On 8 April, the Prof. Kooy Prize was traditionally awarded at the Kooy Symposium. This year, Jasper Kole was taken completely by surprise when his girlfriend and parents climbed the stage in the auditorium of maj. Kootkazerne in Stroe and were able to tell him the good news. For his graduation project as part of his mechanical engineering studies at TU/e, Kole conducted research on the dynamic performance of methanol engines and two-stage turbo-compression. One of the main conclusions is that methanol engines with the same combustion concept as diesel, also have almost the same dynamic performance

Vlnr: Jan Wind (chairman KIVI Department of Defence and Security), Jasper Kole (Winner Kooy Prize 2026), KLTZ Ivo Marx (chairman of the jury), mother Jasper Kole, Pien (girlfriend Jasper Kole), father Jasper Kole. Source: KIVI

The Kooy Symposium is organised annually by KIVI's Defence and Security Department in cooperation with TNO, NLR, Mars&Mercurius, Eurodefense, KVMO and APA. This year's theme was 'European Defence of the InfuUS' - Dutch contribution to Strategic Enablers for Europe.

Kooy Price

After the 'Setting the scene' block - in which State Secretary for Defence Derk Boswijk, MEP Bart Groothuis, Director DOBP Genmaj Hanke Bruins Slot and Director NIDV Hans Huijgen spoke successively - the annual Kooy Prize was awarded.

This prize is awarded annually to the author of the best graduation thesis (TU/HTO) on a technology relevant to Defence and Security. The freely spendable cash prize of €2,000 is provided by the Kooy Fund named after the former professor of missile technology at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. Prof. Johan Kooy.

Thesis

Unanimously, from a good number of entries, the jury chose Jasper Kole's graduation thesis entitled: The dynamic behaviour of a two-stage turbocharged marine engine under diesel and methanol-diesel dual fuel operation - Meanvalue modelling a constant-speed generator set with high-pressure direct injected methanol

Kole carried out his research on behalf of Bureau Marine Engineering of the Maritime Systems Division (AMS) which - as part of COMMIT - is based in Utrecht at Kromhout Barracks. He was supported from COMMIT (Materiel and IT Command) which submitted his thesis - without his knowledge.

His supervisors commented: "Jasper performed extremely thoroughly and provided us with valuable insights into the dynamic behaviour of a two-stage turbocharger that can run on both diesel and methanol. Particularly impressive is the fact that Jasper was able to accurately model the dynamic behaviour of the generator with a limited amount of measurement data. This underlines not only the quality of Jasper's work, but also his ability to analyse complex systems and simulate them realistically."

On the relationship with Defence, COMMIT informs: For Defence, reducing dependence on fossil fuels is a strategic priority. Studies like this are therefore crucial. Using methanol as an alternative fuel offers a promising route to achieve our goal of a more sustainable fleet. Jasper's research provides us with the technical basis and confidence we need to make this transition successfully."

The winner - Jasper Kole

Jasper Kole carried out the assignment as part of his graduation from the Mechanical Engineering programme at TU/e. "I had already done an internship at Bureau Marine Engineering and they themselves came to ask if I wanted to research the dynamic behaviour of engines using methanol as fuel. Of course I was happy to, and especially when we had access to test results from a manufacturer of such engines. I was not aware that my thesis had been submitted for the Kooy Prize. Nor did I immediately realise the slight compulsion with which I was 'sent' to the Kooy Symposium. When just before the break a story about the Kooy Prize was told on stage and then my girlfriend and parents came on stage I got an inkling."

Jasper Kole was presented with a certificate from jury chairman KLTZ Ivo Marx, a fine souvenir in glass and a symbolic cheque of 2,000 euros that he is free to spend. Marx: "Jasper's research is highly topical because it contributes to reducing dependence on fossil fuels -a strategic priority for Defence-. Jasper has managed to fill in 'white spots', after all: the dynamic behaviour of methanol-driven engines in combination with a two-stage turbocharger has been very little researched and has very little practical application in commercial practice. Despite the very limited amount of practical data, one manufacturer indicated that Jasper's theoretical model approaches practice very well. Finally, the design and readability of the report are excellent".

Jury

This year's jury consisted of:

- KLTZ Ivo Marx MSc EMSD - Chairman of the jury and board member KIVI Defence and Security Section

- Dr L. (Bart) Koene (NLDA - Netherlands Defence Academy - Assistant Professor of Ammunition and Ballistics)

- Prof.dr.ir. P.H.A.J.M. (Pieter) van Gelder (TU Delft - Safety Science)

- Prof. P.J. (Patrick) Oonincx (Netherlands Defence Academy - Dean Faculty of Military Sciences)

- Prof. Dr. F.E. (Frank) van Vliet (TNO, University of Twente - Microwave integration)

- Prof. dr.ir. J.M.C. (Arjan) Mol (TU Delft - Corrosion Technology and Electrochemistry)

- Prof. F. (Frank) Phillipson (TNO and Maastricht University - computational operations research)

- L.F. Galle (Materiel and IT Command - Director Platform Technology)