Release: Trimble and Engineers Without Borders USA Bring Clean Water to Guatemalan Communities Using Precision Mapping Technology
Trimble and Engineers Without Borders USA Bring Clean Water to Guatemalan Communities Using Precision Mapping Technology
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jun 22, 2026
A 10-day aerial mapping and GNSS field institute deploys volunteers and Trimble technology across nine project sites, generating the geospatial data needed to design clean water infrastructure for hundreds of families.
DENVER, CO — Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA), in collaboration with Trimble, a global industrial technology company, launched a GIS/Geospatial Drone Mapping and GNSS fieldwork course in Guatemala over the summer. This unique institute is a first for EWB-USA, sending nine young professional engineers, including two local Guatemalans, into some of the country's most remote terrain to collect the precision mapping data needed to design water systems for hundreds of families.
The 10-day institute (May 31–June 10, 2026) combined classroom instruction with field deployment across nine active EWB-USA project sites in three regions: the shores of Lake Atitlán, the high Ixil mountain range of Quiché, and the Alta Verapaz area. Using Trimble® GNSS receivers and aerial imaging systems, participants produced orthomosaics, digital surface models, and georeferenced point clouds that will directly inform pipeline routing, storage placement, and terrain analysis at each site.
Trimble has been a long-term supporter of EWB-USA's mission by providing technology donations for student chapters, financial grants for humanitarian assistance and climate resiliency projects through its Trimble Foundation Fund, and championing STEM education initiatives.
“Trimble is proud of its longstanding support of Engineers Without Borders USA,” notes Dietmar Grimm, chair of the Trimble Foundation Fund. “Helping volunteers utilize our technologies for community infrastructure projects is an excellent way to train the next generation of engineers and drive a more sustainable future.”
What the Data Makes Possible
Data collected across all nine sites will serve as baseline mapping for current and future EWB-USA projects in Guatemala. Trimble's support of EWB-USA, which includes the donation of GNSS equipment to EWB-USA's in-country partners, has significantly advanced these critical humanitarian engineering projects, leading to improved lives and livelihoods. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to putting professional-grade geospatial technology to work where the need is greatest, while investing in the future generation of humanitarian engineers.
A Glimpse into the Institute
Field days began at Lake Atitlán, where the team conducted its first aerial surveys at Pixabaj, a Mayan Kaqchikel community of 150 people with an aging water system. From there, the institute moved into the Ixil highlands, where communities sit at up to 9,040 feet in elevation and can take two hours to reach by unpaved road.
In El Mirador (population ~210, altitude 9,000ft), families in the upper part of the community have no piped water, and women and children hike daily to carry it home. EWB-USA’s proposed solution requires solar pumping and gravity-fed distribution to each home. That design depends entirely on the kind of precise elevation and terrain data that only aerial survey and GNSS can efficiently provide in terrain like this.
Learn more: ewb-usa.org/GIS-Institute-Guatemala-2026
About Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA)
Engineers Without Borders USA is a nonprofit advancing sustainable, community-driven engineering solutions. Since 2002, EWB-USA has completed more than 1,200 projects in over 700 communities, improving the lives of more than 6 million people. In 2025 alone, EWB-USA reached over 800,000 people, with a majority of projects focused on access to safe water.
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About Trimble
Trimble is a global technology company that connects the physical and digital worlds, transforming the ways work gets done. With relentless innovation in precise positioning, modeling and data analytics, Trimble enables essential industries including construction, geospatial and transportation. Whether it's helping customers build and maintain infrastructure, design and construct buildings, optimize global supply chains or map the world, Trimble is at the forefront, driving productivity and progress. For more information about Trimble, visit: www.trimble.com.