Electronic Design

Richard Mcdonell

Director of Americas Marketing

National Instruments

Richard McDonell is the director of Americas marketing at National Instruments. He joined National Instruments with a BSEE in 1999 and led in the successful adoption of NI TestStand test management software and PXI modular instrumentation while serving as an industry leader in the test engineering community through numerous technical presentations, articles, and whitepapers. His specific technical focus areas include modular test software and hardware system design, parallel test strategy, and instrument control bus technology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Articles by Richard Mcdonell

How Is Mobile Technology Influencing Data Acquisition?

Mobile access is becoming a primary requirement for test and measurement systems. Engineers and scientists must improve their skill sets by understanding options for mobile integration and keeping tabs on the outlook for future mobile systems.

Five Test Predictions For 2013 1

The 2013 National Instruments Automated Test Outlook summarizes five major trends: the role of test economics, big analog data, software-centric ecosystems, test software quality, and Moore's law meeting RF.

Welcome To A New World Of Instrumentation

Software-designed instrumentation, such as the new NI PXIe-5644R RF Vector Signal Transceiver (VST), allows you to now create the most flexible, customizable test instruments you can imagine.

System Design Software Abstracts The Complexity Of Today’s Automated Test Systems

Test technologies take a leap forward about every 45 years. This evolution began with the vacuum tube, moved to transistors, and now is heading for software.

RF & Wireless: Your Next Frontier?

Test engineers should declare RF and wireless to be their next personal-growth frontier for 2012. NI's Richard McDonell explains why.

Five Key Trends Highlight 2012’s Automated Test Outlook

NI's Richard McDonell takes you inside the 2012 Automated Test Outlook, revealing trends and providing insights that will affect how you approach test this year.

Innovation In The Era Of Graphical System Design

NI's Richard McDonell outlines a vision for test and measurement as a shape-shifting technology that readily adapts itself to the task at hand. Abstraction and modularity are the keys.

The Software Is The Instrument

It's not just consumer products that are dominated by software these days. NI's Richard McDonell explains how PXI-based modular instruments also are defined by the code they run.

Keep Your Test Systems In Shape

Life-cycle management applies not only to your end products but to your automated test infrastructure. National Instruments' Richard McDonell outlines the need to make sure your test systems are up to snuff and flexible enough to respond to changing requirements.

Heterogeneous Computing And IP-To-The-Pin Will Drive Test In 2011

NI's Richard McDonell looks to 2011 and sees multiple computing architectures pervading the test bench, as well as FPGAs being used in both DUTs and test systems to improve system-level test.

Addressing Multi-channel RF Test Challenges

As wireless communication systems drive up bandwidth with MIMO technology, they can drive RF test engineers up the wall. NI's Richard McDonell outlines the requirements for instrument synchronization in such rigorous RF test scenarios.

The Information Age Drives COTS Technologies For Automated Test

A revolution in automated test is coming, driven by three key technologies: parallel processing, high-speed data transfer, and software-defined devices. Learn how you can use these Information Age technologies in developing your test platforms.

People, Process, And Technology Innovation

Technology innovation is often the first area of change test engineers and managers consider, and rightfully so, since it typically translates to major system improvements and cost savings. Yet it may not yield maximum benefits by itself. In fact, major i