Fabio Massimo Frattale Mascioli: such a long name for a tall person and with a deep enchanting gaze.
This is what life gave Fabio Massimo Frattale Mascioli, professor at University of Rome, Sapienza, but also the founder of a research team that 10 years ago was a world pioneer in the field of electric mobility.
With Fabio we had imagined and founded the research center POMOS (Center of sustainable mobility of Lazio Region), a center that should have become the reference point for small producers of electric vehicles. We were forerunners, and few could understand what we were seeking.
Immediately many small businesses start to gravitate around the headquarter / workshop in Cisterna, each offering to take part in the transformation of the world and the shift from smelly "oil" car to odourless (but not scented) electric cars. A riot of emotions: the best brains and the many daring entrepreneurs started to gravitate around POMOS.
In fact (and now everybody understand it), all automakers had planned and realized electric cars but they pretended not to pay attention and advertised to maintain competitiveness of internal combustion cars. In the basements of each research center there were plans for the future, but marketing departments did not want to talk about this. Otherwise it would not be explained how in a short time - few months - all the major brands of cars put out glittering electric cars. As researchers, we are sure that the stork does not bring cars!
Fabio Massimo and his friend Leone Martellucci founded "POMOS sports competition" and participate with their prototypes in the competition among university students worldwide. At the beginning, Leone didn’t believe just in "full electric" but the perseverance of Fabio convinced him and today the POMOS team still competes in the worldwide competition.
It should have been a success story of a pioneer whose vision has been recognized and who makes many small businesses competitive. But something went wrong. In the Region, successive counselors lost interest and some of them were unable to see not just beyond tomorrow, but "beyond ten minutes" and funds dried up. Fabio had to pay more attention to the many forms of bureaucracy than to research and consequently some Italian companies stop dreaming.
The real gem came with the participation in a tender of 2007 called "Industria 2015" from the Ministry of Economic Development. The original idea was to bet on some business ideas that could revitalize entire industries. Fabio Massimo set up a group of companies, we held meetings to amalgamate the group and create a new sports car together. A car that would not shame the Tesla, a car that recalls the days when Enzo Ferrari founded his team. The two main protagonists are Picchio from Teramo, a specialist in small series sports cars, and Rainbow SGW that produces the sophisticated 3-D cartoon Winx.
I saw the result in a preview: a dream!
Yet, by the time that the ministry awarded funds to advance the project, many businesses had closed and others have lost interest. But the idea and the results are still valid and are present and can be achieved thanks to the perseverance of those who "never give up". Italy may no longer be the pioneer it was in the industrial world but there are some who still have the spirits as those who had made our country of Italy famous in the world.
Fabio has grown a beard, lost some weight and walks more slowly but behind his words, his enchanting eyes emit light of one who knows that he will do something unique. Life is a long game and must be played to the end!
If you want to participate in the dream of a new Italian business in the creation of an electric sports car, go to POMOS in Cisterna di Latina or contact Fabio Massimo Frattale Mascioli at Sapienza university: you can join the dream.
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