Innovative Trimble Technology Lab for students and researchers opens on the Hervanta campus

In 2020, Tampere University signed a major partnership agreement with the US-based Trimble technology company. According to Kalle Kähkönen, professor of construction management and economics, the Trimble Technology Lab, which was opened because of the partnership, enables learning about new digital technology applications in architecture and civil engineering.

“The Lab means having access to computer software for the design and implementation of construction projects. It also includes hardware and software measurement technology solutions, which can be used in the planning and management of construction and infrastructure projects, and in architectural design,” Kähkönen adds.

The Trimble Technology Lab includes, among other things, software and hardware for laser scanning, building and structural design; project costing, BIM-based scheduling, and structural analysis.

“We are conducting research in such areas as digital solutions for low carbon construction and building information modelling (BIM). The aim is to use them on a large scale to meet the needs of various stakeholders,” Kähkönen continues.

Cooperation with Trimble enables the integration of technologies that change the design, construction, and management of the built environment into curricula.

“The Lab is intended for both teaching in courses and self-study. Users can also obtain software licenses for their own computers, making it possible to study or do research remotely,” Kähkönen says.

Antti Lönnqvist, Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment, describes the opening of the Trimble Technology Lab as an important initiative that creates a good basis for seizing the opportunities yielded by digitalisation.

“We want to offer our students the best preconditions for studying the use of modern technology solutions,” Lönnqvist says.

Text: Nina Jylhä
Photograph: Jaakko Kinnunen