BIO
RICARDO GARCIA
He graduated in Civil Engineering in 2000, specializing in Structural Design. He stood out for his collaboration with Ricardo Meirinhos in the development of programming tools to support the calculation of prestressed structures, and co-authored the RISCALC software.
While still a student, he gained hands-on experience in the precast construction sector at CIVIBRAL, and during the five years that followed, he served as Site and Production Director at one of the largest construction companies at the time, ECOP Arnaldo de Oliveira S.A. He led several major projects in Porto, including the C.L.I.P. (Oporto International School) and the PORTAS DO MAR residential development, consisting of 270 luxury apartments.
While working full-time, he completed an MBA at Universidade Católica do Porto, where he also specialized in Business Management and Marketing. In 2005, he was invited to join the Board of Directors of a real estate development company, taking responsibility for production. One of the company’s flagship projects was the BOM SUCESSO DESIGN RESORT in Óbidos, a five-star tourist resort. Over the course of six years, he led the project management of all infrastructure construction, a golf course, 500 detached villas, and all related facilities, including a five-star hotel.
In 2011, after a successful first entrepreneurial venture with Tiago Spratley and Ricardo Meirinhos (4 SMART), he co-founded WEPLAN with Ricardo Meirinhos. WEPLAN has since become a benchmark company in construction and engineering services, especially in construction project management. Among other missions, he led WEPLAN's international expansion — to Algeria (2012/2013), at the invitation of EFACEC, and to Mozambique (2014–2016), where he oversaw the construction of the two largest five-star hotels in the north of the country.
He is currently fully dedicated to national market operations, co-leading WEPLAN with Ricardo Meirinhos, and is also a managing partner at WELIVE, where he focuses on the construction component of the business.