Billy V. Koen

Billy V. Koen received B.A., Chemistry and B.S., Chemical Engineering degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. He received a Diplome d'Ingenieur en Genie Atomique from L'Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucleaires, Saclay, France in 1963 and M.S. and ScD. Degrees in Nuclear Engineering in 1962 and 1968 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a mechanical engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin since 1968. Professor Koen was a visiting professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1994,1998-1999, 2001 and at Ecole Centrale, Paris, France in 1983. He visited Saclay, France as a consultant to the French Atomic Energy Commission during 1971-72 and 1976-77. Over 30 years ago, Dr. Koen produced a theory of engineering design in terms of heuristics. He has disseminated this theory by means of university classes taught, book chapters, lectures and papers. In 1985, his monograph, Definition of the Engineering Method, was published by the American Society for Engineering Education went through five printings. His book, Discussion of the Method, recently published by Oxford University Press expands this definition of engineering to universal method. Dr. Koen also introduced to engineering education and developed a method of self-paced instruction (PSI). Since its introduction in 1969, it has become an accepted alternate means of teaching. His current research is in applying PSI to web-based, asynchronous learning and international collaboration over the Internet. He was a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence to nuclear reactor reliability and is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society. Professor Koen served from 1988-1993 as Vice President for Public Affairs for the American Society for Engineering Education. He has held 25 different Society positions and is a Fellow of the Society. Billy Koen has consulted for ten companies, organizations and institutions. He is a member of many professional and honor societies including Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. He is listed in Who's Who in America and International Who's Who in Engineering among other directories. Dr. Koen has written or contributed to eight books or monographs. He has more than 125 technical publications and has presented 120 invited lectures and workshops worldwide. Dr. Koen has received 15 local, state and national teaching-based awards including the Standard Oil of Indiana Award for Teaching Excellence, the national Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education, and in 1992 the national W. Leighton Collins Award which is the highest American Society for Engineering Education award for service to education in engineering. In 1993 he was one of 175 engineering educators, who have had a significant and lasting impact on engineering education or engineering technology education, selected worldwide to receive the Centennial Medallion from the American Society for Engineering Education. He is a Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Professor and a Parlin Fellow. He is married and has two sons.