MARWEN FELAH

THE ENGINEER TURNING EXPERTISE INTO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION

Civil Engineer · Airport Infrastructure Specialist · Founder & CEO, TOPDEC Ingénierie

“I did not start a company to move away from engineering. I started one so that the technical work could be done the way I believe it should be done.”

In the world of engineering, some careers are built away from the spotlight—through technical studies, complex projects, field assignments, and the challenges of delivering reliable infrastructure.

Marwen Felah’s career reflects that path.

A civil engineer specializing in road and airport infrastructure, Felah has built a professional trajectory at the intersection of technical expertise, international engineering, knowledge transfer, and entrepreneurship.

In 2022, that experience entered a new chapter with the creation of TOPDEC Ingénierie, a Franco-Tunisian engineering firm bringing together infrastructure, surveying, geospatial technologies, energy, building, and digital engineering.

His story is ultimately one of evolution: an engineer who transformed years of field experience into an entrepreneurial vision.

AN EXPERTISE BUILT IN THE FIELD

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Marwen Felah developed his professional experience across several areas of civil engineering.

His early career included work involving structures, bridges, and buildings, before he progressively focused on road infrastructure and pavement engineering.

This specialization led him to assume responsibility for the Pavement Mechanics Department within Tunisia’s national research center for construction.

The role provided an opportunity to deepen his expertise in infrastructure assessment, diagnostics, performance, and pavement engineering.

Yet road infrastructure was only one chapter of his professional journey.

Another field would become increasingly central to his career:

airport infrastructure.

FROM ROADS TO AIRPORTS

Airport infrastructure demands a particular combination of technical precision, reliable data, diagnostics, and an understanding of operational constraints.

Within a French engineering group, Marwen Felah expanded his expertise in this field, contributing to projects involving the assessment and rehabilitation of airport runways and taxiways.

His professional assignments took him into diverse international environments, including Africa, the Mediterranean region, and the French Pacific territories.

Working across different geographic and operational contexts broadened his understanding of infrastructure engineering.

Every territory presents its own technical conditions, environmental constraints, infrastructure requirements, and operational realities.

For an engineer, the challenge is to adapt methodologies while maintaining one fundamental standard:

the ability to produce reliable technical information for sound engineering decisions.

It was within this demanding environment that Felah further developed one of the defining areas of his professional expertise.

TURNING EXPERIENCE INTO KNOWLEDGE

For Marwen Felah, engineering extends beyond technical studies and project delivery.

It also involves sharing knowledge and developing professional capabilities.

His career has included training activities for airport professionals through Airports Council International – ACI Africa.

This dimension added an important educational component to his technical background.

It reflects an approach to engineering in which professional experience is not only applied to projects, but also transferred to the professionals responsible for managing and developing the infrastructure of tomorrow.

In an industry where technologies, standards, and methodologies continue to evolve, knowledge transfer becomes an important part of long-term professional development.

2022: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL CHAPTER

In 2022, Marwen Felah entered a new phase of his career.

Together with another engineer, he founded TOPDEC Ingénierie.

Entrepreneurship was not a departure from engineering. Instead, it became a way to extend his experience and create an organization capable of bringing multiple disciplines together around complex projects.

TOPDEC Ingénierie operates across several areas, including utility detection and georeferencing, infrastructure, surveying and geomatics, energy, and building engineering.

The company supports projects across different stages:

STUDY · DESIGN · EXECUTION · PROJECT MONITORING · TRAINING

This multidisciplinary structure reflects the increasingly interconnected nature of modern infrastructure projects.

WHEN DATA BECOMES AN ENGINEERING ASSET

Engineering is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the growing importance of data.

Digital surveying, LiDAR, photogrammetry, GIS, 3D modeling, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are becoming increasingly important in the way infrastructure is surveyed, designed, analyzed, and managed.

At TOPDEC, these technologies are used to document physical environments, develop detailed representations of the field, and support coordination among the different disciplines involved in a project.

In transportation infrastructure, the company also works with road and airport inspection data, diagnostics, and structural studies.

Yet behind all of these technologies lies a practical objective:

to obtain reliable information that can support informed engineering decisions.

This connection between the physical environment, data, and engineering is central to TOPDEC’s approach.

FROM TWO ENGINEERS TO A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

The story of TOPDEC is also a story of people.

Founded initially by two engineers, the company has grown into a team of approximately 20 engineers, supported by a network of specialized consultants brought in according to project requirements.

Its areas of expertise include:

Surveying · GIS · BIM · Architecture · Infrastructure · Energy

This evolution reflects an important stage in Felah’s entrepreneurial journey.

Individual expertise has gradually become collective capability.

The role of the entrepreneur, in this context, is not simply to lead a company, but to create an environment in which different technical disciplines can work together to address complex challenges.

ENGINEERING WITHOUT BORDERS

TOPDEC’s activities also reflect an international outlook.

The company’s projects and collaborations extend across Europe and Africa, including work and professional engagements in Tunisia, France, Libya, Madagascar, Gabon, Senegal, Djibouti, and Benin.

This international dimension mirrors Felah’s own professional trajectory.

Engineering, in this context, becomes a common language—one capable of connecting different territories, infrastructure systems, technical environments, and project requirements.

The circumstances may change.

The infrastructure may change.

The constraints may change.

But the fundamentals remain:

UNDERSTAND THE FIELD.
MASTER THE DATA.
DELIVER THE SOLUTION.

THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE ENGINEER

Marwen Felah’s career also reflects a broader evolution in the role of the modern engineer.

Today’s engineer may be more than a designer or technical specialist.

The profession can also encompass the roles of entrepreneur, executive, trainer, solution developer, and coordinator of multidisciplinary expertise.

The creation of TOPDEC Ingénierie represents this evolution.

Felah’s career demonstrates how technical expertise accumulated over years of professional practice can become the foundation for an organization, a team, and an entrepreneurial platform.

Technology plays an important role.

But technology remains a means rather than an end.

The objective is to address real-world challenges through reliable data, specialized expertise, and a clear understanding of the field.

TOP 100 LEADERS OF THE YEAR — 2026

This professional journey is being recognized through the inclusion of Marwen Felah among the Top 100 Leaders of the Year — 2026 Edition.

The recognition highlights a career shaped by several dimensions:

ENGINEERING EXPERTISE
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

From pavement engineering to airport infrastructure, and from technical expertise to the creation of a multidisciplinary engineering company, Felah’s career reflects a continuous process of professional development.

It is not a story about leaving engineering behind.

It is a story about expanding what engineering can become.

Behind digital models, geospatial data, infrastructure systems, and emerging technologies remains a simple reality:

projects ultimately take shape in the real world.

And that is where engineering experience continues to matter.

BUILDING THE ENGINEERING OF TOMORROW

Today, Marwen Felah continues this journey as Founder & CEO of TOPDEC Ingénierie.

The engineering and infrastructure sectors are undergoing significant transformation. Data, digital technologies, BIM, advanced modeling, and new surveying methods are reshaping the way projects are designed, assessed, coordinated, and managed.

Within this changing environment, Felah’s career offers a clear example of how technical expertise can evolve into entrepreneurial leadership.

He did not leave engineering to become an entrepreneur.

He chose entrepreneurship as a way to extend his vision of engineering.

To transform expertise into action.

Data into informed decisions.

Technology into practical solutions.

And individual experience into collective capability.

That may be the defining thread running through Marwen Felah’s professional journey:

not leaving engineering behind, but helping shape what engineering can become next.