Standard Terms for the Purchase of VKI Online and Taught Lecture Series

These terms and conditions apply to Services provided by von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics INPA of Waterloosesteenweg 72, B-160 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium with VAT number BE 0407185709 (“VKI” or “we” or “us”). 

The Client (YOU) means the person who mades the purchase and the participant to the VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series.

YOU may contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact us on +32 2 3599604

These terms and conditions are in addition to the Website Disclaimer and apply to the sale of any VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series.  Please read these terms and conditions carefully before purchasing a VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series and print off a copy for your records.

If there is any conflict between our Website Disclaimer, these terms and conditions and any Lecture Series Specific Terms and Conditions which might apply to a specific VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series then the conflict shall be resolved by applying the following order of priority:

1. Course Specific Terms and Conditions;
2. These Standard Terms for the Purchase of VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series;
3. Website Disclaimer.

For purchases via our website, by ticking the box “I accept the general terms and conditions for VKI online and taught lecture series”, YOU agree to the terms of this agreement which will bind YOU.  If YOU do not agree to these terms and conditions YOU must cease to continue to purchase any Services from us. 

1. Definitions

“Confidential Information” means information provided by one party to the other in written, graphic, recorded, machine readable or other form concerning the business, clients, suppliers, finances and other areas of the other party’s business or products, including, without limitation, the Course Materials, but does not include information in the public domain other than through the default of the party disclosing the information, information required to be disclosed by any court or regulatory authority, or any information already in the possession or control of the disclosing party.

“Course Materials” means the information provided by VKI to accompany a lecture series provided as part of the Services in hard copy or electronic form.

“Fees” means the fees paid by YOU to VKI for the Services.

“Intellectual Property Rights” means copyright, rights in or relating to databases, patent rights, performers’ rights, designs and registered designs, trademarks, rights in or relating to Confidential Information and other intellectual property rights (registered or unregistered) throughout the world.

“VKI Online Lecture Series” means the delivery by us of an online course pursuant to which YOU learn course materials remotely.

“VKI Taught Lecture Series” means a course taught by us in a classroom setting to which YOU attend in person.

“Services” means the provisioning of the VKI Online Lecture Series and/or the VKI Taught Lecture Series and/or the Course Materials together with such other services as agreed from time to time and purchased by YOU through the Website.

 “Website” means www.vki.ac.be and https://www.vki.ac.be/index.php/privacy-policy “YOU” means the individual purchasing the Services.

2. The Services

2.1. A description of the Services together with the dates on which the Services will begin are available on our Website.  We will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill in accordance with the description set out on the Website.

3. Ordering Services

Purchasing Services via the Website

3.1. In order to purchase any of the Services on-line YOU must register yourself and create an  an account on the Website.  If YOU already have an account with us YOU can log into your account using your user name and password.

3.2. By placing an order for a Service via the Website, YOU are agreeing with these terms and conditions.  VKI reserves the right to cancel or decline your order or any part of your order at any time until it has been confirmed in accordance with clause 3.4 below.

3.3. Following receipt by us of your order for Services via the Website we will contact YOU confirming receipt of your order. 

3.4. A legally binding agreement between us and YOU shall come into existence when we have :
(a) accepted your offer to purchase Services from us by sending YOU an email confirming the purchase; and
(b) received payment of the relevant Fees from YOU in accordance with clause 5 below. 

3.5. Where your order consists of multiple VKI Online Lecture Series or multiple VKI Taught Lecture Series, each individual course will be treated by us as a separate offer to purchase.  Acceptance of your offer to buy one or more courses will not be acceptance by us of your offer to purchase any other courses which make up your order.

4. Cancellation and Variation

4.1 YOU may cancel the purchase at any time by sending your cancellation to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will reimburse 100% of the FEES, provided that we receive  your cancellation within 14 days after the confirmation of your subscription and 7 days before the start of the Services.

We will reimburse 90% of the FEES, provided that we do not receive your cancellation within 14 days after the confirmation of your subscription but minimum 7 days before the start of the Services.

We will reimburse 50% of the FEES, provided that we receive  your cancellation minimum 72 hours before the start of the Services.

No reimbursement will be made if the cancellation was received within 72 hours before the start of the Services

4.2. If YOU have purchased a VKI Online Lecture Series and have already accessed, downloaded all or part of the Online Course and/or started to use that VKI Online Lecture Series then YOU shall have no rights on any reimbursement.

5. Fees

5.1. The Fees for the Services will be as set out on the Website at the time YOU placed an order for them. 

5.2. Unless otherwise specified at the time YOU purchase the Services the Fees are inclusive of VAT or other local taxes, the cost of some Course Materials and any delivery costs payable in respect of the delivery of Course Material to YOU.  Each of these costs will be set out in the Website prior to your purchase the Services.

5.3. Fees for the Service selected by YOU on the Website shall be debited from your credit / debit card or by bank transfer at the time of purchase.  Fees must be paid in full prior to YOU attending any VKI Taught Lecture Series or accessing any VKI Online Lecture Series. Your attendance to the Services will be refused unless the Fees are received in full.

5.4. The final invitation and confirmation of the purchase of the Service and the invoice of the purchase will only be send when the payment is received on the VKI bank account.

5.5. Cash or credit card payments at the start of the VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series will not be accepted.

6. Liability

6.1. No part of the provision of the Services shall be deemed to be, nor is it intended to be, nor should it be taken to be, the provision of investment advice.

6.2. Although VKI aims to provide the Services to the highest standards of the industry, neither it, nor its trainers accept any liability for (i) any inaccuracy or misleading information provided in the programmes or Course Materials and any reliance by YOU on any such information, (ii) any loss or corruption of data, (iii) any loss of profit, revenue or goodwill, or (iv) any indirect, special or consequential loss arising from any breach of the terms of this Agreement.

6.3. Except to the extent that they are expressly set out in these terms and conditions, no conditions, warranties or other terms shall apply to the Services. Subject to clause 6.5 no implied conditions, warranties or other terms apply (including any implied terms as to satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or conformance with description).

6.4. Subject to clause 6.5 below, VKI's total liability arising from or in connection with these terms and conditions and in relation to anything which we may have done or not done in connection with these terms and conditions and the delivery of the Service (and whether the liability arises because of breach of contract, negligence or for any other reason) shall be limited to the Fees received by us in connection with the relevant VKI Online Lecture Series and/or VKI Taught Lecture Series in relation to which a dispute has arisen.

6.5. Nothing in this Agreement shall exclude or limit VKI’s liability for (i) death or personal injury caused by negligence, (ii) fraudulent misrepresentation or (iii) any other matter which under English law may not be limited or excluded.

6.6. No claim may be brought more than six months after the last date on which the Services concerned have finished or ceased to be provided by us.

7. Intellectual Property

7.1. All Intellectual Property Rights in the Course Materials, VKI Online Lecture Series and the speeches made by lectures at the VKI Taught Lecture Series are, and remain, the intellectual property of VKI or its licensors, whether adapted, written for or customised for the Client or not.

7.2. YOU are not authorised to:

(i) copy, modify, reproduce, re-publish, sub-licence, sell, upload, broadcast, post, transmit or distribute any of the Course Materials without prior written permission;

(ii) record on video or audio tape, relay by videophone or other means the VKI Online Lecture Series or VKI Taught Lecture Series given

(iii) use the Course Materials in the provision of any other course or training whether given by us or any third party trainer;

(iv) remove any copyright or other notice of VKI on the Course Materials;

(v) modify, adapt, merge, translate, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer (save to the extent permitted by law) any software forming part of the VKI Online Lecture Series.

Breach by YOU of this clause 7.2 shall allow us to immediately terminate these terms and conditions with YOU and cease to provide YOU with any Services, including but not limited to access to the VKI Online Lecture Series.

7.3. In consideration of the Fees paid by YOU, we grant to YOU a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use the Course Materials and the software in respect of the VKI Online Lecture Series for the sole purpose of completing the VKI Online Lecture Series and / or attending the VKI Taught Lecture Series.

8. Confidentiality

8.1. Each party shall keep the other party’s Confidential Information strictly confidential and not use it otherwise than for the purposes of these terms and conditions, and shall return it on demand and not retain copies of it.

8.2. Either party may disclose Confidential Information to its legal and other advisors for the purposes of obtaining advice from them.

8.3. This clause shall continue notwithstanding termination of these terms and conditions.

9. Termination

9.1. We shall be entitled to terminate these terms and conditions and cease to provide YOU with any Services with immediate effect in the event that YOU:
a) fail to pay when due your Fees;
b) act in an aggressive, bullying, offensive, threatening or harassing manner towards any employee of VKI, any teacher or lecturer who provides the VKI Taught Lecture Series or any student who attends any VKI Taught Lecture Series;
c) cheat or plagiarise any work which YOU are required to prepare or submit in connection with the Services or during any examination taken in connection with the Services;
d) steal or act in fraudulent or deceitful manner towards us or our employees or any other students who may be on our premises or attending our VKI Taught Lecture Series;
e) intentionally or recklessly damage our property or the property of our employees or other students attending our premises;
f) are intoxicated through alcohol or illegal drugs while on our premises;
g) commit any criminal offence committed on our premises or where the victim is our employee or student;
h) are in breach of these terms and conditions.

9.2. 9.2. On termination clause 6 (liability), 7 (intellectual property rights), 8 (confidentiality) and 10 (restrictions) shall continue notwithstanding such termination.

10. Assignment

Any Services provided by us under these terms and conditions are personal to YOU and cannot be transferred or assigned to any other person.

We shall be entitled to assign these terms and conditions to any other company without prior notice to YOU.

11. Entire Agreement

These terms and conditions, together with the Website Disclaimer and Lecture Series Specific Terms and Conditions are the entire agreement between the parties and supersede any prior agreements and arrangements, whether written or oral. YOU confirm that YOU have not relied on any representations in entering into these and any other terms and conditions with us. Nothing in this clause or terms and conditions shall limit liability for any fraudulent misrepresentation.

12. Force Majeure

VKI shall not be liable to YOU for any breach of its obligations or termination under these terms and conditions arising from causes beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, pandemic and other Acts of God, terrorism, strikes, delay caused by transport disputes, failure to provide a course caused by a death in the trainer’s family, illness of the trainer, Government edict or regulation.

13. Assignment

We may assign, transfer, sub-contract any of our rights or obligations to any third party at our discretion.

14. Data Protection

14.1 The nature of the Services provided by us means that we will obtain, use and disclose (together "Use") certain information about YOU ("Data"). This statement sets out the principles governing our Use of Data. By purchasing the Services YOU agree to this Use.

14.2 When YOU register with us YOU will need to provide certain Data such as your contact details and demographic information. We will store this Data and use it to contact YOU, provide YOU with details of the Services YOU have purchased and otherwise as required during the normal provision of the course.

14.3 To enable us to monitor and improve our Services, we gather certain aggregated information about YOU, including details of your operating system, browser version, domain name and IP address, the URL YOU came from and go to and the parts of the Website YOU visit.

14.4 We use information such as your User ID, session identifiers and password to enable us to identify whether YOU are using our services, assist with the provision of services and to ensure that YOU have access to relevant products. We will only read cookies from your cookie file placed there through your web browser's interaction with the Website.

14.5 Our products may link to third party websites and we are not responsible for their data policies or procedures or their content.

14.6 VKI endeavours to take all reasonable steps to protect your personal Data including the use of encryption technology, but cannot guarantee the security of any Data YOU disclose. YOU accept the inherent security implications of being and transacting on-line over the internet and will not hold us responsible for any breach of security.

14.7 VKI may supplement the information that YOU provide with information we receive from third parties, such as exam registration bodies or your employer.

14.8 If YOU wish to change or update the data we hold about YOU, please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact us on +32 2 3599604

15. Law and Jurisdiction

This Agreement is subject to Belgian law and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Belgian courts in connection with any dispute hereunder.

16. Notices

YOU can contact us by any of the following methods:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Post: von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics aisbl of Waterloosesteenweg 72, B-160 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium

Telephone: +32 2 3599604

Piero Colonna is a professor and Chair of Propulsion and Power at the Delft University of Technology, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. Prof. Colonna was a recipient of the VIDI personal grant of the Dutch Science and Technology Foundation in 2005.

Piero authored more than 100 articles in peer refereed journals and conference proceedings, served as Associate Editor of the ASME Journal for Engineering of Gas Turbine and Power, is Associate Editor of the Journal of the Global Propulsion and Power Society. He also served in the board of the International Gas Turbine Institute since 2014, and has been the IGTI Chairman from 2015 to 2017. He launched the International Seminar on ORC Power systems in 2011, and served as Chairman and in various positions in the Knowledge Center on ORC Power systems - KCORC.

In 2011 and 2012 he was awarded the Best Lecturer Award for the Master Program in Sustainable Energy and Process Technologies and for that of Fluid Mechanics of the TU Delft.

Research Interest

• Non-ideal compressible fluid dynamics
• Thermodynamic properties of working fluids
• Turbomachinery
• Organic Rankine cycle
• Supercritical CO2 cycle power systems

Joachim Szodruch graduated from the Technical University Berlin in 1971 followed by a post-graduate study at Cambridge University, UK. He obtained his PhD from the Technical University Berlin from where in 2003 he also received an Honorary Professorship.

For two years he worked at NASA Ames Research Centre. In 1981 he joined MBB Civil Transport Division in Bremen and followed various positions in Hamburg and Toulouse where he eventually was appointed Vice President Future Projects and Technology.

Between 2002 and 2010 he was a Member of the Executive Board of DLR (German Aerospace Centre) in Cologne, specifically responsible for Aeronautics and Energy.

Presently he is the Chairman of the Board of Hamburg Aviation and Founder of IFAR (International Forum of Aviation Research).

He served over the years in many national, European and international functions in industrial, scientific and advisory committees, specifically also as Co-Chairman of ACARE, Chairman of EREA as well as President of DGLR and CEAS.

He is an Honorary Member of the DGLR, an Associate Fellow of AIAA and received the ICAS von Karman Award, the ICAS Maurice Roy Award Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Szodruch

von Karman Institute Lecture Series and Events 2021-2022

The von Karman Institute organizes each year 8 to 12 one-week Lecture Series on specialized topics in the field of aerodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer with application to aeronautics, space, turbomachinery, the environment and industrial fluid dynamics. These courses have gained over the years world wide recognition for their high quality which is the result of a careful choice of subjects of current interest and lecturers known for their excellency in that field and willing to co-operate in building up well-structured courses. The lecture series are organized by the faculty's members and by the senior researchers of the von Karman Institute in collaboration with specialists in the selected topics of each course.

This lifelong learning programme provides high-quality continuous education for professionals from the industrial world and for university graduates in the fluid dynamics field in general.  A proof of attendance is provided on demand at the end of each course.