National Instruments, American University of Beirut Introduce Virtual Instrumentation Center for Excellence


Lab Combines Engineering Concepts and NI Technology for Hands-On Learning

NEWS RELEASE - Nov. 16, 2007 - National Instruments and the American University of Beirut are working together to provide premium technology and products to engineering students at the university. Named after the virtual instrumentation approach to test and measurement pioneered by NI, the Virtual Instrumentation Center of Excellence at AUB uses NI software and hardware to provide students and faculty of engineering programs with the technology to design, test and deploy projects.

AUB established in 1866 is one of the leading professional schools in the Middle East and has offered education in engineering since 1951. It offers programs in Architecture and Graphic Design, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Management and Mechanical Engineering. Students in the undergraduate and graduate engineering programs at AUB will use NI equipment as part of their curriculum, complementing theoretical lessons and promoting experiential learning.

"The Virtual Instrumentation Center of Excellence enables students to use modern, professional technology to expand on their classroom knowledge and implement engineering concepts," said Dr. Fouad Mrad of AUB. "The Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at AUB is well known for its high standards in research and education, and we are proud to use NI technology to further prepare our students to become leading professionals in their fields."

Virtual instrumentation allows users to create multifunctional and customizable test and measurement devices using a combination of modular hardware and easy-to-integrate software. NI software can be used to manipulate and control the functions of hardware, allowing the hardware to serve multiple users and functions.

"Supplementing a quality curriculum with NI tools gives students a hands-on experience that will further their knowledge, and allow them to see theory in practice," said Michel Haddad, general manager of NI Arabia. "By implementing commercial-grade tools into a recognized learning environment, NI and AUB are joining forces to give students a strong advantage as future engineers."

The center gives students hands-on experience in areas such as control and instrumentation, DSP, RF telecommunications and mechatronics. The center includes more than 14 teaching and research labs in the fields of Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering. Each lab contains technology that allows students to apply the theories they have learned in class, such as NI LabVIEW graphical programming software and PXI, RF digital communications, CompactRIO and NI ELVIS hardware. These powerful, professional tools help students visualize and implement engineering concepts and employ the same techniques widely used in the industry.

Readers can obtain information on NI in academia at http://www.ni.com/academic.

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 4,500 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries.

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