Data Translation, Inc.

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Data Translation was founded in 1973 by Fred Molinari, and is headquartered in Marlboro, Massachusetts. The company revolutionized the world of data acquisition systems for the test and measurement market with a new paradigm in analog to digital conversion. The company designed and manufactured a line of plug-in A/D converter modules that were compatible across different bus structures. This was accomplished by designing modules with standard features, such as resolution and throughput, and then plugging them onto boards designed for the different busses. This revolutionary concept allowed customers to design data acquisition systems with identical features that could work on STD bus, Unibus, Multibus, and many others.^[1]

With the advent of the IBM personal computer, an obvious migration to this new platform became apparent. Data Translation was the first to identify this market and the first company to introduce a data acquisition board that would plug into the PC. This move was controversial at the time as many people (including Ken Olsen of Digital Equipment Corporation) wondered what anyone was going to do with a personal computer. Few people saw it as a valuable business tool. This product line took off and spawned many imitators.

But innovation did not stop there. In the 1990s, the introduction of the USB bus allowed the average user the ability to plug-in peripherals to their personal computer without having to open it up to expose the backplane. This was a slow bus, with low throughput rates, and most people saw it as good for printers and mice but not particularly useful for high speed data transfers that are necessary in many data acquisition systems. Mr. Molinari again saw things differently and Data Translation was the first company to introduce a USB compatible data acquisition board. Again this turned out to be a revolutionary idea that took hold and now is standard in the industry.

Data Translation has proved to be a true innovator in the test and measurement market and is still in business 35 years later, almost unheard of in the high tech industry. Additionally, Data Translation continues to manufacture at its facility in Marlboro and can proudly tell their customers it is "Made in the USA".