Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI) in association with National Instruments (NI) recently held the Defence & Aerospace Symposium 2009 in Bangalore. The Symposium, hosted alongside an exhibition, provided a platform to share domain knowledge and best practices and saw participation from companies across the Indian Aerospace Industry including Aerospace and Aerospace Sub System Manufacturers and System Integrators such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Aeronautical Development Agency, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Indian Institute of Science, Gas Turbine Research Establishment, Infosys Technologies Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Bashi Aerospace, Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab, Cades Digitech, Altair Engineering India and Batia Aerospace. The keynote address was delivered by Air Commodore (Retd.) J. Varkey, Honorary Secretary General, SIATI, on the latest trends and challenges faced by the Indian Aerospace Industry. Taking analogies from Management Best seller ‘Built to Last’ Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director for India & Regional Manager for Russia & Arabia, National Instruments, delivered his address on the rapid development of systems that last & highlighted the innovations that NI has to offer for rapidly evolving Indian Aerospace Industry. "The Indian aerospace and defence industry is emerging as a key participant in the Asia Pacific aerospace and defence markets. There is a constant need to resolve the design and operational challenges with the latest technology, disciplined systems integration and proven engineering practices. We see the Virtual Instrumentation approach to designing aerospace test systems as the best way of reducing risks, lowering costs and implementation time for aerospace engineers in India," he said. Presentations by strategic experts from National Instruments on topics ranging from Next Generation Test and Design for Aerospace and Defence Applications , Next Generation Test System Architectures , Rapid Application Development using High Level Tools - NI LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Real-Time and Measurement Studio High Level Management Tools: Test Execution, Data Analysis and Requirements Management , Hybrid Test Systems: Choosing the Right Bus , Modular Measurements: From Precision DC to RF , High Channel Count Systems Architecture for Noise and Vibration Measurements: Boeing Measures Reduced Aircraft Noise Emissions with NI PXI and LabVIEW , Hardware in the loop: The Intersection of Design and Test , Replace Bespoke Hardware Systems with COTS LabVIEW FPGA Technology , to what makes Mathscript Ideal for Textual Algorithm Development gave the audience a holistic perspective of the reliable, cost effective and scalable solutions offered by National Instruments for the Aerospace Industry.