Making science easier since 1988
1985: The MacLab Masters Project
 An early model MacLab with bio
and bridge amplifiers.Our history begins in 1985 when Michael Macknight developed the 'MacLab' recording unit and 'Chart' and 'Scope' software
as part of his Masters degree in Computer Science.
The idea for the project came from the Physiology Department at New Zealand's University of Otago, who weren't happy
with the performance of their old paper chart recorders and smoke drums. Realizing the potential of early Macintosh
computers (featuring a graphical user interface), they asked Michael to develop a computer-based system to replace their
paper-based ones.
In 1985 Michael built the first MacLab – an analog to digital converter that connected to a Macintosh computer.
He then developed two software packages - Chart (chart-recorder software) and Scope (oscilloscope software) -
which provided software control of the recording unit as well as a range of display and analysis features.
1988: ADInstruments Begins
 Boris and Michael promoting ADInstruments at a conference in the late 1980s.Boris, Michael and their teams set out to develop the premier computer-based data acquisition system in the life science market.
1997: MacLab to PowerLab
 In 1997, we released our first data acquisition system for Windows computers. The hardware unit was named PowerLab,
and was distributed with Chart for Windows 95 software.
In 1998, our entire range of data acquisition units became both Mac and Windows compatible. The cross-platform data acquisition systems were named
PowerLab.
1998: Celebrating 10 Years by Opening ADInstruments US
Boris first moved to California in 1989 to make sure the North American life science community knew about MacLab.
By 1998 we had opened a US office to better service our now large customer base. 1998 also saw the opening of our first
office in China, as well as the continued success of our established offices in the United Kingdom and Japan.
Since 1998, we've opened more offices including Germany and Chile in 2002 and India in 2003. The ADInstruments
worldwide network now consists of 12 offices and over 40 distributors. 2008 will see the opening of two new offices
in Malaysia and Brazil.
 ADInstruments staff and distributors attending our 2007 Worldwide Conference
in Heidelberg, Germany.2005: The LabTutor Revolution Sparks
Although PowerLab systems were already part of many of the world's best life science courses, our software developers
were looking for a way to make experiments easier for educators to implement and easier for younger and less experienced
students to complete.
 A page from the Respiratory Air Flow and Volume LabTutor experiment in Japanese.The result was LabTutor software for PowerLab systems. LabTutor is now used by community college, nursing and health
science students, as well physiology, pharmacology and medical students. Experiments have been translated into six different
languages, and are now available in five different subject areas.
2008: 20 Year Anniversary, LabChart and LabChart Reader
In 2008, we're celebrating 20 years of ADInstruments. We're marking the occasion by releasing a whole new generation of
software for use with PowerLab.
The latest release of Chart is LabChart 6. We're changing the name to better reflect what the software does, and make sure its
instantly recognisable as part of the PowerLab software family. Plus, LabChart 6 is our most powerful and usable software to date.
LabChart Reader is available to the life science community as a free download. PowerLab users can now share their data with colleagues,
students and publications who do not have access to a Powerlab data acquisition unit.
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