Simon Brandi Mortensen

Principal Coastal Engineer,
Managing Director, DHI Seaport

Simon holds a Master’s degree in Coastal Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and has spent the past 19 years leading complex coastal engineering projects worldwide with the profit-for-purpose organization DHI Water & Environment.

A dedicated surfer for over 30 years, Simon began early in his career to merge his engineering expertise with firsthand surf knowledge, pioneering more accurate and cost-effective methods for supporting the protecting of natural surf breaks and designing new wave pools and artificial reefs.

In 2013–2014, he led the design of the Palm Beach Artificial Reef, optimizing the structure for both surfing performance and coastal protection. The project introduced a novel rock-reef concept that addressed the limitations of earlier artificial reef attempts.

Since then, Simon has gone on to design three additional surfing reefs globally, with his most recent project completed in the Americas, continuing to push the limits of the level of high performance wave quality and cost effectiveness that can be achieved by an man-made surf break.