A number of Italian makers along with the Italian Institute for Technology were showcased within the Italian Trade Agency’s country Pavilion at the 13th edition of Maker Faire Bay Area, which took place at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, California from on May 18 to 20, 2018. The makers covered a wide gamut of offerings ranging from robots to wearables, from food technologies to the Internet of Things and to 3-D printing. Their intent was to forge new partnerships and promote their products and services with participants and visitors.
 “We were very excited to be part of Maker Faire Bay Area 2018, an initiative truly inspired by out of the box thinking. Our esteemed makers reflected in their innovative products and services those changes taking place in the world of manufacturing today”,  said Marco Saladini, Trade Commissioner of the Italian Trade Agency’s Chicago Office. “The basic paradigm is moving to a new approach, where three traditionally distinct phases collapse into one, combining design, production and sale all on site of the actual retail point. Italian makers are at the forefront of this process and we strongly believe that international exposure will help them to grow and prosper. We”, concludes Saladini, “are definitely aware of the historical significance of this new avant-garde and of its business potential, therefore we will continue to support its efforts to establish new ties with US counterparts.”
Maker Faire Bay Area is comprised of five principal areas, emphasizing electronics, 3-D printing and advanced manufacturing, robotics, education and scientific research. The 2018 edition saw over 90,000 visitors and over 1,200 maker entries. Offices in Rome and Chicago coordinated the Italian Trade Agency’s participation at the US Faire of eight Italian Makers along with the organizers of the Maker Faire Rome, Innova Camera. One of the exhibitors, the Italian Institute of Technology, demonstrated its robot, called R1 - Your Personal Humanoid, to visitors at the Pavilion.
In 2017, the Agency took part at the World Maker Faire in New York where it organized and featured 15 leading Italian makers within the official Country Pavilion. The area was awarded “Best Pavilion” by the editors of Make: magazine. Following the event in New York, the Agency’s Chicago Office organized the official US delegation to Maker Faire Rome 2017. Many of the 16 US delegates conducted presentations to Faire attendees in addition to directly exhibiting at the event, one of the biggest of its kind in Europe. The 2018 edition of Maker Faire Rome takes place October 12-14, 2018.
To learn more about the Italian Trade Agency’s contingent at Maker Faire Bay Area , visit www.makersitalia.com or contact machinesitalia [at] ice.it ?subject=Machines%20Italia%20E-newsletter">machinesitalia [at] ice.it