Trimble veteran Mark Nichols named Honorary Enterprise Fellow at Otago School of Surveying

The University of Otago has appointed alumnus Mark Nichols as an Honorary Enterprise Fellow in its School of Surveying. Nichols graduated with a Bachelor of Surveying in 1978 and was a General Manager at Trimble in Christchurch from 2010 to 2023. During his career he grew Trimble's geospatial business and founded its agricultural and construction businesses.

In the fellowship he will help build the growth and impact of the Trimble Technology Lab, which opened at Otago after its announcement in December 2025. He was the first of many Otago alumni to work at Trimble, with more than 60 graduates currently connected to the company.

Nichols says he wants to encourage collaboration between disciplines, including surveying and computer science, and joint student projects across universities using cloud-based tools to practise remote working.

Why it matters: Industry-funded teaching labs and fellowships shape how surveying graduates are trained on current equipment and software. The model of close university–vendor ties and cross-discipline teaching offers a reference point for surveying programmes elsewhere, including in Africa.