Maker Faire Rome 2026 opens with 400-plus stands and an Innovators Under 35 call

Scale and programme

The fourteenth Maker Faire Rome opened on 23 October at the Gazometro Ostiense and runs until 25 October. The Rome Chamber of Commerce organises the event through its special agency Innova Camera. More than 400 stands fill the industrial area, and the projects are grouped into three thematic areas. The 145 projects on show come from 26 secondary schools and 27 universities and research centres. Ten startups linked to Unindustria also exhibit, working on fields from human resources and circular economy to environmental monitoring with artificial intelligence.

Schools, robots and music

Schools are a visible presence this year. Bee-watch, a non-invasive system that tracks bee activity inside hives, comes from the Iis Carafa-Giustiniani school in Cerreto Sannita (Benevento). The Liceo Einstein in Molfetta (Bari) built Iris, a humanoid robot meant to support social interaction for people with autism spectrum disorders. M.a.i.a., a virtual assistant for teachers that answers pupils' questions in an empathetic and controlled way, was developed by Officine robotiche with children from the Fratelli Cervi primary school in Rome. The Italian Institute of Technology (Iit) presents Rosaia, a robot with four 75-centimetre arms designed to service satellites that have gone out of control or to collect and deflect space debris.

On 23 October students gathered for a concert by the One Love Machine Band, whose members are robots built from scrap car and motorbike parts by the German artist Kolja Kugler. Kugler began the project in the 1990s with other artists, using the remains of old post-Cold War military vehicles. He explained his approach at the stage:

After all, I am more an artist than an engineer, and I want to promote love.

Lorenzo Tagliavanti, president of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, whose organisation has run the event for 15 years, framed the fair as a place for learning about technology:

To avoid being afraid of it, we have to learn to know it.

Innovators Under 35 Europe

Mit Technology Review Italia presented the new edition of Innovators Under 35 Europe at the fair, and the award ceremony will take place in Italy for the first time. The prize has counted among its past participants figures such as Larry Page, Linus Torvalds, Mark Zuckerberg, Helen Greiner and Kostya Novoselov, before they became widely known. Daniele Di Fausto, CEO and chairman of Mit Technology Review Italia, said:

With Innovators Under 35 Europe, we want to build a European community of innovators able to identify and bring out the talents who will build the future of our society.

Applications open on 23 October 2026 and close on 15 May 2027. Candidates are assessed in nine impact areas, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate technologies and cybersecurity, and 35 winners will be selected. Claudio Granata, president of ROAD, said the prize confirms the role innovation districts play in supporting business and technology. The partnership includes eFM, a company that digitalises living and working spaces, with the support of ROAD and Eni.

Eni and the Agip centenary

Eni is main partner of the fair for the 13th consecutive year and marks 100 years since Agip was founded on 3 April 1926. Its "Pioneers to Makers" space runs from 23 to 25 October, with installations, games, projections and virtual reality experiences that trace a century of energy research. Next to it, the Eni2050 Lab shows the company's research and development technologies. The venue is a former gas works, the Officina San Paolo, which produced and stored gas for city lighting in the early 1900s. Eni owns the area, which covers more than 12 hectares and hosts ROAD, including Joule, Eni's business school, and the ZERO accelerator of the Fondo Nazionale Innovazione.