Standard of Excellence: Delivering Excellence—A Daily Goal
Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Tin Whisker Mitigation in Aerospace Applications, Part 3
The Knowledge Base: Building the Workforce of Tomorrow With EMAC
Project MARCH Students’ Exoskeleton Helps Paraplegics Walk Again
April 10, 2019 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
When I was in college, I didn’t think much about helping make the world a better place; I just focused on making it to graduation. But some students from Delft University of Technology have found a way to do both. Project MARCH is made up of student volunteers who design and build futuristic exoskeletons that can help paraplegics walk. The students do most of the work themselves, including designing the various PCBs.
I saw their latest exoskeleton up close when Project MARCH exhibited at AltiumLive in Munich, and I had to find out more about this program. Delft Students Martijn van der Marel and Roy Arriens sat down with me to discuss their work on the exoskeleton, including their PCB design experience, and whether they plan to pursue PCB design as a career.
Andy Shaughnessy: Can you tell us a little bit about Project MARCH and this exoskeleton?
Martijn van der Marel: We are a student team from Delft University of Technology, which is one of the biggest technological universities in the Netherlands. We volunteered for a year to build this exoskeleton. With the exoskeleton, we help paraplegics walk again. Each year, we participate in a competition against other exoskeletons to improve the technology and see how far we’ve come.
Shaughnessy: The exoskeleton is pretty impressive. Are you all engineering students?
van der Marel: All students have a technical background, but within the team some of the students are in management and PR, but most of the students are in engineering roles.
Shaughnessy: How did this idea come about?
van der Marel: It started four years ago. Some other group initialized this exoskeleton project, and there were enough enthusiastic students who wanted to dedicate a year to building this exoskeleton. After that year, they continued their studies and recruited a new team of students to make an improved version. That has continued to this year.
Shaughnessy: Did you have to do your own fundraising to find the money necessary for this?
van der Marel: We find sponsors each year to do our own funding because we are self-dependent. We have dedicated people who attend events, find partners, and raise enough money to build an exoskeleton each year.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the March 2019 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
2025 ASEAN IT Spending Growth Slows to 5.9% as AI-Powered IT Expansion Encounters Post-Boom Normalization
06/26/2025 | IDCAccording to the IDC Worldwide Black Book: Live Edition, IT spending across ASEAN is projected to grow by 5.9% in 2025 — down from a robust 15.0% in 2024.
DownStream Acquisition Fits Siemens’ ‘Left-Shift’ Model
06/26/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007I recently spoke to DownStream Technologies founder Joe Clark about the company’s acquisition by Siemens. We were later joined by A.J. Incorvaia, Siemens’ senior VP of electronic board systems. Joe discussed how he, Rick Almeida, and Ken Tepper launched the company in the months after 9/11 and how the acquisition came about. A.J. provides some background on the acquisition and explains why the companies’ tools are complementary.
United Electronics Corporation Advances Manufacturing Capabilities with Schmoll MDI-ST Imaging Equipment
06/24/2025 | United Electronics CorporationUnited Electronics Corporation has successfully installed the advanced Schmoll MDI-ST (XL) imaging equipment at their advanced printed circuit board facility. This significant technology investment represents a continued commitment to delivering superior products and maintaining their position as an industry leader in precision PCB manufacturing.
Insulectro & Dupont Host Technology Symposium at Silicon Valley Technology Center June 25
06/22/2025 | InsulectroInsulectro, the largest distributor of materials for use in the manufacture of PCBs and printed electronics, and DuPont, a major manufacturer of flex laminates and chemistry, invite fabricators, OEMS, designers, and engineers to attend an Innovation Symposium – Unlock the Power - this Wednesday, June 25, at DuPont’s Silicon Valley Technology Center in Sunnyvale, CA.
OKI, NTT Innovative Devices Establish Mass Production Technology for High-Power Terahertz Devices by Heterogeneous Material Bonding
06/21/2025 | BUSINESS WIREOKI, in collaboration with NTT Innovative Devices Corporation, has established mass production technology for high-power terahertz devices using crystal film bonding (CFB) technology for heterogeneous material bonding to bond indium phosphide (InP)-based uni-traveling carrier photodiodes (UTC-PD) onto silicon carbide (SiC) with excellent heat dissipation characteristics for improved bonding yields.