Koos Schoonees qualified as civil engineer at Stellenbosch University (SU), Stellenbosch, South Africa (SA) in 1978. He obtained a master's degree and a Ph. D., both in coastal engineering at SU. He is a professional engineer at the Engineering Council of SA as well as a member of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) and the SA Institution of Civil Engineering. He acted as reviewer for many journals. His career started at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Stellenbosch. Later, he joined Entech, which became part of the worldwide WSP Group of consulting engineers. From 2015 to 2020, he occupied the Transnet National Ports Authority of South Africa (TNPA) Teaching Chair in Port and Coastal Engineering at SU as associate professor. He was responsible for the postgraduate training and supervision of port and coastal engineers. He retired in December 2021. Koos has over 40 years of experience. He worked as a consulting engineer, a researcher, and as an academic. He worked on port design (e.g. layout and container and dry bulk terminals), dredging, breakwaters (including stability, toe rock and scour), beach stability, shore protection, sizes of various types of ships, marinas, sand bypassing, marine outfalls, fenders, specialist studies for environmental impact assessments, beach improvement schemes, recurve seawalls, physical and mathematical modelling, and coastal zone management. Apart from numerous contract and research reports, Koos is the author and co-author of 31 scientific journal and conference papers. Koos has worked in numerous countries around the world (mainly in Southern Africa and the Middle East, where he was based in Abu Dhabi). He has undertaken study visits across the world.
