In the early 1970s, three young men, Dr. James Chuchard, Bill Nowlin, and Jeff Kodosky, worked in the Applied Research Laboratory of the University of Texas at Austin. Working on U.S. Navy projects, these men used early computer technology to collect and analyze data. Frustrated by the inefficiency of their data collection methods, they decided to create a new product that would make their task easier. In 1976, three young men established a company in the garage of James Churchard's home.
When the company was originally named, there were ideas such as "Longhorn Instruments" and "Texas Data", but they were rejected when the applications were submitted, so the current name was finally adopted: "National Instruments".
After the company was established, it borrowed US$10,000 from Interfirst Bank and purchased a PDP-11 minicomputer. Setting up and building the GPIB interface was the first project the company took on, and its first successful order came from a pitch to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. Since the three were employed by the school, in 1977 they hired their first full-time person to handle ordering, billing and customer service. As the company's transaction volume expanded, in 1978, they moved to a 56-square-meter office.
In 1980, the three resigned from school and devoted themselves full-time to the development of the company. The company also moved to an office with an area of ??500 square meters. To help generate revenue, the company took on a number of special projects, including a fuel pump credit card system and a waveform generator needed for U.S. Navy sonar testing. By 1981, the company had reached the $1 million sales mark, so they moved to a larger office with 1,000 square meters in 1982.
In 1986, LabVIEW, a famous graphics development system based on the Macintosh environment, was launched. This software allows engineers and scientists to program vividly using graphics such as "wires" instead of text-based input as before. Through people's more intuitive use and reduction of framework structures, productivity can be greatly improved, which made LabVIEW very popular as soon as it was released. The following year, a new version of LabVIEW based on the DOS environment, LabWindows, was released. With the launch of this now flagship product, NI put forward the slogan "Software is the instrument" and opened up a new concept of virtual instruments.
At this time, National Instruments already has 100 employees. In order to improve employees' work enthusiasm, employees will be praised for every achievement. In 1987, the company decided to sell its products directly rather than continuing through agents, and opened its first international branch in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1990 the company moved to a building on Lake Austin and purchased it in 1991. Because it is close to a local bridge, it is also called "Silicon Hills = Bridge Point." In 1991, the company obtained its first patent using LabVIEW. Later, they successively invented SCXI, LabWindows/CVI, etc., and opened the NI campus.
In 2002, the company opened its first overseas factory in Debrecen, Hungary's second largest city.