History of the association
KIVI was founded on 31 August 1847 by three engineers, under the patronage of HRH Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk, Prince of Orange. Six months later, the association already received the designation 'royal' from King William II.
Since then, the Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) has established a respectable track record with numerous initiatives and activities and as publisher of trade journal De Ingenieur. The current Patroness of KIVI is HRH Princess Beatrix.
KIVI history
Key moments in KIVI's history in a nutshell:
| 1886 | the first issue of magazine The Engineer is published. |
| 1895 | Establishment of the regulation of the relationship between principal and consulting engineer (RVOI). |
| 1916 | Establishment of the Dutch Standardisation Institute (NNI) in collaboration with the Nederlandsche Maatschappij voor Nijverheid en Handel. |
| 1961 | The Association of Delft Engineers is incorporated into the KIVI. |
| 1968 | Foundation of the Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek (STT). |
| 1988 | Establishment of the Foundation for the History of Technology (SHT). |
| 1990 | Foundation of the Postgraduate Technical Education Foundation. |
| 2004 | KIVI merges with NIRIA and is henceforth called Royal Institute of Engineers KIVI NIRIA. |
| 2014 | The name is changed to Royal Institute Of Engineers (KIVI). |
Relationship with the royal family
From the establishment of the Royal Institute of Engineers in 1847, the monarch was patron of the institute.
H.R.H. King William II presided over the institute meetings in the early years. On 4 February 1848, five months after its foundation, the King conferred the designation 'Royal'. In the 19th century, the King regularly asked KIVI for advice on major hydraulic engineering problems. H.M. Princess Beatrix is now Patroness of the Royal Institute of Engineers.
H.R.H. Prince Bernard of the Netherlands was Honorary President. He used to hold this title with the Delft Engineers Association (VDI). When the VDI and the KIVI merged in 1961, the Prince became Honorary President of the KIVI. He delivered an opening speech in Ridderzaal in honour of the KIVI Jubilee Congress on 31 August 1982. Prince Bernard died on 1 December 2004.
HRH Prince Claus of the Netherlands was Honorary Member of KIVI. He accepted this distinction in 1972 during the association's 125th anniversary.
In September 1997, Prince Claus and his son Prince ir Johan Friso attended the Dutch Congress Building in The Hague to celebrate the 150th anniversary of KIVI. Prince Claus died on 6 October 2002.
In April 1995, H.R.H. Prince ir. Johan Friso of the Netherlands became an institute member at the invitation of the president. He obtained his ir. degree in Aerospace from TU Delft in 1994. The Prince opened the first KIVI NIRIA congress on innovation in 2004.
H.R.H. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, reopened the De Cruquius pumping station in Haarlemmermeer on 4 June 2002; the completion of the 'Setting in motion again' project. In 1934, KIVI established the De Cruquius Foundation to preserve this oldest and unique steam pumping station dating from 1845.