Anand Maharaj
Founder and Director
Anand Maharaj grew up in St. Helena Village, Piarco, where watching aircraft come and go
from what would become Trinidad and Tobago's main aviation hub sparked a lifelong love of
flight. That early fascination carried him into a 40-year career as an airline pilot, where he
developed a deep, disciplined grounding in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) — the
same rigor and safety culture that underpin every aspect of professional aviation. He later
brought that same discipline into drone operations as a certified Civil Air Patrol Remote Pilot
in Command (RPIC).
Anand has put that expertise to work in the field — flying to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa
to support Jamaica Flying Labs' relief efforts, and helping a Florida power company restore its
solar network using drone imagery after a hurricane. He has also used drones for search and
rescue operations, and led coastal mapping work in Trinidad & Tobago in support of turtle
nesting conservation.
Drawing on his aviation background, Anand is using structured, SOP-based training methods
to build a skilled local team for humanitarian drone service, and to train First Responders
across Trinidad & Tobago in safe, mission-ready drone operations. In founding Trinidad &
Tobago Flying Labs, he is bringing four decades of aviation discipline home: building a
locally-led volunteer network that uses drones, GIS, and data to strengthen disaster response
across the Caribbean, and to introduce the next generation — including the students of his
own home community — to drone technology as a hands-on STEM tool.