the University of California, Berkeley. The sessions will highlight the latest developments in test and data acquisition, industrial and automation, embedded design and software development as well as green engineering. In addition, the conference features technical summits on RF and wireless communications, sound and vibration and vision as well as the first ever Robotics Summit, which explores the use of NI LabVIEW software and the graphical system design platform for robotic and autonomous vehicle applications. The conference will open with a keynote from Truchard on the use of graphical system design to support innovation in green engineering. In addition to Truchard, Tim Dehne, NI senior vice president of R&D, will present the latest products and solutions from NI, and John Pasquarette, NI director of software marketing, will provide attendees with a sneak peek at some "still in the lab” developments for advanced control, design, test and data acquisition applications. On the final day of the conference, Ray Almgren, vice president of academic marketing, will show how student teams from primary, secondary and higher education are getting involved in challenging, socially relevant engineering and science projects to improve their world. Events new to NIWeek 2008 include the Academic Forum and the Medical Device Workshop. The Academic Forum on Aug. 4 provides an exclusive platform for academic professionals to present their original research, share teaching methodologies and preview NI technologies and products. The Medical Device Workshop, a seminar that brings together physicians, scientists and engineers who are developing innovative, timely and safe medical devices, takes place Aug. 5–6 and kicks off with a keynote from G. Terry Sharrer, Ph.D., executive director of the Medical Innovation and Transformation Institute of the Inova Health System. Additionally, attendees can learn about new technologies and see product demonstrations at the more than 200 booths at the NIWeek 2008 exhibition. They can also see the technology presented during the technical summits at the RF and Wireless, Robotics and Sound and Vibration pavilions as well as the Vision Neighborhood. NI also offers additional customer education and training as a lead-in to NIWeek, with two-day training courses that help attendees gain in-depth product knowledge and learn best practices for LabVIEW, NI CompactRIO and RF applications. Attendees also can take certification exams to validate their skills in LabVIEW, NI LabWindows™/CVI and NI TestStand software. Readers can learn more about NIWeek 2008, register for the event or sign up to exhibit at www.ni.com/niweek. About NIWeek Since 1995, thousands of engineers, scientists and educators worldwide have gathered at NIWeek to learn about cost-efficient, flexible technologies for creating advanced test, control and design solutions. NIWeek 2008 begins Aug. 5 for three full days of interactive technical sessions, summits and hands-on workshops. Readers can register at www.ni.com/niweek. About National Instruments National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company’s investor relations department by calling 512-683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati. CompactRIO, CVI, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com, NI TestStand and NIWeek are trademarks of National Instruments. The mark LabWindows is used under a license from Microsoft Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.