05-Nov-2009: The Hague - Cervélo SA is pleased to announce that Gérard Vroomen, co-founder of Cervélo has been named the 2009 Engineer of the Year by The Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI NIRIA) in the Netherlands. 

KIVI NIRIA President Jan Dekker presented the award to Vroomen Tuesday night at a festive event in the Museon in The Hague. In his presentation he said that Vroomen had distinguished himself through a combination of personality, entrepreneurship and innovation. The jury cited his ability 'to combine technical ingenuity with good business instincts and an above average dose of perseverance and guts.' 

In addition to the award, Vroomen was also given a cheque for 20,000 Euro by the Van der Poel Charity Fund, to be used for a project of his choice that demonstrates how technology can contribute to a better world. The award itself is an original sculpture by well-known Dutch artist Annemarie Petri. 

"I am honored to be recognized with this award," said Gerard Vroomen, "and I share it with everybody at Vroomen.White.Design and of course especially Phil White. Since we started Cervélo in 1995 we have always made engineering the focus of our work, internally as well as when speaking with our customers. It is clear that without our engineering background, neither our products nor our company would have achieved the level of success it has." 

KIVI NIRIA instituted the annual Engineer of the Year award in 1993 as a way to convey the value KIVI NIRIA engineers provide to society. It also highlights the varied and attractive career prospects that the discipline offers, thus encouraging young students to choose engineering studies. 

Vroomen was one of three nominees for this years' award and succeeds the 2008 winner Saskia Rijtema. During the upcoming year he will act as the ambassador for KIVI NIRIA continuing to spread the message he has already effectively done with Cervélo - enjoy engineering. 

Note to Media: A photo of Gerard receiving the award can be found at www.cervelo.com/media.

About Cervélo
Phil White and Gérard Vroomen founded Cervélo in 1995 when their design for a new time trial bicycle, built at the request of a professional cyclist, failed to garner interest from traditional cycle manufacturers. Today, Cervélo is the largest time-trial bike manufacturer in the world. It is recognized internationally as one of the most innovative and fastest growing bike manufacturers the sport has seen in years. This has culminated in Cervélo being the #1 brand readers of VeloNews, CycleSport, Inside Triathlon and Slowtwitch (all publications for serious cyclists and triathletes) intend to purchase in 2009. Cervélo currently produces eleven different models for the global market. For further information visit: www.cervelo.com.

About Vroomen.White.Design
Vroomen.White.Design comprises a team of engineers with varied backgrounds and expertise. As the exclusive designers for Cervélo bicycles, this engineering firm is devoted to exceptional product design, with an emphasis on composite design and aerodynamics. Vroomen.White.Design has received numerous awards and citations, both within the cycling community (Bike of the Year, New Product of the Year, Editor's Choice), and within the larger product design community (Best Design Strategy, Citation for Innovation in Design).