Billy Koen

Koen was the subject of "KOENTMND", a popular internet meme, or "fad", that prominently featured recordings of inspirational messages from Koen's lectures at The University of Texas at Austin. The meme gained popularity in 2006, after one of Koen's students posted an audio recording of him to YTMND, an internet meme community, saying,

He was a consultant to the French Atomic Energy Commission (1971-1972 and 1976-1977). Billy Koen was a visiting professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (東京工業大学) (1994, 1998-1999, and 2001). He is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society. Koen has held numerous offices in the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), including Vice-President for Public Affairs. Professor Koen is a Fellow of ASEE, and has received several awards including the Chester F. Carlson award for innovation, the W. Leighton Collin’s award for service to engineering education, and the Centennial Medallion.

In 1969, Koen introduced to engineering education the self-paced Personalized System of Instruction (PSI or Keller Plan) as an alternative teaching method. In 2000, he adapted it to a web-based class. Representative publications:

Billy Koen received his ScD (1968) and his MS (1962) in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a BA in Chemistry and BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin (1960 and 1961) and Diplôme d’Ingénieur en Génie Atomique from L’Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires, Saclay, France (1963).

Billy V. Koen (born March 2, 1938) is professor emeritus, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin where he has taught for over 41 years. Koen is a nuclear engineer, author, and innovator in engineering methods and education.