Calligarich: “Essential for prototyping, validating results, and improving the design of every machine”

As scheduled, work has begun at 17 Via degli Abeti in Gorgonzola (Milan) on the installation of the clean room—an environment with controlled contamination that will prove highly advantageous for customers and partners of Electron Mec and Visiorobotics. Luigi Calligarich himself explains its value:

“On the one hand, it will be possible to see and experience firsthand the quality and features of our machines: a significant added value compared to traditional paper-based presentations. But the clean room means much more than this: it will in fact make it possible to create prototypes. This is a unique opportunity for customers and partners who wish to verify the actual feasibility of devices they have designed. Field experimentation will allow them to evaluate the finished product, but also to make the necessary adjustments to the project so that it is perfected. Obviously, they will be able to rely on the full availability of our technicians for any need.”

So it will be possible not only to test a machine, but to experiment with entire processes?

“Within the limits of the available space, several machines will be hosted and therefore—even if not the entire production cycle—it will certainly be possible to subject numerous processes to prototyping, each time evaluating specifications and results, and adapting the design accordingly and as needed. As already mentioned, our most qualified personnel will also be able to interact with customers on site, supporting and advising them in order to achieve the results that matter most to them.”

So, improvement interventions that would prepare everything for subsequent and realistic production runs…

“Exactly. The protected and dust-free environment of the clean room guarantees the same performance levels experienced during the production phase, thus simulating the real and tangible mass manufacturing of devices.”

How has this new development been received by your customers?

“Both the more structured brands and smaller partners immediately expressed interest in the project. Just think, for example, of universities or research centers: by adding a clean room to our usual laboratories, we will offer those who are not equipped with production lines the opportunity to test hypotheses, projects, and solutions. We will allow them to gain a clear understanding of the limits or potential of a physical product. Within the area we will also install various pieces of equipment specific to additive technologies. For spring, for example, the implementation of a machine capable of creating advanced connections using this type of technology is already planned. In this way, it will be possible both to experiment with established technologies and to explore the potential of new paths.”

Overseeing the work on the new clean room is Visiorobotics’ new and enthusiastic addition: Dr. Sara Pascale.

“I was trained as a chemist, but for a long time I worked in technology transfer at the consorzio ASI (link esterno a: https://www.asi.it/) in Rome. There, acting as a bridge between ideas and their subsequent technological implementation,” Pascale explained, “I discovered my passion for this extremely interesting field. I mainly worked on the development of aptasensors—innovative biosensors based on artificial DNA—when, after moving to Tuscany, I came into contact with the fascinating world of photonics. Over the following seven years, I worked in the frontend of silicon photonic device fabrication. It was then,” she recalled, “that I first became familiar with and learned to appreciate the work of Visiorobotics.”

What exactly did you do in the field of photonics?

“I worked, for a British company collaborating with Sant’Anna (link esterno a https://www.santannapisa.it/it/meritare-accesso-e-gratuita-del-percorso-di-studi ) in Pisa, on the development of graphene modulators as well as on consolidating the use of lithium niobate: thanks to its unique properties, it represents a new and extremely interesting frontier of photonics. For some time, however, I had been nurturing the idea of moving into packaging and backend activities…”

Another idea, then, now realized at Visiorobotics

“That’s right. Thanks to previous contacts with the company, I had the opportunity to embark on this new adventure. I have been working at the company for less than a month, but I already feel like part of a family: size, goals, skills, but also enthusiasm and passion make it a wonderful place to work.”

Where, alongside packaging, you will closely follow the introduction of the clean room…

“It is certainly a major added value for the company, but also for all its partners. The work is progressing well and, to date, the perimeter has been defined, the various areas identified, and the walls prepared. We are now proceeding with the application of specific panels and resins for the ceiling and the floor. A clean room is a space designed to minimize the introduction, generation, and retention of particles, ensuring ultra-clean air through filtration and forced recirculation. Our clean room, in particular, will be classified as ‘ISO 6’: an environment capable of remaining isolated from dust, even at microscopic levels.”

What will be the next steps?

“We will proceed with the installation of the filtering and ventilation systems. An electrical system suitable for the requirements will be set up, and pneumatic control and machine-handling systems will be integrated. In the clean room, parameters such as temperature and humidity are constantly monitored and, in some cases, controlled through scheduled monitoring.”

Certainly an important responsibility…

“But also something very stimulating. I wanted to dedicate myself to the creation and operational implementation of prototypes, and the clean room represents this and much more. Once completed, I will help equip it with machines and accessories so that, as I hope, it will become a concrete added value for the future.”