Following the successful conclusion of the Beijing-Tianjin Virtual Instrument Design Invitational Competition, the competition has attracted the attention of many domestic universities. Recently, National Instruments (NI) again expanded the scale of the competition to the whole country and co-organized the “First National Virtual Instrument Design Competition” to further develop virtual instrument technology talents. As the first national competition in the field of virtual instruments, the holding of this contest reflects the gradual popularization and influence of virtual instrument technology throughout the country.

Since 2005, NI and Tsinghua University have jointly organized a regional "virtual instrument design competition", which has achieved remarkable results in continuously cultivating students' innovative ability. In 2010, it attracted 21 schools in Beijing and Tianjin to participate together. The contest not only inspired students' enthusiasm for learning in virtual instrument design, but also developed a large number of innovative and practical works. Many universities outside Beijing and Tianjin expressed their willingness to participate.

The National Virtual Instrument Design Competition was jointly sponsored by the "China Instrument and Control Society" and the "Ministry of Education's Instrumental Science and Technology Teaching Steering Committee" (referred to as the "Educational Instruction Committee"), and organized by a number of organizations such as Tsinghua University. Colleges and universities, in order to meet the students to learn from each other and improve the level of virtual instrument technology.

The competition will take about 5 months. Finalists will participate in the championship and award ceremony at Tsinghua University in May 2011. To help players quickly understand and master the key technologies of virtual instrument design, NI will be a member of the Organizing Committee to provide unified training from entry to advanced. Contest winners will have the opportunity to participate in the NI Global Graphic Design Student Design Contest and further win the opportunity to attend the NIWeek Global Technology Event in the United States. In addition, NI will also be eligible for free NI LabVIEW Assistant Development Engineer (CLAD) certification exams for contestants above the third prize.

Currently, in addition to the first national virtual instrument design competition in 2011, more than 200 universities and colleges that have set up virtual instrument courses and experiments in China, such as Tianjin University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, Southeast University, etc., are also starting campus or regional one after another. "Virtual Instrument Design Competition." The winners of each event will be recommended first to participate in the 2011 National Virtual Instrument Design Competition.