National Instruments is an American company that produces automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. The internship involved learning about National Instruments and their LabVIEW software over 6 weeks. LabVIEW is a graphical programming language used for data acquisition, signal processing, and hardware control. It has three main parts - the front panel interface, block diagram code, and controls palette. Programs in LabVIEW are called virtual instruments and follow a data-flow programming model. Applications include machine monitoring, research, and control design. Benefits of LabVIEW include extensive interfaces, code reuse, parallel processing, and platform independence.