Skip to main content

Trimble Visiting Professionals Program: Connecting today’s industry pioneers with tomorrow’s industry leaders


In 2018, the VPP visited Auburn University with Turner Construction and McCarthy Buildings.

Trimble’s Visiting Professionals Program (VPP) brings design and construction industry leaders who are using SketchUp and other Trimble solutions into university classrooms to show how technology impacts their craft, allowing them to work faster, smarter, and with fewer boundaries.

With every visit, industry experts engage with students through workshops, lectures, tech demos, and hands-on training. By sharing their experiences, skillsets, and insights they are inspiring the next generation of design and engineering professionals.

Students and faculty overwhelmingly found the lectures and tutorials on technology in landscape architecture extremely informative and critically important. - Nadia Amoroso, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph
Trimble Visiting Professionals Program
Photo Credits; SketchThis.net, Turner Construction VDC

From architects to Hollywood set designers, historians to construction engineers, our visiting pros come from a variety of industries, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon. The Visiting Professionals Program offers an inside view of what current trends are affecting the trades, allowing students to survey the skill sets that employers are looking for.

on Altschuld of Chinook Landscape Design shows SketchUp to students
Jon Altschuld of Chinook Landscape Design shows SketchUp to students during Anchorage Design Week; Image Courtesy of Anchorage Museum: Jody Overstreet
Direct interaction with leading professionals enhances students' understanding of technology, enabling them to envision what the industry is expecting. - Dr. Wei Wu, Lyles College of Engineering, CSU Fresno

In 2018, our pros visited a wide range of universities, presenting to a variety of departments, including; Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Construction Management, Industrial Design,  Building Science and Stage/Set design. Students were shown how trends like virtual reality and laser scanning are revolutionizing the way we visualize, how software like SketchUp and Tekla are changing the built environment, and how they can wield these tools to construct their own career paths.  

universities visited to teach SketchUp
All the educational institutions we visited in 2018

Trimble’s Visiting Professional Program made the rounds in 2018. Where will we visit in 2019?

If you want to bring a visiting professional to your university, visit Trimble.com/VPP to apply.

About the Author

Chris has been with Trimble since 2007. He's on the SketchUp for Education team and can be found in his free time constantly redesigning his tiny house or breaking things in his workshop.

Profile Photo of Chris Brashar