Sjaan Quirijns

Sjaan in MARCH IV, the august it was revealed

Although it may sometimes look like it, walking in an exoskeleton is certainly no easy task. As a Project MARCH pilot, it is therefore very important to be in top physical condition. Fortunately, our Sjaan is absolutely fine! When she was 23, she suffered a spinal cord injury due to a sports accident. But she certainly did not give up. She was introduced to a whole new sports world, where she proved to be more than successful.

For instance, Sjaan has climbed both the Alpe d'Huez and the Kaunertaler Gletscherstraße on her handbike. The latter is a 20-kilometre handbike battle. The finish line is at 2150 metres and this climb involves a steep gradient. So you could say she loves a challenge! It didn't stop at handbiking. Sjaan then also threw herself into adapted rowing. This even earned her the title Dutch indoor champion at the World Championships in 2014. With this title in her pocket, she was curious to see whether she would also make something of wheelchair tennis. You guessed it: this did not go badly for Sjaan either. She played against but more often with former Project MARCH Claudia Bosch-Comijs. Moreover, she competed against Esther Vergeer several times.

So there is no disputing that Sjaan is a real sports enthusiast. But besides sport, she has a lot of other hobbies. Watching a movie in the cinema is perhaps number one. She also loves delicious (and above all very healthy!) cooking, photography and reading

Project MARCH & Sjaan

In daily life, Sjaan works full-time at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences as a functional administrator. So she is used to working with different people. That comes in handy! Project MARCH finds it very important to work on the basis of co-creation. Here, cooperation between the team and the pilot is central. This year too, Sjaan's comfort and safety are paramount! And who knows that better than the pilot himself? Based on feedback from Sjaan, we will adjust the design. In this way, we hope to achieve the most user-friendly end result possible.

Sjaan central in the team photo of the fourth team of Project MARCH