Houston library 3d printer


Maker Central | Harris County Public Library

STEM PJ Story Time #15: Dinosaur Woods by George McClements 

Read by Anne-Elisabeth Baker, of Precious Plastic UH. Anne-Elisabeth shows us how to recycle plastic scraps!

STEM PJ Story Time #14: Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery

Read by Dr. Bandana Chawla, of Lifestyle Docs Clinic. Dr. Chawla helps us learn more about nutrition and healthy eating.

STEM PJ Story Time #13: I Am Peace by Susan Verde

Read by Dr. Munish Chawla, of Peaceful Planet Foundation. Dr. Chawla helps us learn more about mindfulness.

STEM PJ Story Time #12: Bloom Boom! By April Pulley Sayre

Read by Natalie Rodgers, of Houston Center for Photography. Natalie shares a look inside HCP and photography inspiration.

STEM PJ Story Time #11: I Don’t Draw, I Color! by Adam Lehrhaupt

Ready by Sneha Bhavsar, who shares her experience of being a professional artist with us!

STEM PJ Story Time #10: Father’s Chinese Opera by Rich Lo

Read by Claire Williamson, Director of Education & Community Engagement at Society for the Performing Arts.

STEM PJ Story Time #9: Chicken In Space by Adam Lehrhaupt

Read by Jennifer Thompson, electrical engineer at Boeing. Jennifer and her team in Houston support the International Space Station. 

STEM PJ Story Time #8: Love By Sophia, written by Jim Averbeck

Read by Elizabeth Roath Garcia, Manager of Studio and Gallery Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

STEM PJ Story Time #7: Lights! Camera! Alice!: The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker by Mara Rockliff

Read by two-time regional Emmy winner Jerod Couch. Jerod and his work have been featured in ESPN, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and more. Visit his website at CreativeCouch.

STEM PJ Story Time #6: Invent-A-Pet by Vicki Fang

Read by Israel Garza of HCC’s IDEAStudio on the West Houston Institute campus

STEM PJ Story Time #5: Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Read by Bryan, a robotics engineer for NASA space projects as well as vice president for Creatorspace which is a non-profit in Clear Lake. His favorite thing to do is share the joys of hands-on STEAM with the community.

STEM PJ Story Time #5: Rosa Pionera, Ingeniera por Andrea Beaty

Este cuento lo lee Estefannie - una ingeniera de software, diseñadora, inventora, oradora pública, así como escritora, productora y estrella del canal de YouTube "Estefannie Explains It All."

STEM PJ Story Time #4: Boxitects by Kim Smith

Read by Bernard Li, an engineering student at the University of Houston, lead technician at the M. D. Anderson Library, and founder of University Drone Pilots.

STEM PJ Story Time #3: What do you do with a problem? by Kobi Yamada

Read by Estefannie, a software engineer, designer, inventor, public speaker as well as writer, producer, and star of the YouTube channel “Estefannie Explains It All”

STEM PJ Story Time #2: Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beatie

Read by Israel Garza of HCC’s IDEAStudio, a makerspace at the West Houston Institute

STEM PJ Story Time #1: What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

Read by Charlotte Craff of re:3D, a Houston-based giant 3D printing manufacturer

Free 3D Print File: "The Idea"

5 Harris County Public Library Secrets

By: Author Nicole Thelin

Posted on  - Last updated:

You can do so much more than just check out books and DVDs with your Houston County Public Library card. You can also stream movies for free, download music, e-books and audio books and so much more! You can even check-out a laptop for use within the library!

Even if you’re not that into reading the books at the library, the Book Hunters might change your mind! Just fill out the reader profile and the expert librarians at Harris County Public Library will develop a list of books tailored to your interests.

Download free movies, audio books, e-books and more!

The Harris County Public Library has partnered with online content providers like Hoopla to provide movies, music, audio books and e-books to library card holders.

  • Stream free movies from Hoopla and Overdrive
  • Download free music from Overdrive, Hoopla,
  • Get free audio books from Overdrive, One Click Digital, Hoopla,
  • Download free e-Books from Overdrive, Hoopla, EBSCO eBook Collection, Safari Books online, Tumble Book Library, e-Libro and more.
  • Download free magazines from Flipster. Your patron ID is your library number!
  • Get free exclusive access to databases such as Chilton Library (auto repair), World Cat, e-Libro, Learning Express Library, Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center, Home Improvement Reference Center, Pro Citizen, Heritage Quest Online,  Explora, Master File and more. 

Use a 3D printer, laser cutter and more in the Jocelyn H. Lee Innovation Lab!

Harris County Public Library has an incredible Makerspace at the Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library. You’ll find some amazing tech in this free, community space.

In order to use some of their advanced machines, such as the 3D printer, you’ll be expected to attend an orientation to familiarize yourself with the equipment. Classes are free!

Patrons of all ages are invited to learn, share and create at the Lab. From simple circuits to computer programming, there are some incredible and fun tools available here!

Among other things, the Harris County Public Library offers:

  • 3D Printing (up to 2 ft x 2 ft x 2f volume)
  • Laser cutting and etching
  • Desktop CNC
  • Signet dual-channel oscilloscope
  • Dremel rotary tool workstation
  • Soldering station
  • Arduino-compatible development kits
  • Raspberry Pi development kits
  • MIDI controllers
  • Professional microphones and headphones
  • DSLR camera (with video)
  • Green screens
  • VHS/DVD converter
  • Autodesk Product design suite
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Simplify 3D
  • and so much more!

Got kids? They’ll love these the Harris County Public Library!

Book Buddies invites children and volunteers to share the joy of reading. Children who are in Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade or 3rd grade can register for this weekly program.

Teens have access to special library resources, too.

FREE ADMISSION to the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston) on weekends for visitors age 18 and younger who have a valid library card from any Texas library!

Struggling to learn English?

The library offers literacy programs for youth and adults. Some classes are tailored to fluent English speakers and others are designed to assist with English Language Acquisition (ELA) for speakers of other languages. Citizenship classes,

Nicole Thelin

Nicole leads the Low Income Relief team with over 20 years of professional research and writing experience. Nicole started Low Income Relief after a personal experience with poverty. When her husband was medically discharged from the US Army, their family experienced tremendous financial hardship. Nicole was able to gather help from multiple community agencies and move into a nearby low income housing unit in just two weeks! Since then, Nicole has been dedicated to helping low income families in crisis. She regularly spends hundreds of hours combing through countless resources to make sure that Low Income Relief has the most comprehensive and complete resource directories on the internet today. Prior to starting Low Income Relief, Nicole worked as a novelist, journalist, ghostwriter and content creator. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications, including USA Today, eHow, Livestrong, Legal Beagle, The Daily Herald, The Chronicle and more.

3D printers for creating equipment for underwater work

Mechanical engineering

Implementation stories

Author: Olga Gorobets

Author: Olga Gorobets

3D printing high quality illustrative models | Why selective laser sintering? | 3D printer at the service of innovation

Selective laser sintering has produced high-quality illustrative models of underwater equipment manufactured by the Dutch company Seatools.

No matter how deep below the surface of the ocean your target may be, Seatools is here to design, manufacture and test specialized subsea equipment. Seatools, based in the Netherlands, is a global provider of customized solutions for offshore oil and gas, aquaculture and marine renewable energy. Given its vast and diverse industry, Seatools was faced with the challenge of presenting its portfolio of solutions quickly and efficiently at the prestigious Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas.

It is the world's largest oil and gas event with over 2,300 exhibitors. Seatools knew it needed to get creative with its display to recoup its investment in development, capture industry attention, and explore new directions.

Using 3D Systems' On Demand Manufacturing services, Seatools created a unique underwater landscape to showcase seven 3D printed illustrative models of various underwater equipment. 3D Systems' On-Demand Manufacturing division offers a wide range of prototyping and manufacturing services for the full cycle of product development and can quickly produce high-quality products - from rapid prototyping and advanced designs to printing visual models and small-scale products.

3D print high quality visual models

To explore different options for obtaining scaled equipment models, Seatools first defined the desired result. In general, high quality, detailed models were needed that would showcase the level of the company and withstand sea transportation.

“It was very important to me that the models arrived in Houston intact,” said Johan Saul, Seatools Supervisory Board Member and Head of Marketing and Business Development. “We sell sophisticated high-quality equipment, so if we showed damaged models at the exhibition, it would go against the quality we declare.” Seven models were selected for the demonstration, and given the limited time remaining before the opening of the exhibition, the speed of production was of great importance.

Given the long time and high cost of manually producing scaled models, traditional technologies had to be abandoned in favor of 3D printing. Thus, it was only a question of choosing a specific technology, and a comparative analysis undertaken by Seatools pointed to selective laser sintering (SLS).

“The 3D models had to be transported by trucks, and we knew from experience with other projects that scaled models can withstand high impact loads,” said Johan Sol. After discussions with 3D Systems On Demand Manufacturing in the Netherlands, Seatools selected high-strength nylon models produced on SLS printers from DuraForm PA. After 3D printing, the scaled models were post-processed, painted and assembled by 3D Systems specialists and handed over to the customer - all in strict accordance with the specifications.

Reduced models of devices for underwater work were printed on the SLS printer. The presence of working hinges allows you to demonstrate the capabilities of complex large-sized equipment

Why selective laser sintering?

The choice of SLS technology proved to be the right one both in terms of durability and visual appeal. Due to the properties of materials, selective laser sintering is widely used for the fabrication of functional parts assembled on snaps and flexible hinges, which proved to be extremely relevant for this project. To help Seatools produce 3D visual models that meet the company's quality standards, On Demand Manufacturing has developed components for each model of equipment to be painted and assembled.

According to Johan Sol, the results exceeded all expectations. Scaled models of various fixtures, printed on an SLS printer, perfectly carried the journey from the Netherlands to Houston and were shown at the exhibition as accurate full-size mock-ups of innovative equipment. Due to the properties of SLS materials and the high strength of thin walls, Seatools was eventually able to use more high-quality parts in models compared to alternative 3D printing technologies. Visitors to the show appreciated the variety of solutions offered by Seatools, and in addition, the models showed the level of attention and quality that Seatools customers can expect when working with the company.

The 3D models did an excellent job of helping Seatools stand out from the crowd of other exhibitors and played an important role in the design of the company's booth. The experience of Johan Sol shows that the exhibitor has only a few seconds to interest the visitor. Models not only helped Seatools attract visitors to its stand, but also allowed the company's specialists to make the sales process more efficient and interactive. “Our team was able to place the models in the context of the underwater world and present the company by demonstrating the various capabilities of Seatools,” Saul said.

3D printer at the service of innovation

As one of the leaders in its field, Seatools is constantly innovating to meet unique challenges. The company is no less meticulous in its participation in trade fairs and has made every effort to demonstrate the complexity of the tasks it solves in the interests of its customers around the world. Seatools not only successfully and creatively showed what tasks it can perform, but also, thanks to the underwater landscape created by it on a 3D printer, helped the guests of the booth to understand what Seatools is doing.

“The underwater landscape was the highlight of the program,” Saul says. “He attracted visitors and helped us establish contacts and start relationships with new partners.”


Translation from English. The original of this material on the site 3D Systems

Article published on 03/19/2018, updated on 05/14/2021

3D printer models

Looking for 3D printer models? The Internet is filled with sites that offer them for free. We have collected the TOP 10 catalogs that you can use to search and download free models in STL format. We hope you can find what you are looking for.

  1. Yeggi
  2. Yobi 3D
  3. STLfinder

→ myminifactory.com

My Mini Factory is a 3D model depository operated by the iMakr online store that sells 3D printers and accessories. It also has one of the biggest 3D printer shops in Central London. The site contains 3D models designed by professionals, and all models stored on it are checked for quality. You can also make a request for the desired model, which their designers will create and put in the public domain. Billing itself as a 3D printing social network, MyMiniFactory is a thriving community of makers who love to showcase their creations. Users vote for the best models, which allows popular creations to rise to the top of the list and gain popularity. The site presents models that are stored on its social network, as well as outside it, for example, on the Thingiverse and YouMagine sites.

→ thingiverse.com

The most popular and famous site among 3D printer users, Thingiverse is owned by MakerBot Industries, the creator of the popular Replicator 3D printer series. The site allows users to store and share 3D model files that are used with 3D printers. It's a very popular site and has a large community of people hosting various categories of files on it. So if you're looking for "cool" printable stuff, Thingiverse is worth a visit. It is a portal designed to provide its users with ways to share their designs and to help print 3D creations. The site has a system that tries to find out what you like. The more you interact with the site, downloading and evaluating various developments, the better its recommendations will be.

→ 3dshook.com

Another online community for 3D printing hobbyists showcasing interesting 3D printer accessories, electronics and most importantly 3D models. The site contains many very interesting models of cars and buildings, as well as various add-ons and spare parts for your 3D printer. A huge catalog of paid and free models for a 3D printer. There are original unique products. Convenient search, navigation, rubricator. 3DShook has over 40 categories and adds over 100 new models to its collection every month. On 3DShook you can always find something for your home, animals, kids or something special for yourself.

→ youmagine.com

YouMagine catalog for 3D Systems Cube series consumer 3D printers. The site mainly offers various ways to buy 3D printer supplies and files, but it also has a number of cool free items available, mostly in the Kids section. Some of these elements can be customized by children using an online application. The company offers 3D modeling and publishing tools on its website for both hobbyists and professionals. The site offers a content warehouse where the community hosts and shares models. Registration is required to download files.

→ 123dapp.com

Autodesk 123D is a suite of computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling tools aimed specifically at hobbyists. Along with the toolkit, Autodesk also has a website where users can record their designs and share them with other users. Many of these models can be downloaded and printed using Autodesk as a utility to interface with the MakerBot 3D printer. The goal of the Autodesk website is to "help engineers build products faster." The site offers tools to help them collaborate on their files. For the casual 3D printing enthusiast, the best part of the site is the large library of free files created by a community of over a million engineers. Registration on the site is required, but the number of files that are then available is worth it.

→ cgtrader.com

Being primarily a place to buy and sell a variety of 3D models (not necessarily just those designed for 3D printers), CGTrader does offer a selection of free models that can be used on 3D printers. The site has a system that tries to find out what you like. The more you interact with the site, downloading and evaluating various developments, the body will have better recommendations.

→ cults3d.com

A French community and marketplace where developers can share or sell their creations. The site has a collection of high quality models that you can download. Users can follow the work of the designers they like and get instant updates when a new creation is posted on the site. The site's name, Cults, is a backwards spelling of St. Luc, the patron saint of artists. The site also supports English. This is a relatively new community, so the number of its users is not very large yet.

→ instructables.com

The Instructables website is a community where users can share their DIY projects. This also includes products obtained using 3D printers. The site also provides explanations and instructions describing how to build 3D elements, and some designers take the time to answer questions from site members. Instructables allows users to store and organize their 3D printing projects. This is done to help them work together in the future. You can think of this site as a GitHub 3D printing site where users can share their files, discuss projects, and participate in them. The site also offers the ability to make a request, so if you can't find what you're looking for, you can ask the site's community about it.

→ pinshape.com

Pinshape, a marketplace for 3D models, is similar in style (layout, look, and ability to capture likes) to the well-known site Pinterest. You can buy models from designers, or download them for printing yourself if they are offered for free. Pinshape allows users to host and share 3D model files on it. Basically, this site acts as an online store where you can buy 3D printed parts, or order your own 3D model to be printed. But if you look closely enough, you can find people who sell their products and also offer the files you need so you can print them yourself.

→ 3dfilemarket.com

A new and growing repository of 3D File Market models. All models are tested for suitability for 3D printing. You can download as many models as you like without registration, although you must provide your email address to access the 3D model files. This is a very simple site aimed at being a repository of model files for 3D printers, and nothing more. The basic design of the site allows users to put files on it for public access, and download files that they would like to use. The site contains many small, simple 3D models ready to be printed, as well as a good selection of everyday items and even spare parts for 3D printers.

Search engines for 3D models in various formats, including STL for a 3D printer. Use queries in English, these search services collect information about models from all over the Internet.

→ yeggi.com

Yeggi is a search engine that will browse major 3D printing sites to find files compatible with 3D printers. You can also browse some popular searches to get an idea of ​​what the community is currently interested in.

→ yobi3d.com

When in doubt, use yobi3D to search for files that match the desired 3D printer. This tool is useful if you want to search for one thing across all sites at once. A very convenient format filter, fast search, high-quality previews and stl models prepared for 3D printing for printing.

→ stlfinder.com

This is another STLfinder that surfs the web looking for 3D printing. To select files compatible with 3D printers, he goes through many 3D modeling sites.


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