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Jalila Essaidi, Fancy van de Vorst and Pauline van Dongen are Eindhoven’s contribution to the Inspiring Fifty of 2017.

Janneke Niessen and Joelle Frijters started the Inspiring Fifty to show the world that Tech is not only for men. Knowing it needs roll models to inspire girls to start a job or an education in tech, they started their search for women who could take up this role. This lead to a yearly publication of Inspiring Fifty.

“It’s about time we recognise the many accomplished, fierce and all-too-often overlooked women in technology who live and work right in your country and continent. These women set a shining example for future leaders and entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps – female, male or other.”

Jalila Essaidi

Whoever thinks biology, technology and art don’t match, should check out Jalila’s work. She’s best known for her work ‘2.6g 329m/s’, also known as ‘Bulletproof Skin’. She actually bioengineered bulletproof human skin reinforced with synthetic spider silk.

Fancy van de Vorst

Fancy works with StartupDelta to help make the Dutch ecosystem one of the best in the world. Her base is in Eindhoven, a city that leads the way in technological innovation in hardware.

Pauline van Dongen

Pauline creates garments in the space where technology and fashion meet. Her studio enables innovation and experimentation to create beautiful high-tech items that you just want to wear.

More on all the winners here.