Prof. Johan Kooy fund
KIVI DV manages a fund named after the professor of missile technology Prof.ir.dr.*) J.M.J. Kooy in the 1950s and 1960s at the Royal Military Academy and with a teaching post in Delft. The fund's objective is 'The promotion of science and technology in the Netherlands in line with, or arising from, defence-oriented functions and tasks'. This objective is concretised by, among other things, awarding grants to studies and symposia, prizes for graduation work and maintaining contacts with similar organisations in other countries.
From its establishment until 2021, the fund has had an independent board under the auspices of the Defence and Security Department Board. On 2 June 2021, the regulations were amended and the fund was placed directly under the management of the departmental board. This did not change the objectives and character of the fund.
Kooy Fund promotes defence knowledge and innovation with triptych of activities
From 2007 to 2010, the Fund also awarded a prize for the best idea with the most innovative and useful elaboration of the Defence Innovation Game.
Pioneer Prof Kooy built bridge between ballistics and space travel
As an electrical engineer (THD 1927) and mathematician and physicist (Leiden 1936), Prof Kooy instructed generations of officers in the fundamentals and techniques of what he himself called Ballistics of the Future.
The book with that title, which he co-authored with his colleague Prof J.W.H. Uytenbogaart and which appeared as early as 1946, was the first post-war book on the two best-known retaliatory weapons V1 and V2. The book testifies to a profound mathematical and physical knowledge, which served as the basis for the detailed design-technical treatment of these weapons.
During the years he taught a large number of 'engineering subjects' as a lecturer and later professor at the Royal Military Academy, he managed to captivate many cadets of the technical weapons and service subjects with his lectures. Thereby, original ideas on propulsion, control and steering and construction of rockets and satellites were not shunned by him. At the then Aerospace Engineering Department of Delft University of Technology, he gave lectures on these subjects for many years, which were also attended by students from other departments.
In a series of publications and lectures - including those for KIVI - he succeeded in arousing interest in civil and military spaceflight among many in society.
Prof. Kooy enjoyed international recognition, was a member of various scientific organisations and was honoured with national and international awards for his work.
Inheritance Prof Kooy: Globally celebrated genius in ballistics and space travel
Our department manages a small archive in memory of Prof Kooy. A very important professor for Dutch and international ballistics and aerospace, mentioned in the same breath as Einstein and Oppenheimer, among others. Among other things, he was a knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion and was awarded the Médaille d'Astronautique de L'AREA année Astronautique Française at the same time as Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn.
View archive Prof KooyThe origins of the Prof Ir Dr J.M.J. Kooy Fund
The first International Symposium on Ballistics was held in 1974 in Orlando FL (USA). After several years, it was decided to hold the symposia every 18 months, alternately in the USA and in Europe. During the 6th Symposium in Orlando FL (USA) in October 1981, Hans Pasman was asked if the next symposium could be held in the Netherlands. He promised to look into that.
The board of the Defence Technology Department (DT) of the Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) decided to cooperate in organising that Symposium in the Netherlands. A committee was set up consisting of, among others, Messrs Hans Pasman, TNO-PML directorate, Fons Stomp, head of the Commission of Trials, Mark Scheffelaar, professor at the KMA, and Paul Scharp, then head of the Munitions Department of the KL Materiel Service. In addition, there were foreign members, namely Dr Bob Eichelberger, director of the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Lab, Mr Dick Dowd, of Martin Marietta (USA), Mr. Neil Griffith, head of development at Royal Armaments Research & Development Establishment, RARDE (UK) and Dr Gustaf-Adolf Schröder, head of the ballistic department at the Ernst Mach Institut (DE).
The 7th International Ballistic Symposium was held in April 1983 at the Congrescentrum in The Hague. It was a great success, partly thanks to the great efforts of the KIVI Congress Bureau. Financially, the result was also good. Afterwards, the organisation received another grant of 100,000 guilders from the Municipality of The Hague for the use of the Congress Centre for an international symposium.
The DT board then considered what to do with the positive balance and decided to set up a fund to promote the development of ballistics in the Netherlands. The objectives were later expanded.
The fund was named after Prof Kooy, who had died in 1983. His widow was asked for permission to name the fund after him.
Later, there were tough discussions between the Afd DT board, which wanted to place the fund in a foundation, and the KIVI board, which wanted to include the fund in the assets of the KIvI. Eventually, it became a separate registered asset, but under the responsibility of (now) KIVI as a legal entity.
Since 1983, the Fund has been used to organise symposia and graduation prizes.
The Fund also (partly) supported a PhD student in his research in the field of ceramic armour, which was completely new at the time. With the help of this research and with the strong yarns developed at AKZO (Twaron) and DSM (PE), Ten Cate was able to develop into a world player in bullet-proof vests and protective clothing.
*) The order of Prof Kooy's titles often raises questions, because for professors with doctorates, the order Prof Dr Ir is usually used. However, Prof Kooy himself always used the order Prof Ir Dr because he considered the engineering title more important than his doctoral degree.
He said, "For my engineering degree, I had to study for years, but for the doctoral degree, writing one little book was enough".