Amanda Mano is president and CEO of Darling Geomatics, which delivers accurate, repeatable and measurable geospatial data to its clients.
About 50 years ago, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched Apple from a garage.
About 90 years ago, Bill Hewlett and David Packard did the same with HP.
Each partnership, in its own era, represented the birth of something transformative — proof that great innovation often starts small.
Today’s generation of innovators in Southern Arizona have something those founders didn’t: the University of Arizona Tech Park.
Think of it as a world-class garage — full-service facilities, deep connectivity to the university and a built-in community of forward thinkers.
It’s an environment designed to turn innovative companies into industry leaders.
One of those companies is Darling Geomatics.
Their industry couldn’t be more rooted in history. Land surveying dates back centuries — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln all worked as surveyors early in their careers. In their day, it was a position of prestige. Surveyors defined boundaries. They determined who owned what, and where.
Fast forward to today, and while land boundaries remain part of the work, the profession has been reimagined. I sat down with Amanda Manos, president and CEO of Darling Geomatics, to find out how.
The core mission of Darling Geomatics is deceptively simple: know what you’re dealing with before you deal with it. The company delivers accurate, repeatable and measurable geospatial data — helping clients make smart decisions before committing time and money.
Consider mining. Before a company breaks ground, Darling Geomatics can map what lies beneath, assess risk and identify opportunity. That’s not just useful — it’s potentially the difference between a profitable project and a costly mistake. It helps clients make smart decisions above ground before spending money underground.
To do this, Darling Geomatics deploys some of the most advanced tools in the industry:
Manos describes her firm as boutique — and that label carries real meaning. Darling Geomatics takes on projects other firms won’t, moves faster and adapts where others don’t. That flexibility is a competitive edge.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in their utility corridor work. The Sonoran Desert is vast, rugged and unforgiving. Power lines stretch across hundreds of miles of challenging terrain, and for the utilities that maintain them, a single failure can spark a wildfire and trigger enormous liability.
Darling Geomatics deploys drones equipped with thermal sensors to fly those lines, scanning for heat signatures that indicate wear or vulnerability. Utility companies get a detailed map of where problems are developing — before those problems become disasters. It’s preventive care for critical infrastructure.
Manos purchased Darling Geomatics about nine months ago from founders Mary and Richard Darling, who built the company for more than 30 years. The Darlings were early adopters of LIDAR and 3D imaging, and they ran one of the few women-owned businesses in a traditionally male-dominated field. Manos has carried that legacy forward — deepening it.
Under her leadership, the company has become what she calls a learning organization. Before every project, the entire team gathers to talk through requirements, surface challenges and think through solutions together. The result is better work, stronger client relationships and a team that’s constantly growing.
The UA Tech Park has been part of that growth. For Manos, it’s more than office space — it’s a community. Access to the university’s research, expertise and networks means Darling Geomatics can stay at the leading edge of a field that’s evolving rapidly.
Tucson and Southern Arizona have quietly become home to some of the country’s most technologically sophisticated industries. The University of Arizona and its Tech Park are central to that story. Amanda Manos and Darling Geomatics are a compelling example of what it looks like when history, innovation and the right environment come together.
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Amanda Mano is president and CEO of Darling Geomatics, which delivers accurate, repeatable and measurable geospatial data to its clients.
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