How do we transform our buildings, infrastructure and use of resources to increase efficiency, improve productivity and drive sustainability? Part of the solution is providing future designers, engineers and construction professionals with training and access to innovative technologies within their education.

To that end, this summer, after two years of virtual communications, Edinburgh welcomed Trimble’s community of technology-enabled educators from across the globe at an in-person event at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU).

The event centred on celebrating a new Trimble Technology Lab (TTL) on ENU’s Merchiston campus, as well as hosting the inaugural Trimble Technology Lab Conference that focused on bringing educators together around the question - how can we transform resource management and the built environment through technology in education?

The Trimble Technology Lab program now includes 28 labs across 16 countries on five continents, each helping to shape tomorrow’s industry professionals. These labs provide students with the latest technology solutions used by today's leading architects, engineers, construction managers, farmers, foresters and surveying professionals.

Amy Northcutt, P.E., Director of Education & Outreach, Trimble Inc.

Trimble is an S&P 500 technology company with a mission of transforming the way the world works by delivering solutions for building and infrastructure, natural resources, geospatial and transportation industries. The company’s core technologies in positioning, modelling, connectivity and data analytics connect the digital and physical world to improve productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability.

As key industries for Trimble, construction, agriculture and resource management in forestry are ripe for opportunity to accelerate productivity through digital transformation. It is imperative that we bring faster and more effective technological change to these critical industries to sustainably meet the needs of an ever growing and evolving planet.

Last month, over three days of conversations — plus my first ever ceilidh — Trimble and Edinburgh Napier welcomed over 50 leading construction, geospatial and natural resources academics from around the world. Three days of knowledge exchange and community building, all united by a common commitment to empower the future leaders of our industries.

One of the many inspiring conference presentations came from Edinburgh Napier students and Built Environment Exchange interns — Bartosz Belch, Annie Fennell, Paola Seminara and Ben Shirley. The students’ research on responsibly managed timber contributed to vital sustainability work to understand the impact of Scottish-grown timber in construction as a part of the £1.4M Transforming Timber project, supported through Innovate UK and funded by the Housing, Construction and Infrastructure Gateway. This work is a testament to the opportunities that can be generated by embracing industry partners and incorporating innovative technology tools in educational curriculum and research practices.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they – and the other students we support across the UK – can continue to achieve thanks to the Trimble and Edinburgh Napier University collaboration.

So this leads me back to the original question: how do we transform our buildings, infrastructure and use of resources to increase efficiency, improve productivity and drive sustainability? The answer: collaboration between industry and academia to advance technology in education. Together, we can empower the next generation of leaders to build resilient cities as well as feed and protect our planet for future generations to come.

Amy Northcutt, P.E., Director of Education & Outreach, Trimble Inc.

Paving the way for the designers of the future through education access - Amy Northcutt

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