Leadership
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Dereje Assefa, PE, PPST

Dereje Assefa is Principal and Managing Director at ZIAS. He is a veteran in the Architecture & Engineering industry with over 22 years of experience leading projects in the African market. He is a licensed structural engineer in Ethiopia and the USA, with professional registrations in a number of states including Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and Delaware. He holds a Masters in Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

Daniel Assefa, AIA, PAR

Daniel Assefa is Principal and Director of Architecture at ZIAS. He has 23 years of architectural and construction administration experience, a decade as Principal Architect at ZIAS and 13 more at a number of global and boutique firms including TAMS Consultants, Earth Tech and Leclere Associates in New York City. He has architecture licenses in Ethiopia and a number of states in the USA. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects. He holds a Bachelors of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virgina Tech). 

Our Firm

ZIAS Architecture & Engineering PLLC was founded in 2006 in New York, USA. Soon after, a regional subsidiary was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to position ZIAS strategically on the African continent. ZIAS was thus able to leverage expertise and resources from both continents to offer superlative A&E services in emerging African markets with rapidly growing economies. In the short time since, ZIAS has delivered design, construction supervision and contract administration services that have earned it an outstanding reputation in industries such as healthcare, education and aviation among others. Its clients, including the US Government, Government of Ethiopia and ultra-high net individuals such as Sheikh Al Amoudi.
 
ZIAS is currently headquartered in Reston, VA while its regional subsidiary remains based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

Our People

Our most valuable assets at ZIAS are our associates and employees. Our select team includes architects and engineers, some of whom are veterans in the industry while a growing number are young, digitally proficient professionals, both keen and committed to delivering projects to the highest standards. 

Our Values

We consider our return clients and their referrals the singular imprint of the quality of our work. At any given time, we are running numerous projects of varying scale and complexity in markets on different continents. We are able to complete these projects on time and to the highest standards because of our robust organizational structure, tested and adaptable business processes, comprehensive quality control plans and a team of first-rate professionals from Ethiopia and the USA.