National Instruments Hosts Graphical System Design Summit Featuring Experts from General Motors, Xilinx, University of California at Berkeley.

AUSTIN, Texas -- National Instruments (Nasdaq:NATI)

--Highlights Include Embedded Design Case Studies, Technical Sessions, Industry Experts Panel Led by EE Times

National Instruments (Nasdaq:NATI) welcomes thought leaders and technical experts from industry and academia, including General Motors, Xilinx and UC Berkeley, to the Graphical System Design Summit sponsored by Altera, Analog Devices, EE Times, Embedded Systems Design, Freescale Semiconductor, Intel and Wind River. The summit takes place during the 12th annual NIWeek, the world's leading virtual instrumentation conference and exhibition, on Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 in Austin, Texas. Presentations will demonstrate National Instruments LabVIEW software as an open graphical programming platform for designing, prototyping and deploying embedded systems through case studies and technical "how-to" presentations by experts from companies and universities including Celoxica, Georgia Institute of Technology, General Motors, Maplesoft, UC Berkeley, QNX/Intel and Xilinx.

Engineers and scientists should attend the Graphical System Design Summit to learn more about how graphical system design -- using a single open, graphical programming platform to rapidly design, prototype and deploy embedded systems -- can transform the way they design products and enhance efficiency in their embedded system designs.

"The future of embedded systems is not about software as usual in embedded devices. It requires entirely new ways to think about system design, joining software, hardware and physical processes," said Graphical System Design Summit keynote speaker Dr. Edward Lee, professor/chair of electrical engineering and associate chair of electrical engineering and computer sciences, UC Berkeley and director of CHESS, the Berkeley Center for Hybrid and Embedded Software Systems.

Summit keynote speakers include:

--Dr. Edward Lee, leading embedded researcher and professor, UC Berkeley

--Jeff Kodosky, NI co-founder, fellow and father of NI LabVIEW

--Dennis Bogden, director, electronics integration and systems, GM Powertrain

--Dr. Ivo Bolsens, vice president and chief technology officer, Xilinx

--Dr. James Truchard, NI co-founder, president and CEO 

The Graphical System Design Summit concludes with an Industry Experts Panel, moderated by Brian Fuller, publisher and editor-in-chief of EE Times magazine, which explores the latest trends and future technologies impacting embedded design. Leading industry experts will highlight what engineers can expect from productivity-enhancing tools and Dr. James Truchard will offer a sneak peak into the future of NI design tools.

At the summit, technology experts will share how both experienced embedded designers and domain experts without extensive design experience can use the latest technologies driving embedded design in industries such as automotive, medical/biomedical, industrial control, aerospace/defense and consumer electronics. Through graphical system design, engineers overcome the productivity and time-to-market challenges of traditional embedded development using the flexible LabVIEW graphical programming platform and its connectivity to integrated prototyping hardware in addition to a wide range of I/O and third-party tools to more efficiently design, prototype and deploy embedded systems to commercial-off-the-shelf and custom hardware.

Session topics include algorithm development and verification, digital filter design, rapid prototyping of automotive and medical devices, multicore processing and custom deployments. The technical content of the summit pertains to anyone requiring a more efficient design process.

To learn more about the summit or to register, visit http://ni.com/niweek/summit_embedded_control.htm. Please enter registration code "GSD_NIWeek" when registering for NIWeek to denote interest in the summit.

About NIWeek

NIWeek, the world's leading virtual instrumentation conference and exhibition, opens Aug. 8 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, for three days of interactive summits, exhibitions, technical sessions and hands-on workshops on the latest technologies for test, control and design applications. Since 1995, engineers, scientists and educators worldwide have gathered at NIWeek to learn about cost-efficient, flexible technologies for creating advanced test, control and design solutions. Readers can learn more at ni.com/niweek.

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 3,900 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.

Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor relations department by calling 512-683-5090, e-mailing [e-mail] or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and NIWeek are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.