Versie van 16 mrt 2026 14:16

Team

Team (The Garage)

The Garage depends on the co-design of various stakeholders that come and go. Four HZ colleagues are the stable factor and form the management team. Jessica Rongen-Borgs, Charlotte Röhl, Carlien Nijdam and Marjoleijn Felius collectively operate the studio. Each has their own focus area and key responsibilities while decisions are made jointly.

Aiden Gibbons

I enjoyed The Garage because my strength probably is or was somebody else’s weakness and vice versa. If you know your group members and you use their skills, it definitely helps to work in a group. I also used to work with only other technical students, now I work with students from economic studies which was interesting. I learned that you cannot always choose your partners and you have to find a way to deal with any issues properly within the team, as you would in the real world.

Carlien Nijdam

Coach & Applied Research Expert

Carlien serves as a coach for applied research projects, bringing extensive experience from various HZ faculties and interdisciplinary minor programs. Her expertise in guiding students across diverse research topics allows her to provide valuable support throughout the minor. With a strong interest in real-life, nature-based projects, she is dedicated to helping students navigate their studies effectively. Her background in teacher training and coaching further enhances her role, making her a key asset to the team.

Charlotte Röhl

Project development & supervision

Charlotte has been involved with The Garage since its early days, helping shape its direction and focus on interdisciplinary and regenerative learning. She coordinates projects and supports student teams from both the Minor Applied Research and the Minor Design Thinking & Doing, ensuring the quality and alignment of both programs. With a reflective and approachable coaching style, Charlotte helps students navigate challenges, encouraging collaboration and critical thinking while fostering an environment of innovation and growth.

Erwin Minderhoud

I really enjoyed my time at the HZ Garage. Working on real-life cases in a multicultural environment enabled me to improve my interpersonal skills, while also gaining valuable experience in problem-solving, client collaboration, and project management. Besides the work we did, the Garage also provided fun social activities, which improved group dynamics and made my days at the garage besides valuable also fun and exciting.

Fablendhy Joseph

My graduation internship at the HZ Studio – The Garage has been a transformative experience, helping me grow both personally and professionally. It pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone and take charge of the progress of my research. I developed strong interdisciplinary collaboration skills, learning to navigate different perspectives and work more effectively with others. Over time, I became more confident, organized, and disciplined with deadlines. I learned to take initiative, think ahead, and always be prepared with a backup plan when things didn’t go as expected. This experience was meaningful because of the support I received from my supervisors, colleagues, and fellow students. Their guidance, encouragement, and willingness ...

Ivaylo Novakov

My time at The Garage helped me grow both as a student, but as someone working in a real team environment. Creativity was researched plus combined. I then turned those ideas into structured outcomes such as the innovation design package. Since I worked together with students from different backgrounds, the value of adapting as well as communicating clearly in addition to being open to new perspectives was shown to me. I was challenged via the projects, but I still learned to keep things practical working through complexity.

Jessica Borgs-Rongen

Management & organization

Jessica is the community, marketing, and project manager at the HZ Tower. With a background in vitality and tourism and experience in office and service management, she helps create a positive and professional environment. As project manager, she connects external partners and HZ research groups to the Design Thinking & Doing and Applied Research minors, ensuring students work on meaningful, real-world challenges. She also supports student and staff well-being, organizes social activities, and keeps stakeholders engaged through clear communication and collaboration.

Katicia Frei

I made friends, met clients, and broadened my network. You have a lot of freedom to decide what you want to do, you are your own boss. Of course, you still work with instructions from the Garage but still, it wasn’t something that you are doing because you have to do it, it felt like it was more for ourselves. At the beginning, you could choose three projects that would suit you the best from a list of projects. They matched us with interesting projects and made the groups for those projects which was good. Even if a project did not seem interesting at first, later on, it turned out that it involves a lot of other interesting aspects.

Kevin Kommer

The flexibility and the support from the coaches was great. One of the highlights is that you work with people from different study backgrounds. That makes it interesting, to learn different perspectives but also provide some perspectives of my field of study. My highlight was that I could put my study background into the projects and help the clients. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives and ways of thinking. In the beginning, it can be an issue because some views can be different but that is also interesting. It also prepares for future work environments.

Lukáš Kollár

During my semester at the HZ Garage, I had the chance to work on two real-life projects, which provided me with great experience for the future. Working interdisciplinary helped me broaden my perspective on how others view various situations. I could also enhance my skills in creativity and collaboration with stakeholders. What made this time even more special was the supportive community we could build at the Garage. I'm thankful to everyone who contributed to this experience.

Mandy Verswijveren

I enjoyed the social committee activities that were being organized for all the students at the Garage. That also helped with making connections with the other students. My highlight was the City Marketing Vlissingen project. Just because you see that clients really appreciate what you do.

Marjoleijn Felius

Coach & Design Thinking Expert

Marjoleijn is an Educational Developer and Lecturer at the Garage. She is known for providing and coaching students with tools to navigate and solve real-world challenges, using her specialties in system thinking, human-centered design, and creativity. As she delved deeper into Human-centered design, she realized that true innovation required more of a system approach connecting people, processes, and the world around. This approach led her to share her knowledge with the students at The Garage. As an individual, Marjoleijn thrives in spaces where creativity meets complexity by transforming ideas into cohesive, actionable solutions. In a world that often resists change, Marjoleijn is the facilitator who makes transformation possible.

Nimo Driessen

I was very glad with the seriousness of the workplace but also with the community feeling. At the start, I was unsure and didn’t know anyone so I took my seat and started doing my work. But I noticed that the place is very well insinuated against noise pollution. That is what I enjoy and expect of a good workspace. Before, I was inexperienced in approaching people or asking for help from others. During the minor, I learned to work with others, learn from each other, ask for feedback, etc. I worried that I would screw up during a project, but during the minor, I worked off those worries. I also needed to step up and get out of my comfort zone and take the initiative and contact people, because otherwise, the project would not keep on going.

Querine Vogel

I truly loved my time at the Garage and Impact Lab. From day one, I felt welcomed and inspired by the open, creative, and forward-thinking atmosphere. Being part of this team gave me the chance to grow both personally and professionally.

Throughout my internship, I supported daily activities and played an active role in organizing the Changemaker Award and the official opening of the Impact Lab. It was exciting to be involved in such a meaningful event and to contribute behind the scenes—from planning and promotion to the logistics on the day itself.

The guidance and collaboration with the team helped me build more confidence, take initiative, and develop key skills like organization, communication, and problem-solving. I'm grateful for ...

Ronald Evers

I was used to working alone and now I learned how to better function in a group. To be able to respond to problems quickly and talk about them more openly with others. I like to talk about things that are going well and it was harder to talk about things that I found difficult and were not going well. In a group, it is important to talk and listen to others so that you can help each other.

Sterre Wattel

Communicating with stakeholders, for example, is something that really comes back in the professional career that I want to do. So that is something that is useful for the future. Other things were collaborating and taking the initiative. For example, in the Green Beach project, at one point there was not a lot of progress. I recognized it and decided to take the initiative so we could continue because it doesn’t happen on it’s own.

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