Ahmed Haneef

Founder and Managing Director

Principal Engineer — BEng (Civil), MSust

Ahmed Haneef is a Maldivian structural engineer and entrepreneur with over 14 years of professional engineering experience and more than two decades of involvement in the built environment. His work spans structural and civil engineering, architecture, construction, project management and sustainability.

In 2012, Haneef founded Design Express, a multidisciplinary design and engineering consultancy that has since delivered hundreds of projects across the Maldives. The practice has worked on projects for leading hospitality brands including Soneva, Bandos, Sheraton and Taj, as well as major institutional and commercial developments including Villa College South Wing Towers, Villa College Hulhumalé School, the Maldivian Seaplane Terminal and the Thilafushi Corporation Multipurpose Building. Haneef later established Spaceworks to expand into construction and project delivery, and more recently founded Coral Engineering, with a growing focus on renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Through Coral Engineering, he is currently developing solar energy solutions for homes, businesses and larger developments in the Maldives.

Earlier in his career, Haneef worked at Gedor Consulting on major resort, residential and institutional projects including Amilla Fushi, Cheval Blanc Randheli and Chedi Dhapparu. He also served as an Engineering Consultant to the Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2021 and previously taught Structural Analysis and Structural Design at the Maldives National University.

Haneef holds a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Sustainability with Distinction from the University of Sydney, completed under an Australia Awards Scholarship. His work today brings together engineering, construction, sustainability and renewable energy, with a particular interest in practical solutions to the infrastructure and energy challenges facing the Maldives.