History

KOers has a long history. The association exists since December 21st,1978.

History of Study Association KOers

The official founding of KOers was on December 21st, 1978. That day, Reni van Vliet and Huub Heijgele visited the notary office to get a certificate of incorporation. In this document, the goal of the association was explained: the association aims to represent the interests of students from the master track Structural Design. As of this day, KOers was officially founded, although the hard work to make this possible started three years earlier.

1975-1986: How it began, KOersief, CHEOPS
As early as 1975, the first study trip was organized with England as its destination. Every two months, a movie was played during the lunch break and monthly drinks were held.

In January 1978, the first KOersief was distributed. At the time, it was 3 pages long and contained the plans of our study association.

The first ideas for lunch lectures began to evolve in 1982. The second KOersief was distributed in May of the same year. From this year on, the KOersief was distributed regularly. An editorial team was formed and the KOersief was published 3 to 4 times a year.

The study association for Architecture, Urbanism, and Building Sciences (CHEOPS) was founded in 1985. From this moment, KOers was no longer an independent association as it became part of CHEOPS. This year, excursions to Austria and Italy took place.

 

1987: Honorary member Jan Siebelink
In 1987, Mr. Jan Siebelink bids farewell to the department. Jan Siebelink was one of the most recognizable and active members of KOers. Because of this, the lunch corner in the main building was renamed to the Jan Siebelink corner. Eleven years later, he was appointed honorary member in gratitude for his involvement and hard work for the association.

1990-2000: Growth, activities, 2nd honorary member
Besides the usual activities, the Batavierenrace is the highlight of the year. After an extensive training program, the participating students and staff achieve an excellent 221st place during the race in April. 

In 1991, when the association has about 25 members, KOers participates in the concrete-canoe race for the first time. KOers is represented in Gent (Belgium) with homemade canoes and even manages to win some prizes.

In the year 1996-1997, a lot has been done to attract new members. Among others, a BBQ is organized in June 1996 to celebrate the end of the academic year. After all these efforts, KOers has 66 student members, 11 members, and 48 fund-members at the end of 1997.

In 1998 Muriel Alblas is appointed honorary member. As secretary of the department, she meant a lot to the association.

2002-2003: Vertigo
At the start of the academic year 2002-2003, the faculty of Civil Engineering moves to a new building: Vertigo. KOers has to say farewell to the office in the main building. KOers receives a new accommodation in the new building, on the fifth floor.

2010-2011: Moving, Concrete Canoe Race Eindhoven
This year, another move is planned, this time within Vertigo. The board of the association has to move to a different spot on the fifth floor, together with the other study associations.

This is also the first year the concrete canoe race visits Eindhoven. After 13 years, KOers has the privilege to organize this international event. After a difficult start, a fantastic event is organized.

2015-2016: Moving again, Beer Crate Bridge record
Again, the KOers corner has to move within Vertigo and gets allocated a corner in the former printing office on floor 2. The former location on floor 5 is still in use by KOers members who are graduating.

In September 2015, the Beer Crate Bridge committee (Bierkrattenbrug), consisting of seventeen students, started with one goal: taking the world record back to Eindhoven! The record is given to those who create the largest span with beer crates. It is not allowed to use any connectors or fasteners between the crates and the bridge should exist out of either empty crates, crates with empty bottles, or crates with filled bottles. This edition of the Beer Crate Bridge had an extra challenge, namely building the bridge over water. Besides that, the design of the bridge of 2012 was further optimized. The record was broken with a span of 26.69 meters and is still in our hands!

2017-2018: Concrete Canoe Race Eindhoven II
KOers was asked to organize the concrete canoe race again in May 2018. This time, the event was held at the E3-Strand in Eersel, with a record number of teams coming from the Netherlands, Germany, and even Poland!

2020: Honorary member Hans Lamers, Coronavirus
2020 was a very special year. During this year, KOers was proud to announce that a third honorary member had been appointed: Hans Lamers. Hans Lamers works at the SED lab and is always willing to help all SED students and Study Association KOers. He always writes the columns in the KOersief and will never say no to any question. Additionally, the lab staff in general was thanked, because they all showed a lot of commitment to KOers. We could not have organized a lot of activities without the help of the SED lab!

Next to this special event, KOers also had to deal with the Coronavirus, which started to spread in the Netherlands in March 2019. Because of this, the Concrete Canoe Race, Batavierenrace, International Study Trip, and many more activities could not take place. Luckily, KOers goes Digital was organized. During this, online events like online KOKO's, drinks, and workouts took place so members were able to socialize with other people in times of social distancing.