NEWS RELEASE – May 3, 2006 – National Instruments today announced the release of the LabVIEW 8 Student Edition Software Suite, a full-featured version of the graphical development platform that provides students a flexible, hands-on learning environment for designing, prototyping and deploying engineering and science concepts into real-world applications. The software suite, for the first time, includes a collection of powerful National Instruments LabVIEW add-ons for mathematics, control design, signal processing and communications.

With the latest enhancements in NI LabVIEW 8 now available in the student edition, LabVIEW is even more effective for teaching and learning engineering and science concepts. With MathScript, an integrated part of LabVIEW 8, students can combine intuitive graphical dataflow programming with math-oriented algorithm development to solve homework problems in courses involving linear and dynamic systems, signal processing and control.

“I use LabVIEW 8 to teach my Introduction to Signal Processing course,” said Dr. Mark Yoder, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and co-author of DSP First: A Multimedia Approach. “Recently, a mid-quarter student survey reported a general preference for LabVIEW, with many students stating that the LabVIEW graphical development platform was more accessible and conducive to learning and that they preferred it for tasks ranging from quick calculations to complex signal processing problems.”

The suite contains five LabVIEW add-ons, including the LabVIEW Control Design Toolkit, LabVIEW Simulation Module, LabVIEW System Identification Toolkit, LabVIEW Modulation Toolkit and LabVIEW Digital Filter Design Toolkit. Using the LabVIEW Control Design Toolkit, students can explore dynamic systems and control theory with graphical tools for interactive root-locus, PID and other design techniques, while learning about plant and control models in state-space, transfer function or pole-zero-gain form. Students can use the LabVIEW Simulation Module to develop dynamic system models and simulate and deploy their open-loop or closed-loop controls systems. Additional advanced functionality provided by the LabVIEW Digital Filter Design Toolkit is ideal for exploring filter designs, topologies, algorithms, fixed- and floating-point filters and other concepts taught in digital signal processing courses.

In addition to the LabVIEW 8 Student Edition Software Suite, students can purchase Learning with LabVIEW 8, a Prentice Hall textbook by Dr. Robert Bishop, chairman of and professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. Now in its fourth edition, this textbook has been completely restructured with new chapters and updated coverage of signal processing and math analysis, including a new chapter on MathScript, making it ideal for classroom instruction. The LabVIEW Student Edition Textbook Bundle from Prentice Hall combines Bishop’s Learning with LabVIEW 8 and the LabVIEW 8 Student Edition for Windows and Mac OS, allowing for hands-on learning at home.

In support of engineering education worldwide, National Instruments offers the LabVIEW 8 Student Edition in several languages, including French, German, Japanese and Korean. Localized versions can be obtained from NI branch offices via www.ni.com.

National Instruments in Academia
National Instruments is committed to enhancing engineering and science education worldwide by providing educators and students with software and hardware to connect the curriculum with the real world. Professors and students benefit from industry-leading, professional tools such as NI LabVIEW graphical development software, which helps students visualize and implement engineering concepts. The integration of LabVIEW in the classroom creates an effective and dynamic learning environment – from LEGO® Mindstorms® in primary schools to research laboratories in universities. NI also offers resources to universities to support hands-on laboratories, cutting-edge research and student programs and competitions. For more information about NI academic initiatives and discounts, readers can visit www.ni.com/academic.

About National Instruments
For 30 years, National Instruments (www.ni.com) has been a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation – a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software, such as NI LabVIEW, and modular measurement and control hardware for PXI, PCI, PCI Express, USB and Ethernet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,800 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past seven years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Pricing and Contact Information