Princess Beatrix and Princess Mabel to attend 4th Prince Friso Engineering Award ceremony in Groningen

Their Royal Highnesses Princess Beatrix and Princess Mabel will attend the fourth Prince Friso Engineering Award ceremony at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen on Engineer's Day, 21 March.

The finalists are: Sander den Blanken, Director of Arup B.V., Dr Jan Klok, principal technologist at Paqell B.V. and scientific project manager at Wetsus, and Dr Nima Tolou, assistant professor at the Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering of TU Delft and co-founder of Flexous.

Engineers who distinguish themselves in terms of expertise, innovation skills, societal impact and entrepreneurship are eligible for the annual Prince Friso Engineering Award, the winner of which will bear the title of ‘Engineer of the Year’ until the next edition. With this prize, the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers (KIVI: Koninklijk Instituut Van Ingenieurs) aims to offer engineers a platform and support the societal dialogue with engineers. Prince Friso, King Willem Alexander's younger brother who passed away a few years ago , was a mechanical and aerospace engineer and member of KIVI.  

Founded in 1847, the professional association of engineers in the Netherlands KIVI aims to support engineers in their professional practice and to create connections between engineers and society. To this end, KIVI collaborates with the technological industry, knowledge institutions, the higher education world and other professional engineering associations worldwide.

The University of Groningen will host this year's Engineer's Day with a view to its large Faculty of Science and Engineering.