Don't Miss This Today

Apple iPhone Product Teardown
Noon–1:00 p.m., Technology Theater, Exhibition Hall
Come watch as Portelligent uncovers the technologies behind the Apple iPhone – piece by piece.

NASA Sees the Whole Picture with Advanced Signal and Image Processing
1:00–2:00 p.m., Room 13A/B
Learn how NASA uses nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and the required signal and image processing that goes hand in hand with NDE.

Industry Experts Panel: Green Engineering
2:30–3:45 p.m., Ballroom G
Connect with NI executives and other industry leaders for an interactive session on technology advancements in green engineering.

The Future of Robotics
4:45–5:45 p.m., Room 15
Join industry and academia leaders in a panel discussion moderated by the chief editor of Motion System Design to learn about future robotics trends and innovations.

Annual NIWeek Conference Party
7:00–10:30 p.m., Austin Music Hall
Shuttles loop between the convention center and Austin Music Hall from 6:15 to 11:30 p.m.
Enjoy Texas cuisine, cold drinks, and good times at Austin Music Hall while '80s rock cover band, LC Rocks, performs the hits you know and love. Conference name badges are required for admission.

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Faster RF Measurements for Less

Get a closer look at the new 6.6 GHz PXI Express RF instruments demoed in Tuesday’s keynote. Stop by the RF Pavilion on the expo floor to experience superior accuracy and measurement speed as well as low-cost flexibility. Check out the specs:

• NI PXIe-5663 vector signal analyzer – signal analysis from 10 MHz to 6.6 GHz with up to 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth
• NI PXIe-5673 vector signal generator – signal generation at up to 6.6 GHz with 100 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth

Because all the measurement algorithms are defined in LabVIEW software, you can use the same system to test multiple protocols such as WLAN, WiMAX, DVB-T, GPS, and more.

Compare more extensive specifications and learn about application areas

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NI Announces Graphical System Design Achievement Award Recipients

Customer Application of the Year
"Advanced Cancer Research through Next-Generation Medical Imaging"
K. Ohbayashi, D. Choi, H. Hiro-Oka, H. Furukawa, R. Yoshimura, M. Nakanishi, and K. Shimizu – Kitasato University, Japan

Humanitarian
"Using Graphical System Design for Tumor Treatment"
Jeff Stevens – Sanarus

Green
"Harnessing the Power of Embedded Design to Develop an Innovative Measurement Sensor for Automotive Test Systems"
Alessandro De Grassi, Francesco Siano, and Carmine Ungaro – Loccioni Group

Editors' Choice
"Embedded Graphical System Design Empowers Life-Saving Spider Robots"
Pom Yuan Lam – Nanyang Polytechnic, Marco Schmid – Schmid Engineering, and Anders Frederiksen – World Wide Industrial

Academic/Research
"Synthia Gets Extreme Makeover Courtesy of National Instruments"
Dean M. Smith – Mink Hollow Systems

Aerospace/Defense
"Advanced Distributed Modular Data Acquisition Using NI CompactRIO"
Eric Lyness and Steven Marlow – Mink Hollow Systems

Automotive
"Caliper Brake Test System with an FPGA-Based Servo Control System"
Permanand Rathnam – Apna Technologies & Solutions

Biotechnology/Life Sciences
"Advanced Cancer Research through Next-Generation Medical Imaging"
K. Ohbayashi, D. Choi, H. Hiro-Oka, H. Furukawa, R. Yoshimura, M. Nakanishi, and K. Shimizu – Kitasato University, Japan

Communications/Wireless
"Real-Time, Wireless Data Acquisition System"
S.K. Nandini and C.D. Senthil Raj – Apna Technologies & Solutions

Embedded Design
"Embedded Graphical System Design Empowers Life-Saving Spider Robots"
Pom Yuan Lam – Nanyang Polytechnic Singapore, Marco Schmid – Schmid Engineering, and Anders Frederiksen – Analog Devices

Industrial Measurements/Control
"NI Technology Strengthens Unique Vessel Positioning System"
Etienne Berthiaume and Steve Allard – Averna
Luc Boisclair – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation

Mechatronics/Robotics/Control
"Autonomous Driving with LabVIEW in the DARPA Urban Challenge"
Team VictorTango – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and TORC Technologies, LLC

Production/ATE
"PXI-Based RF and GPS Common Core Production Testing"
Rick Garza – G Systems

Read the winners' full case study papers online

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NI Leadership Demonstrates New Products, Customer Successes at Opening Keynote

Dr. James Truchard, NI president, CEO, and cofounder, opened NIWeek 2008 by congratulating a record 2,672 attendees on their accomplishments using graphical system design. It is engineers and scientists, he said, who are taking large quantities of measurements – into the petabyte range – to identify and solve environmental problems and make our planet a better place to live. He discussed how these engineers and scientists are using NI products to improve the efficiency of diesel engines, create renewable energy sources, reduce the downtime of industrial machines, and more. “National Instruments provides the tools to help engineers turn measurements into better designs,” Truchard said.

Following Truchard, NI Senior Vice President of R&D Tim Dehne and NI R&D engineers showed off the latest innovations in graphical system design. These new products offer improved measurement capability to handle sophisticated test and measurement applications and a wider variety of deployment options for industrial and embedded applications. Additionally, Dehne demonstrated improved capabilities in NI LabVIEW software that deliver higher performance, ease of use, and advanced control for rapid prototyping and deployment.

View the keynote video

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Robotics Pavilion Showcases Innovations and Advancements

NIWeek 2008 features an interactive Robotics Pavilion showcasing the innovative ways engineers, scientists, and students are using NI software and hardware in academia and industry. See the Guitar Hero-playing robot built by Texas A&M University students and discover how engineers integrate LabVIEW and NI hardware into industrial robots made by manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and DENSO. Learn how the FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) and FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) are using LabVIEW and NI CompactRIO to inspire tens of thousands of young students to expand their engineering skills. The Robotics Pavilion also includes innovations from around the world such as consumer device enhancements; LEGO robots; and third-place winner of the DARPA Urban Challenge, Odin, an autonomous SUV designed by TORC and Virginia Tech.

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Q&A with Dr. Andre Muelenaer

Dr. Andre Muelenaer, pediatric pulmonologist, has practiced medicine for almost 30 years. Since 2004, he has worked with his colleagues at the Crilion Clinic, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest University, and in national professional and advocacy groups to create and support the enactment of legislation to facilitate development of and funding for pediatric medical devices. Together they have created the Pediatric Medical Device Institute (PMDI) to facilitate the transition from pediatric medical device needs to clinically beneficial tools.

Q: You’ve done a lot with the FDA and pediatric medical devices. Where do you see it going now that FDA funding has been authorized?

A: With FDA support, we can accelerate our efforts to create medical technology developmental hubs centered upon consortium hospitals. We will enlist and educate local medical, technology, business, and investment leadership in order to enable product development. We will focus on the talents of small businesses, while depending upon guidance from our governmental partners at the FDA, NIH, and AHRQ. Individuals and institutions involved in these hubs will have the opportunity to collaborate on product development and have access to participate in multi-center clinical trials.

Q: What do you plan to do to encourage medical device development in the United States?

A: We will listen to the needs of patients, parents, healthcare providers, inventors, and engineers. We will then provide the support needed to navigate through the complex pathway that goes from needs to solutions at the bedside. PMDI is a communications hub that will have the medical, technical, business, and financial resources to promote device development along the entire spectrum from needs to manufacturing.

Q: How do you feel that NI products have helped and will continue to help you develop these devices in the future?

A: NI products provide a common platform that translates across many disciplines of engineering, medicine, and science. They are simple enough for high school students to use to create real solutions to medical problems yet robust enough that engineers are now using them to create devices to emulate the physiology of the beating human heart. We recommend NI products as a standard part of a medical device “development toolbox” in order to accelerate the creation, testing, and deployment of pediatric medical devices.

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