NATI

National Instruments Corporation

A maker of automated test and measurement systems, National Instruments (now NI) builds the hardware and software engineers use to collect data and test products in industries like aerospace, semiconductors, and electronics. Its flagship product, LabVIEW, is a graphical programming environment that turns ordinary computers into custom test instruments. Founded in 1976 in an Austin garage by three university researchers, the company originally wanted the name "Longhorn Instruments" — already taken — so it settled on National Instruments.