A newly-appointed Assistant Professor, Emerging Scholar of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYU Abu Dhabi, Ahmad Bin Thaneya’s research zeroes in on the emissions generated by transportation, power, and construction — the systems that sustain daily life but too often pollute the air we breathe. “It’s about redesigning infrastructure so it doesn’t come at such a high environmental cost,” he says.
When Bin Thaneya was a boy, Dubai was transforming at a pace few cities on Earth could match. Cranes punctuated the horizon, glass towers multiplied, and each return from school holidays brought a new surprise. One year, the shock was seeing the world’s tallest building appear almost overnight. “I came back after a semester break, and suddenly, the Burj Khalifa was right there next to my house,” says Bin Thaneya. “That kind of change — it stays with you.”
For Bin Thaneya, the skyline was more than a spectacle; it was an education. An uncle who worked as a civil engineer seemed to hold the keys to this world, and the young scholar decided he would follow in those footsteps. His studies took him first to UCLA for his bachelors in Civil and Environmental Engineering and then to UC Berkeley, where he shifted from traditional civil engineering toward environmental engineering, earning his MS and PhD before staying on as a postdoctoral scholar, immersing himself in the mechanics of construction and design.
But the closer he looked, the more he felt pulled elsewhere. “Traditional civil engineering just didn’t excite me,” he admits. “I wanted to work on something that felt more alive, more urgent.” That impulse carried him into environmental engineering, where he could merge technical skill with a mission to cut the impact of human infrastructure on the planet.
One recent project shows the potential of that vision: a traffic optimisation model that maps routes to minimise harmful emissions. “Say you’re driving from Dubai to Abu Dhabi,” he explains. “The model would still get you there efficiently, but it would guide vehicles away from densely populated areas, so emissions aren’t concentrated where they can harm the most people.”
The implications are immediate. City authorities could use the system to manage heavy truck routes, protect neighbourhoods from exposure, and ease congestion in ways that are both practical and lifesaving. “It’s about protecting people and the environment,” Thaneya says.
For him, the chance to pursue this work in the UAE is deeply meaningful. “Being able to contribute here, close to home, is very important to me,” he says. “I didn’t want to choose between doing serious research and being away from my family. NYU Abu Dhabi gave me the chance to have both.”
That sense of place also drives his outlook on sustainability. The rapid development that once inspired him is now the backdrop against which he asks harder questions. How can cities grow without suffocating their residents? What models will allow Gulf cities to remain ambitious while becoming healthier and more sustainable?
For Bin Thaneya, awareness is part of the solution. “I see growing interest in sustainability across the region,” he says. “The more people understand how these issues affect daily life and long-term wellbeing, the more momentum we’ll have for change.”
His work is as much about imagination as it is about data. The boy who once marvelled at Dubai’s ever-changing skyline is now focused on making sure the cities of the future are built to breathe. “We can’t treat the environment as an afterthought,” he insists. “If we want healthy, liveable cities, sustainability has to be built into the infrastructure from the start.”
Ambition still defines the horizon. Only now, it’s measured not in metres of glass and steel, but in the quality of the air and the health of the people that call the city home.
