The new manufacturing technique has been under development for two years and is still in a research facility, hidden among the grubby buildings of Pirelli's sprawling Bicocca plant on the outskirts of Milan.

ECONOMIST: Re-inventing the wheel

Her not-so-hidden passion for all things work, office, career, business casual, and professional development is online for all to see at her blog, The New Professional.

FORBES: Are You Financially Ready to Freelance?

The circle has been hidden from view for nearly 50 years by an apartment building demolished last year to make way for the new development.

ECONOMIST: America��s roots