NI Exams

The LabVIEW Ecosystem Under Emerson

Founded in 1976, NI (formerly National Instruments) built its reputation on connecting physical laboratory instruments to computer interfaces. The founders, working out of a garage in Austin, Texas, created a General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) to link test equipment with early personal computers. The company pioneered virtual instrumentation, moving hardware controls into software. In October 2023, Emerson acquired NI for $8.2 billion, folding it into its Test & Measurement business group.

Despite the corporate changes, NI's flagship product remains LabVIEW. Released in 1986 initially for the Apple Macintosh, LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment. Instead of writing text-based code, engineers build applications by wiring visual nodes together on a block diagram. Organizations in aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor manufacturing rely on LabVIEW for data acquisition, instrument control, and automated testing.

Proving Foundational Competency

Because LabVIEW uses a visual paradigm, traditional software engineering skills do not translate directly. You have to learn how data flows through the wires, how to structure loops, and how to manage hardware inputs.

The CLAD (Certified LabVIEW Associate Developerination) is NI's entry-level credential. It verifies that you understand the LabVIEW environment, can read existing code, and know how to apply coding best practices.

The exam consists of multiple-choice questions and lasts 60 minutes. It tests your grasp of core concepts like data types, control flow structures, subVI creation, and error handling. You must know how to navigate the front panel and block diagram efficiently, manage multiple files, and use debugging features to identify runtime errors. NI recommends candidates have at least six months of hands-on development experience, or complete the official Core 1 and Core 2 training courses, before taking the test. The credential remains valid for two years, requiring recertification to stay active.

Market Value in Test and Measurement

Most IT professionals do not need an NI certification. LabVIEW sits squarely at the intersection of hardware engineering and software development.

If you manage enterprise networks or deploy cloud infrastructure, this track holds little value. However, if you work in a research and development lab, a manufacturing floor, or a quality assurance testing facility, LabVIEW proficiency is a strict requirement. Hiring managers in these environments use the CLAD to filter candidates. They need engineers who can connect a physical sensor to a data acquisition board, capture the analog signal, and write the logic to analyze that data without crashing the test system.