Trimble Participates In First-Ever White House Maker Faire

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Jun 18, 2014, 05:45 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) is proud to be a participant in the first-ever White House Maker Faire, held today to showcase the Maker Movement — tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs who promote entrepreneurship and innovation — and the tools and technologies they rely on to do so. Through SketchUp, the "3D for everyone" design tool used by 30 million designers, builders and makers of things every year, Trimble has become closely involved with the Maker Movement.

"It is an honor to participate in this White House event," said Steven W. Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble. "Today we saw innovators of all ages using tools like SketchUp to help shape the future. There has been a lot of talk lately about how the Maker Movement will transform and revitalize American manufacturing. Today's event demonstrated that the possibilities are endless."

Maker Faire, organized by Maker Media, is a gathering of curious and innovative people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. It's a venue for makers to show examples of their work and interact with others about it. There are now more than one hundred Maker Faires a year around the world. The White House Maker Faire is the latest installment.

Among the wide range of SketchUp projects showcased this year is the "WikiHouse," an open source housing design system developed in SketchUp and fabricated directly with robotic machine tools. WikiHouse was implemented through a unique collaboration between U.K. design firm 00 ("Zero-zero"), ShopBot Tools, Vectric CAM software and the SketchUp team. Trimble has exhibited several WikiHouse prototypes, at events including Maker Faires in New York and the Bay Area, as well as at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C.

While SketchUp was originally designed to meet the needs of architects and building construction professionals, it rapidly became the design tool of choice tool for inventors across a wide range of industries. In the spirit of open collaboration that defines the Maker Movement, Trimble continues to offer SketchUp Make for free to makers around the world.

"On the SketchUp team, we think of ourselves as 'meta-makers,'" said John Bacus, director of product management for SketchUp. "In other words, we make the tools that help makers do their work more efficiently."

Since 2006, SketchUp Make has been used to design everything from 3D printable parts to the 3D printers on which those parts are made. Robots, DIY satellites, jetpacks, hovercraft and home brewing machines have been designed in SketchUp Make, as well as countless greenhouses, sheds and woodworking shops.

Additionally, Trimble's 3D Warehouse is available at no cost to makers as a place to share their work and collaborate with others. Today, there are more than 2.5 million models shared there. "Browsing the pages of 3D Warehouse is like walking through a museum of invention, all freely shared and available for reuse and improvement by others," said Bacus.

Today, at the first-ever White House Maker Faire, Trimble has committed to expanding its free software services to makers by adding cloud based software and 3D printing tools.

About SketchUp

SketchUp is a popular 3D modeling platform used around the world and a key technology within Trimble Buildings, a group within Trimble's Engineering and Construction segment offering solutions for construction project optimization across the design-build-operate (DBO) lifecycle. With more than 30 million unique activations in the past year, SketchUp is the most widely used 3D modeling software in the world today and allows users to create, access, share and collaborate on 2D drawings and 3D models. Solutions include SketchUp Pro for professional users including architects, engineers, design and construction professionals and SketchUp Make for hobbyists and enthusiasts. In addition, SketchUp's 3D Warehouse is the world's largest repository of free, high-quality, 3D content.

For more information, visit: www.sketchup.com.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.

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