All the Itwiinners of 2015.
Born in Viareggio (1969), PhD in Chemistry (1998-1999), she is fully employed as reseracher and teacher at the University Ca' Foscari of Venice. Always she has dealt with fine chemicals and industrial sustainability. The project that she has developed over the recent years was born from the intuition of applying a pharmaceutical technology to a mass-consumption manufacturing sector. The great potential of the research carried out and its charm derive from the great versatility of the cross-linking compounds developed, that are capable of producing innovative, non-toxic and biocompatible materials. Currently the know-how for the economically sustainable production of totally non-toxic leather, self-preservative cellulose, etc., is available. From 2014 she is a founding member of the academic spin-off, entered in the start-ups register, dedicated to developing new technologies for the production of innovative materials. “Crossing” holds national and international business co-operations.
The jury decided to give this award to Valentina Beghetto because she is a researcher who, thanks to his curiosity and scientific expertise, has managed to bring in a spin-off innovative researches on materials with multiple industrial applications.
The idea of Opossum was born in 2012, when Ilaria Berio had to seek a solution to an everyday problem: to accompany her daughter by bike to kindergarten protecting her from the inclement winter weather. The result is an accessory for bicycle rear seats for children aged 9 to 36 months, which protects them from cold and bad weather. Practical and fast, it is tied to the seat and you don’t need to unmount and remount it at each use. Recognizing a real need for other cyclist parents, and willing to encourage the sustainable mobility of families, Ilaria decided to kick off the design, prototyping, testing and patenting (in Italy and abroad) of the accessory. She found Ferrino S.p.A. as a partner of excellence and, with the financial support of ‘Torino Social Innovation’ European program, she started the production and marketing phases. Opossum has received the special mention " Environment-friendly Innovation Award" and the CosmoBike Tech Award 2015 as "Best Product for children".
The jury decided to give this award to Ilaria Berio because his innovation is not just an idea, but comes from a real experience important for the everyday life. From handmade artifact to a product mature for the market: the result is Opossum.
ANIMAdVERTE is a Latin word meaning "turn thy soul." In the trademark name it is enclosed all the passion for design from which Laura’s project comes to life. After receiving the degree in Fashion Design at the Politecnico of Milan and a career path across fashion and communication, she approached to the field of leather, i.e. an ancient, natural material offering multiple design possibilities. Thanks to the multidisciplinary vision acquired over the years, a line of bags was born with unusual geometric shapes that make them convertible and foldable into flat packaging sets, convenient for storing and perfect for travelling. Unlined and essential, with sharp cuts and seams in the foreground, the bags are designed to enhance the high-quality vegetable tanned leather from Tuscany.
The Jury decided to give this award to Laura Tolfo for her ability to create an innovative product in such a traditional sector as Italian leather, famous worldwide. In conferring the Prize, it is emphasized the balanced distribution of quality of the material used, functionality and product design, which represent the winning formula of Italian fashion.
She is curious, determined and empathetic. Born in Milan in 1989, she has grown full of art, which has always been her family’s passion and work. She wanted to conjugate a creative vocation with technical and theoretical skills to be able to strategically apply the creative thinking. One out of her objectives is the development of projects able to meet real needs as well as to have a positive impact on the development of society. His project, “Just Knock” (www.justknock.it), allows to find job opportunities by sending ideas instead of CVs. The platform works like this: young people enroll for free, upload and send ideas and projects of any kind directly to member companies, all in a quick and protected way. In fact, the system guarantees to users the automatic protection of intellectual property of the uploaded ideas. Companies that join the network have then the opportunity to receive fresh ideas on their product, so that they can ‘read’ more easily the changes in their target market and at the same time can more effectively identify the talents on which to invest. Creating a start-up is like to let your own emotions ride a roller coaster: the initial impulse is not enough, as a great inner urge is also needed to make you believe in it every day and work with perseverance.
The Jury decided to give this award to Marianna Poletti for having caught a market need on both the demand and the supply side, interpreting the needs of her coetaneous (and not only them) as well as those of companies by means of a scalable product.
Federica Longo and Laura De Rocco are proof of the fact that the union of two women entrepreneurs generates an unstoppable energy capable to innovate a whole system and to create strategic alliances for the sustainable development of an industrial sector. Together, with creativity and determination, they have formed the Formedil Hub business network and coordinated the establishment of Formedil Lab as a cluster of the two living labs edillearning and INRL. Today Formedil Lab represents in Europe an open ecosystem specialized in training and innovation for the Construction sector and officially recognized by the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).
Federica Longo is Computer Engineer, PhD in Information Engineering, Partner and Project Manager of Project Alba, Formedil Lab living lab Manager, and President of Formedil Hub.
Laura De Rocco is Management Engineer, Partner and Project Manager of Terin Consortium, Living Lab Manager of Formedil Lab, and Vice President of Formedil Hub.
The Jury decided to give this award to Federica and Laura because they gave rise to an innovative "network contract" in the consulting industry. Initially born from a training activity targeted to entrepreneurs and operators of the Construction sector – a traditional sector with strong male prevalence -, their advice was then extended to multiple innovation services for the construction industry. Their goal is to create - through Formedil Lab - the Italian Construction center of excellence, open to internationalization. They are on the right track.
She is Researcher in General & Experimental Psychology at the University of Salento, and associated with CNR NANO. She has created a technology-based Psychophysiology laboratory. She’s the author of two European patents: the first one, of which she is single inventor, is about a cortical stimulation tool for neuronal synchronization; the second one, of which she is co-author with CNR IMM , is about the assessment of the potential related events in response to olfactory stimulation. She is scientific coordinator of the “Easy Perception Lab” project (Living Lab – Apulia Region, IT), where she has designed inter-museum interactions, through the creation of a model based on ICTs, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and neuroesthetics. She has investigated, within the PON “Edoc@Work” National Operation Programme, AR and VR interactions in blended reality, through electrophysiological analysis. She is also working on the Person project (Technological Clusters – Apulia Region, IT) within the Nabidit network of laboratories, with the conception and construction of Aptico actuator.
The Jury decided to give this award to Sara Invitto for her contribution to the development of applications of psycho-physiological researches based on new technologies in the therapeutic and diagnostic field.
Cristina Bordignon is an agricultural entrepreneur who, with passion and perseverance, succeeded in 2004 to realize the great dream of giving life to a reality that could combine at best hospitality and wellbeing in a nature-surrounded setting, within a rural environment which reflects her taste, her way of being and her passions: the countryside, natural medicine, and wine. With the 2009 vintage winemaking introduced an unusual step: washing and sanitizing of grapes before pressing. A practice on which investment decisions have been taken by endowing of a special equipment called "Grape Cleaning Unit, CLU". The principle is simple: hand-harvested grapes are first sanitized and then pressed. The aim of this choice is the search for a healthy and natural product to meet the expectations of consumers who are increasingly attentive and sensitive to health aspects.
The Jury decided to give this award to Cristina Bordignon for her ability to introduce an important innovation in such a century-old traditional industry as the winemaking process, which characterizes the Lombard agricultural production of excellence. In the award, the evaluation committee emphasizes the original combination of safeguarding consumer health and preserving product quality.
She is CEO of Green Mama Srl, a company established in February 2014 with the aim to spread a new culture of wellness: a 100% made in Italy, innovative, sustainable, international and, at the same time, competitive business activity. The passion for gastronomy and oenology, associated with the conviction of the need to promote an Italian green economy, allowed Silvia Maltoni to create a network of risto-shops with the brand Verdi's in the agri-food world to combine Innovation, Nature and Sustainability. Customer care, education on healthy nutrition, the rediscovery of traditional flavors and trades, sustainability and ethics are in fact the cornerstone of business processes and Green Mama’s philosophy. It is an innovative business model whose strengths are the competitive prices, a high quality product, an accurate and technology-based service, the presence of outlets at strategic points of the city. Also important is the role of technology, because Green Mama’s strength is its web platform, and being the first innovative start-up in the agri-food sector.
The Jury decided to give this award to Silvia Maltoni for her innovative entrepreneurial initiative set up with the risto-shop network which, downstream of a thorough selection of high quality Lombard local eno-gastronomic products, offers the possibility to follow - even out of home - a proper, balanced, respectful of individual needs diet. All in a context in every detail respectful of environmental sustainability and principles of ethics and health. Careful use of the best technological opportunities and openness to an international dimension are not lacking.
She is an architect, graduated with honors in 2003 at the Politecnico of Milan, and member of the Order of Architects of the Province of Milan. She is an experienced professional in various fields of architectural design (residential, commercial, hospitality, industrial and sports). As to design and graphics, by participating in competitions, she has received several awards over the years e.g. in terms of prototype building and publication of catalogs and books. Diled: luminous-arc bollard for urban decoration is her invention patented in April 2015. The novelty of the invention is the visibility in any weather conditions, day and night, in order to significantly improve the safety of pedestrian areas. The components are stainless / painted steel, impact-resistant PC tubulars, with fixed light or alternating colors LED interior lighting. It is possible to customize the product by printing texts and advertising logos on the PC tubular.
The Jury decided to give this award to Anna Fumagalli for having conceived and patented a product that combines safety and design, enhancing the environment with a choice of quality materials.
