Academic FabLabs for industry 4.0: Experience at University of Naples Federico II

From FabLabs new and important business opportunities can emerge in the world of Adaptive Manufacturing and the Internet of Things (IoT), by leveraging the services provided by large information technology (IT) companies, such as cloud computing. FabLabs aim to foster the creation of small start-ups, able to survive in a global market with rising fierce competition. Therefore, governance action is needed to facilitate this migration to the market through regulatory measures (economic support for youth start-ups, business accelerators, co-working spaces, incubators, and so on). What is most important, and scarcely realized, is the specific training of young IT engineers intended to grow into makers. The experience gained at the University of Naples Federico II in Naples, Italy in this area is described in this paper. A new model of teaching for students pursuing the Master of Science Degrees in Electrical and Information Engineering was proposed, aimed at reproducing the aspects, the problems, and the interactions unique to small IT business, and later giving rise to a FabLAB.