The mission of the company is to develop and commercialize new materials and technologies for industry transfer to create new products with the aim to improve quality of life, work and environment. The company acts as a go-between among many industrial branches and research fields, in particoular: nanotubes, fibers, fabrics, composite textile structures, extreme sport equipments and safe equipments, new performing materials and technologies for furnishing / automotive / nautical / medical areas.
Profile
Grado Zero Espace Ltd is an SME specialized in transferring technological material/know-how. We can realize special products prototypes and limited edition on commision, usually in use in fields where the performance is a key factor from the research sphere to the industry domain: the space industry or the personal and environmental protection systems or other technical sectors of daily use, such as the building and medical industry - to name a few. In addition, GZE suggests new, innovative assembling processes to enhance the performances of the materials. In short, the company acts as ago - between among many industrial branches and research fields - such as universities, test labs, the European Space Agency Ttp, single researchers and inventors - where different know-how coexist and where new solutions for the employment of materials and applied technologies are defined. Consequently, planning services, consulting, prototyping, engineering, project and process definitions are all activities supplied by our company. It is a flexible and dynamic organizational structure able to provide its clients with product prototypes destined to markets of high technological content and to supporting these products with adequate communication plans to hit the appointed targets. Grado Zero Espace is mentioned in "Adi Index" design publication.
Winners of Vespucci Award 2008
The close cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency) has produced many research projects time: among all of them we are proud to mention the creation of hyper-technological overalls for the fashion house Hugo Boss, destined to the mechanics of the F1 McLaren racing team.
Through the Technology Transfer Programme of ESA, Grado Zero Espace has transferred the shape memory materials technology in traditional sectors, like the textile one.
In this framework, Grado Zero Espace has used the shape memory alloy named "NiTinol" to obtain the first orthogonally weaved fabric in the world, awarded by TIME as "Best Invention" of 2001. The fabric has been called Oricalco, used for manufacturing, at industrial level, the first shape memory and self ironing shirt.
The Oricalco fabric could be also applied for making venous stents and for other specialized applications.
A replica of Shape Memory Shirt in Oricalco Fabric is at the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago:
http://www.msichicago.org/...
Within the TTP framework it
has developed a special suits for children affected by Xeroderma
Pigmentosum.
This rare, genetical disease does not permit the skin to be exposed to
the UV ray of the sun. The suit is able to protect the body, at the
same time allowing the normal functions and activities to take place,
otherwise impossible.
One peculiarity is the capacity of re-elaborating traditional materials or materials
easily found in
nature and turn them into products of highest degree of technology.
An example of this capacity is the making of a fabric derived from the
spider’s web, a project developed in cooperation with the
California University that has allowed the creation of a textile quite
similar to the silk, but much more elastic and lighter and up to three
times more resistant than Kevlar.
In the races sector, in cooperation with Spidi, has been realized a special overall suit for the motorcycling champion Sete Gibernau in occasion of his GP in Qatar. Inside the suit, a cooling system allows the pilot to maintain a normal body temperature even in external conditions of high heat. Racing sector is one of the most important areas where GZE can applay its philosophy.
All patents, technologies, products, specialized consulting and research activities are commercialized under these brands:
Grado Zero Espace ™, GZE ™
During the 6FP and 7FP, Grado Zero Espace participated to several EU project providing competence in materials study, choice and integration, design, textile construction, testing, dissemination activities, prototyping as RTD performer and trying, with its practical approach, to obtain the most functional product for the suggested application.
The EC funded ALTEX project (Automated Laser welding for TEXtiles) is primarily designed to develop the fabric materials, equipment and procedures required to allow use of laser welding of seams in textiles.
Principle objective of the AVALON project is the cross-sectoral development of novel hybrid textile structures integrating multifunctional Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) and the related processing techniques as well as design, simulation and organisational methodologies.
DEPHOTEX is a European collaborative research project of 4,2 million €, co-funded by the European Commission (FP7, NMP Theme - Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials & new production technologies). Dephotex will be carrying out research on Photovoltaic Textiles based on novel Fibres during 3 years from November 2008 to October 2011.
DIGITEX will attempt to insert into the world market a technology breakthrough based on a novel ECO-friendly flexible digital process aiming at micro-disposing on demand small quantities of multi-functional fluids over textile substrates by mean of a multi-nozzle jetting heads technology in a continuous process at atmospheric conditions and room temperature in order to replace the wet and high temperature conventional process.
Leapfrog is aiming at a technology breakthrough in the clothing industry. It will attempt to develop and implement new ways of optimal fabric preparation for clothing production, automated garment manufacture, virtual garment prototyping, supply chain integration and mass customisation.
The Loose&tight project, funded by the EC under the Co-Operative Research Programme aims at developing a novel concept of elastic graduated compression hosiery based on the exploitation of the superelasticity of Nickel-Titanium based alloys integrated as thin wires in a properly designed textile structure.
The main objective of the NEPHH Project is to identify and rate important forms of Nanotechnology related environmental pollution and health hazards that could result from activities involved in the life cycle of Silicon-based polymer nanocomposites currently used in a variety of industrial sectors and also to suggest means that might reduce or eliminate these impacts.
PROSYS-Laser is dedicated to developing highly innovative "passive" and "active" laser protective clothing for use with hand-held laser processing devices (HLD) and curtains for use with automated laser machines, which are not available on the market today.
The main objective of Safe@Sea is to develop a new generation of advanced personal protective clothing for the fishing industry that will lead to a significant increase in safety without reducing work performance. Combining integration of new materials and ICT solutions it will be possible to satisfy end-user requirements for multi-functionality, ergonomic design and comfort in order to ensure user acceptance.
The Safe and Cool project objective is to develop a thermal and moisture management layer based on a 3D warp-knitted fabric coated with a water absorbing polymer to be easily and cost effectively integrated in current protective clothing manufacturing and maintenance practices.
Goal of the SmartNets project is to establish and to prove the holistic industrial model 'Smart Networks' for cross-sectoral SME collaboration both in development and production of knowledge-intensive products and services: specific and advanced methods and tools will be developed within the Project with continuous tests and exchange of informations with three industrial research groups.
T-Pot aims to reinforce research potentials of Faculty of Textile Technology (TTF) in order to strengthen university sector to become one of the components of national innovation. The goals are to develop the capacity for breakthrough research leading to innovative textile and textile related products contributing in this way to local industry.
WearIT@work project will develop a set of new solutions to support the workers of the future. These solutions are based on wearable computing technology and their effectiveness and applicability will be tested on four different pilot studies in the fields of Healthcare, Emergency Rescue, Aircraft Maintenance and Production Management and Training.
It is the principal facility and it includes the Research center, analysis laboratories, design sector and administrative department.
Montelupo Fiorentino (Firenze)
Via nove n. 2/A Z.I. Fibbiana
Telefono +39 0571 80368
Fax +39 0571 944722
Email contact@gzespace.com
Mission & Profile
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