Context
Cascina (Pisa) has hosted since 1998 the Polo Tecnologico di Navacchio, one of Italy’s main science parks: over 70 high-tech companies, universities and research centres, a few kilometres from Pisa airport and right outside Navacchio railway station. It is in this context that in 2016 the Fab Lab Toscana — Cascina opens its doors.
Opening and initiator
The Fab Lab is founded on the initiative of Fiore Basile (originally from Messina), who runs it as lab manager and drives its integration into the global Fab Lab network coordinated by the MIT Fab Foundation. Basile is also among the founders of the Fab Lab Toscana network, aiming to extend the regional presence with further nodes — notably Fab Lab Contea (Florence) and Santa Chiara Fab Lab (Siena).
The location in the Navacchio technology park quickly makes it one of the largest Fab Labs in Italy by space, equipment and programmed activities.
Equipment
According to the official Fab Foundation registry (fablabs.io), Fab Lab Cascina’s equipment includes the MIT model’s standard machines:
- 3D printing — FDM and SLA resin printers
- Laser cutter for cutting and engraving wood, acrylic, paper, cardboard, fabrics
- Precision CNC mill for rigid materials
- Milling machine for PCB production (circuit production)
- Vinyl cutter for stickers, masks, flexible PCBs
- Electronics workstations with SMD soldering, measurement instruments, programmers
This set allows covering the entire prototype cycle: from CAD to PCB, from electronics to 3D-printed enclosures, from assembly to testing.
Activities and programme
Fab Lab Cascina regularly hosts:
- Educational workshops for primary, secondary schools and universities
- Courses on Arduino, 3D printing, laser cutting, parametric design (FreeCAD, OpenSCAD)
- Participation in the Fab Academy programme (MIT CBA) with students heading toward the Fab Diploma
- Public maker culture events and participation in Maker Faire Rome
- Projects with companies from the Polo and with Tuscan SMEs — rapid prototyping, product development
- Initiatives with the non-profit sector — disability, inclusion, social innovation projects
- Free courses in collaboration with Giovanisì (Tuscany regional programme) for digital training
Fab Lab Toscana as a network
Fab Lab Cascina is not an isolated unit: it is designed as a node in a regional network aiming at distributed digital fabrication across Tuscany. The Fab Lab Toscana network includes:
- Cascina (Polo Tecnologico Navacchio) — main node
- Contea (Florence) — countryside venue with strong design orientation
- Siena (Santa Chiara Fab Lab) — linked to the Santa Chiara Lab, University of Siena
The reticular structure allows projects to move between labs, share specialised machines and join common programmes.
noze’s role
noze has been at the Polo Tecnologico di Navacchio since 2002 and is among Fab Lab Cascina’s sponsors. The concrete contribution takes shape on several fronts:
- Equipment — hardware made available to the laboratory for electronics, measurement and prototyping stations
- Software — licences, toolchains and support on the open source development environment adopted by the Fab Lab
- Space allocation — rooms within the Polo made available for Fab Lab activities, workshops and events
Beyond sponsorship, the physical proximity within the Polo and the overlap of maker/developer communities translate into cross-participation in events, shared research projects and natural use of the Fab Lab when noze needs fast physical prototyping (3D-printed enclosures for IoT demos, laser-engraved panels, PCB milling for prototypes).
What is expected
Fab Lab Cascina is conceived as a long-term platform for territorial innovation: digital training for Tuscan students and professionals, prototyping for SMEs, a workbench for applied research projects, a bridge between Pisan academic research (University of Pisa, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Scuola Normale, CNR) and local industry. An initiative that builds on Navacchio’s tech vocation and contributes to the maturation of the Italian maker movement.
References: Fab Lab Toscana — Cascina (2016, Polo Tecnologico di Navacchio). Founder and lab manager Fiore Basile. Fab Lab Toscana network (Cascina, Contea Florence, Siena). Fab Foundation (MIT CBA). fablabs.io registry. Activities with Giovanisì (Tuscany region), Polo Tecnologico Navacchio, Maker Faire Rome. noze among the sponsors (equipment, software, spaces).