Matthijs Kok

Profile

As of September 1, 2012, Matthijs Kok (1956) has been appointed as a part-time professor of Flood Risk at Delft University of Technology (2 days / week). He holds this chair within the department of hydraulic engineering. The group focuses on research and education related to flood risk and hydraulic engineering systems, such as flood defences, storm surge barriers, tunnels and locks. The group also develops methods for probabilistic design and flood risk management and approaches to incorporate eco-design, Delta Urbanism, consequences of flooding and asset management.  

Research

Mr. Kok’s teaching and research interests include:

• Assessment of Flood Risk: flooding probabilities and consequences of floods (direct and indirect economic damage and loss of life) and approaches to incorporate uncertainties
• Decision analysis of measures to reduce Flood Risk: structural (strengthening levees, room for the river, ….) and non-structural measures (flood fighting, spatial planning, emergency management, …..) and cost-benefit analysis
• Multi-functional Flood Defences: design and maintenance of multiple functions of Flood Defences (risk management, engineering, urbanism, landscaping, governance, financing)
  

Matthijs Kok holds a Msc degree of Applied Mathematics from the Twente University (1981) and a PhD degree of Operations Research from the Delft University of Technology (1986).

Projects

Between 1986 and 1995 Matthijs has worked as a specialist and researcher at Delft Hydraulics in the Netherlands. He has been involved there in many projects, among others the first evaluation of Room for the River concepts, supporting the two Committees Boertien (about the future of dike strengthening along the rivers Rhine and Meuse, and about the future of the Limburgse Meuse), developing a risk model of the Dutch gas system, and many data analysis projects using statistical techniques. In 1995 he started a new company with Hans Hartong and Kees Vermeer: HKV consultants. He is since 1995 scientific director of this company, now with 65 employees, and located in Lelystad, Delft, Aachen and Jakarta. The employees of the company are specialists in water and safety, and combine sound engineering knowledge with physical insights, social demands and mathemetical (probabilistic) techniques.  During the period 1999-2000 he worked part-time at the Twente University and since 2000 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. As of September 1, 2012, he holds a part time position of the Flood Risk chair at TU Delft.

Miscellaneous

• Member of the Expertise Network of Flood Risk (ENW), chairman of the workgroup ‘Veiligheid’.
• Member of the committee of environmental assessment (“Commissie voor Milieu Effect Rapportage”), since 1990.