SEPTEMBER 25--InTech, the official magazine of ISA, The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society, named National Instruments (ni.com) president and CEO James Truchard one of the 50 most influential people in the instrument and control industry. Named among innovators Bill Gates and the Wright brothers, Truchard was recognized for pioneering the concept of virtual instrumentation.
"In an industry traditionally known for its slow adoption of new technologies, Truchard has given a whole new look and feel to the way engineers approach measurement and automation through virtual instrumentation software and hardware," said Gregory Hale, editor atInTech. "Truchard helped pioneer the idea that software can safely control a process."
Truchard and NI business and technology fellow Jeff Kodosky invented LabVIEW, intuitive graphical development software that offered for the first time an easy way to acquire data, control instruments, and analyze and present data from a personal computer without sacrificing performance or functionality. LabVIEW spurred the widespread adoption of virtual instrumentation and by expanding to real-time, FPGA and rugged distributed I/O targets, it continues to push virtual instrumentation into new industries and application areas, including control design and embedded control.
Today, engineers and scientists use virtual instrumentation in nearly every area of measurement and automation, resulting in shorter development times, higher-quality products, and lower costs. "At National Instruments, we remain dedicated to improving the productivity of our customers by continually extending our vision for LabVIEW and virtual instrumentation into all phases of the design cycle, from research to design to the most demanding manufacturing environments," Truchard said.
To compile their list of 50 most influential industry innovators,InTech's editors asked more than 80 instrumentation and control experts for their opinions on the top innovators credited with advancing automation, instrumentation, and control technologies. Armed with these expert opinions, the editors paired down the list and made the final decision.
