NI Connect 2026 brought together engineers, architects, technology leaders, partners, and community members from around the world in Fort Worth, Texas. This year’s event was particularly special as NI celebrated its 50th anniversary and LabVIEW’s 40th birthday. For #teamhampelsoft, the week was filled with cybersecurity presentations, panel discussions, community recognition through WUELUG’s Community Catalyst Award, pre-conference bouldering with friends from the community, and even the opportunity to meet—and share lunch with—NI founders Dr. James Truchard and Jeff Kodosky.
Before the Conference: Bouldering and Reconnecting
As has become something of a tradition, the conference week started well before the opening keynote.
Before NI Connect officially began, Jörg spent several days bouldering in Austin and Fort Worth together with friends from the LabVIEW community. These climbing sessions have become one of the most enjoyable parts of conference travel. They provide an opportunity to reconnect with people before schedules become packed with presentations, meetings, and evening events.
As always, the conversations quickly moved beyond climbing. Architecture discussions, cybersecurity challenges, AI, open-source projects, community initiatives, and business opportunities all found their way into conversations between climbing attempts.
One of the greatest strengths of the NI ecosystem is that many professional relationships eventually grow into genuine friendships. The climbing sessions were a perfect example of that spirit.
Celebrating Two Major Milestones
This year’s NI Connect was more than just another conference. It marked two remarkable anniversaries:
- 50 years of National Instruments
- 40 years of LabVIEW
To celebrate the occasion, NI brought two of its founders onto the keynote stage: Dr. James Truchard (“Dr. T”) and Jeff Kodosky.
For anyone involved in the LabVIEW ecosystem, these names require little introduction. Dr. Truchard co-founded National Instruments in 1976, while Jeff Kodosky is widely recognised as the “Father of LabVIEW” for leading the development of the graphical programming language that transformed the test and measurement industry.
What stood out throughout the week was how approachable both remained. Wherever they appeared, groups of attendees quickly formed around them. Photos, conversations, handshakes, and stories followed them throughout the conference. It genuinely felt as though hundreds—if not thousands—of selfies were taken during the week.
Even after decades of influence on our industry, both founders remained deeply engaged with the community that grew around the technologies they created.
“A Lunch I Will Never Forget”
Among all the highlights of the week, one experience stands above the rest. Through a fortunate combination of timing and community connections, Jörg had the opportunity to share lunch with both Dr. James Truchard and Jeff Kodosky.
Also joining the conversation were Eli Kerry, Darren Nattinger, Steve Watts, and more!
For someone who has spent most of his professional career building software in LabVIEW, contributing to the community, and helping customers succeed with NI technologies, this was a genuine honour.
Seeing the founders on stage was memorable. Having the opportunity to sit down, share a meal, and exchange stories with them was something entirely different. It is one of those moments that will remain memorable long after the conference itself has faded into history.
The NI Ecosystem Continues to Evolve
Throughout the week, one thing became increasingly clear: the NI ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly. Topics that repeatedly surfaced during presentations, meetings, and hallway discussions included:
- Artificial Intelligence and AI-assisted engineering
- Cybersecurity and regulatory compliance
- Modern software development workflows
- Long-term maintainability of test systems
- Open-source collaboration
- Distributed and scalable architectures
- Data management and analytics
While technology continues to evolve, the core challenges facing engineering organisations remain remarkably consistent: building reliable systems, maintaining them over long lifecycles, and helping development teams collaborate effectively.
Cybersecurity Takes Center Stage
If there was one topic besides AI that dominated NI Connect 2026, it was cybersecurity. Across industries and regions, organisations are increasingly facing customer requirements, regulatory obligations, and security expectations that would have been uncommon only a few years ago.
For Hampel Software Engineering, this made NI Connect an especially relevant event. Together with Steve Summers from NI, Jörg delivered two separate presentations focused on cybersecurity and its growing impact on engineering organisations.
The sessions explored how engineering teams can prepare for emerging regulations such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act, how software development processes are changing, and why cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a specialised topic reserved for IT departments. Rather than focusing on theory, the presentations were built around HSE’s own experiences implementing cybersecurity processes and preparing for future compliance requirements.
The strong audience engagement demonstrated that many organisations are currently facing the same challenges and searching for practical guidance.
Panel Discussion: How Cybersecurity Is Changing Engineering
In addition to the presentations, Jörg participated in a panel discussion examining how cybersecurity is fundamentally changing the engineering profession. The discussion covered topics such as:
- Supply-chain security
- Software lifecycle management
- Open-source software risks and opportunities
- Regulatory requirements
- Organisational readiness
- The changing role of engineers
One recurring theme was that cybersecurity is becoming a standard engineering discipline rather than a specialised niche. Future engineers will increasingly be expected not only to build systems, but also to understand how those systems are secured, maintained, and supported throughout their entire lifecycle.
Panel Discussion: Collaborating in Large Development Teams
Another highlight was participating in a panel discussion focused on collaboration within larger engineering organisations. As software systems continue to grow in complexity, successful development increasingly depends on effective teamwork, communication, and development processes.
Topics included:
- Source code management
- Code reviews
- Modular architectures
- Team structures
- Open-source workflows
- Long-term maintainability
Many of the themes closely aligned with the approaches Hampel Software Engineering has been promoting for years through customer projects, user groups, conference presentations, and open-source initiatives. The discussion reinforced an important observation: technical excellence alone is rarely enough. Development processes and collaboration practices often determine whether projects succeed or struggle.
WUELUG Wins the Community Catalyst Award
Without question, one of the most emotional moments of the week was the recognition of WUELUG with NI’s Community Catalyst Award.
The award recognises outstanding contributions to the growth and strength of the NI community and honours individuals and groups that actively help others learn, connect, and succeed. For WUELUG, the award reflects years of effort by presenters, organisers, sponsors, and attendees who have helped transform a local user group into a thriving engineering community.
Today, WUELUG regularly brings together engineers, students, consultants, and technology enthusiasts from across the region. The award serves as recognition not only of past achievements but also of the importance of community-building within the broader LabVIEW ecosystem.
Meeting Customers, Partners, and Friends
As always, one of the most valuable aspects of NI Connect happened outside the presentation rooms. Throughout the week, Jörg met with:
- Existing customers
- Prospective customers
- NI leadership
- R&D engineers
- Business partners
- Members of the DQMH Consortium
- LabVIEW Champions
- User group organisers
- Community leaders from around the world
These conversations often provide as much value as the formal conference programme itself. Hearing how organisations are addressing common challenges, sharing lessons learned, and discussing future opportunities helps shape both technical and business strategies for the years ahead.
Behind the Scenes at NI Headquarters
The conference officially ended, but the trip was not quite over. The following day, Jörg had the opportunity to visit NI headquarters thanks to a personal tour organised by Eli Kerry from NI.
The visit provided fascinating insights into NI’s history, culture, engineering organisation, and ongoing development efforts. Walking through the facilities where many of the technologies used throughout our industry are designed and developed offered a unique perspective on the scale and complexity of the organisation.
A huge thank you goes to Eli for taking the time to organise and lead the visit. It was a fitting conclusion to an already memorable week.
Community Remains the Greatest Strength
While new technologies receive much of the attention at conferences, NI Connect 2026 served as another reminder that communities remain one of the most valuable assets in engineering.
Technology changes quickly. Relationships, trust, and shared experience last much longer.
Whether discussing cybersecurity, software architecture, open-source collaboration, or future technologies, the willingness of engineers to openly share knowledge continues to be one of the defining strengths of the NI ecosystem.
Looking Ahead
NI Connect 2026 provided a valuable mix of technical learning, strategic discussions, community engagement, and professional networking.
From celebrating 50 years of NI and 40 years of LabVIEW to cybersecurity presentations, panel discussions, community recognition through WUELUG’s award, and unforgettable conversations with the founders themselves, the week offered many reasons for optimism about the future of engineering.
A huge thank you goes to NI, the organisers, speakers, community leaders, and attendees who made the event possible.
We left Fort Worth with new ideas, stronger relationships, renewed motivation—and, as always, slightly tired forearms from the climbing.
See you at NI Connect 2027.
