Matthias Botman
June 6, 1926 – April 26, 2012
Matthias (Thijs) Botman of Vancouver and Montreal left us quietly on April 26, 2012 after a struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
He was born in 1926 in Haarlem, the Netherlands. His father had been the captain of a merchant marine ship sailing to South East Asia. In his teenage years he endured the occupation of Holland during WWII. Following the war, he studied Aeronautical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and served in the Royal Dutch Navy, where he met his future wife Maria. Together they started a family and immigrated to Montreal during the mid 1950’s to work at Canadair.
A highly regarded engineer, Matthias was a leading specialist in the field of vibrations analysis, particularly with turbine jet engines. He authored many technical papers, spoke at technical conferences and lectured at Sir George Williams University. He was a member of the Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec. During his long and successful career he worked for aerospace firms Canadair, North American Aviation and United Aircraft of Canada/Pratt & Whitney Canada where he served as Chief of Dynamics, retiring in 1992.
He retired to Vancouver where he was able to share his love of sailing with his children and grandchildren.
Matthias is survived by Maria (Puck) Berends – Botman and their children: Elisabeth (Richard Migicovsky; Eric and Anna), Pieter, Richard, Robert (Melissa Weyland; Theodore, Beatrice and Jasper) and Anne Marie (Al Banner; Kaitlyn).
A private family memorial was held in Vancouver on April 28, 2012.
Obituaries
The Vancouver Sun
The Montreal Gazette
The Toronto Globe and Mail
Photo History
Timeline
| DATE | AGE | EVENT |
| 1926 | 0 | Born in Haarlem, The Netherlands |
| 1940-1945 | 14-19 | Survives occupation of Holland during WWII |
| 1947-1952 | 21-25 | Studied Aeronautical Engineering at Delft University of Technology |
| 1952-1954 | 26-28 | Served in the Royal Dutch Navy |
| 1954 | 28 | Married Maria Magdalena Berends |
| Daughter Elisabeth born (first child) | ||
| 1955 | 29 | Accepts job offer from Canadair in Montreal |
| Immigrates to Canada | ||
| Son Pieter born (second child) | ||
| 1960 | 34 | Accepts new position at North American Aviation in Columbus Ohio |
| Son Richard born (third child) | ||
| 1963 | 37 | Son Robert born (fourth child) |
| 1966 | 40 | Accepts new position at Rochester Applied Science Associates (RASA) |
| 1967 | 41 | Daughter Anne Marie born (fifth child) |
| 1968 | 42 | Accepts new position at United Aircraft of Canada (later Pratt & Whitney Canada) in Montreal |
| Family resides in Westmount, Quebec (16 years) | ||
| 1975 | 49 | Family purchases vacation property in North Hero, Vermont |
| 1984 | 58 | Family downsizes from house in Westmount to condo downtown |
| 1992 | 65 | Retires from Pratt & Whitney Canada as Chief of Dynamics (24 years of service) |
| Moves to Vancouver area | ||
| Buys 30 foot sailboat “Boreal” | ||
| 1994 | 68 | Buys condo in West Point Grey, Vancouver |
| 2007 | 81 | Sells sailboat “Boreal” (15 years of sailing) |
| 2009 | 83 | Moves to South Granville Park Lodge in Vancouver |
| 2012 | 85 | Enjoys full family reunion with complete set of 5 children and 6 grandchildren |
| Dies comfortably in his sleep with his eldest children nearby |
Articles, Books, Presentations
authored or co-authored by Matthias Botman
1954 – M. Botman, “The Effective Width in the Plastic Range of Flat Plates Under Compression”, National Aero- and Astronautical Research Inst Amsterdam, Defense Technical Information Center, 39 Pages
1954 – M. Botman, “Shear Tests on 24 S-T Unstiffened and Stiffened Webs with Flanged Holes, Part 2”, National Luchtvaarlaboratorium, 66 pages
1961 – M. Botman, “The Response of Linear Systems to Inhomogenous Random Excitation”, Issue 61, Part 32 of IAS papers, Institute of the Aerospace Sciences
1964 – M. Botman, “Propulsion by Undulating Plates” (64-461), AAIA Bulletin, Volumes 1-2. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
1971 – M. Botman, “High Speed Rotor Dynamics in the Presence of Oil-film Dampers”, Issue 368 of Technical Note, United Aircraft of Canada
1971 – M. Botman, “Description of High Speed Rotor Dynamics Rig Including Engineering Procedure XP 124”, Issue 356 of Technical Note, United Aircraft of Canada
1974 – M. Botman, “Third Turbo Mechanics Seminar: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Toronto Airport Hilton”, National Research Council Canada
1975 – S.W. Mak and M. Botman “Substructures Analysis of Impeller Vibration Modes”, ASME Paper 75-DET-112.
1976 – M. Botman, “Epicyclic Gear Vibrations”, Journal of Engineering for Industry, Transactions of ASME, Vol 98
1978 – M. Botman, “Experiments on the Transient Response of Oil-Film Dampers, Journal of Engineering for Power, Volume 100. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1981 – M. Botman, “Aircraft Installations”, Canadian Aeronautics and Space Journal Volumes 27-28, Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute
1981 – R. N. Tadros and M. Botman, ” “, Mechanical Engineering, Volume 103, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1981 – M. Botman, “Experiments on the Dynamic Behavior of a Supercritical Rotor”, Journal of Mechanical Design, Volume 104. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1984 – P. Ma and M. Botman, “Load Sharing in a planetary gear stage in the presence of gear errors and misalignment” ASME Paper 84-Det-54.7 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Design Engineering Technical Conference, Cambridge MA
Articles about Matthias Botman
June 24, 1964 – The Spokesman-Review (Spokane Washington) (Washington Post News Service) “Engineer Pictures Swimming Undersea Craft”
Citations of the work of Matthias Botman
1956 – The Aeronautical Journal, Volume 60, page 80. Royal Aeronautical Society.
1956 – Aeronautical Engineering Review, Volume 15, page 143. Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (U.S.)
1956 – Battelle Technical Review, Volume 5, page 54. Battelle Memorial Institute
1960 – Aeronautical Engineering Review, Volume 20, page 79. Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (U.S.)
1960 – Journal of Applied Mechanics, Volume 27, page 342. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1961 – Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Volume 65, Issues 601-612
1963 – Les Congres et colloques de L’Universite de Liege, Volumes 25-27. Universite de Liege
1976 – Journal of Lubrication Technology, Volumes 98-99. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1981 – S.A.E. Transactions, Volume 89, page 94. Society of Automotive Engineers
1981- Mechanical Engineering, Volume 103. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1985 – Journal of Mechanisms, Transmissions, and Automation in Design, Volume 107, page 9. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1988 – Internation Journal of Turbo & Jet-Engines, Volume 4, Issues 3-4, page 284.
1992 – Advancing Power Transmission into the 21st Century, Proceedings of the ASME Design Technical Conference on International Power Transmission and Gearing, Scottsdale, AZ
2000 – J Rhodes, “Buckling of Thin Plates and Thin-Plate Members – Some points of interest”, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Proceedings of the The Seventh International Symposium on Structural Failure and Plasticity, Melbourne Australia.