The Houston Mini Maker Faire took place at the Stafford Centre on Nov. 1 from 10AM-5PM. According to Houston Mini Maker Faire’s website, a “Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.” The event featured over 75 exhibitors, including over 7 maker-spaces. It’s called a mini maker faire because it is independently organized under license from Maker Media. Maker-spaces are tech-shops and hacker-spaces were makers have access to 3D printers and other tools they need to bring their designs to life.

Just like how a car show is all about cars, a maker faire is all about makers. A maker is anyone who makes their ideas come to life. Wanjun Zhang, is a maker at TX / RX Labs, a maker-space located in Houston’s East End District. She posed for a picture with the Bulbasaur Planter she designed and 3D printed. She talked about how she brings her designs to life:

“I learn the tools, and just the act of working with them helps me figure out my design and what I’m doing.” – Wanjun Zhang

A goal of the faire is showcasing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) educational experiences. Max Dietrich helped design a hoop-shooting robot as a member of Disco Bot high school robotics team. When asked about his maker experience, he said, “You learn a lot, and it really is self-fulfilling.” He admitted that most of what he has learned about robotics he learned from being a member of the robotics team.

This year’s faire featured three showings of stunt and special effects professional Steve Wolf’s Science in the Movies presentation. His method of teaching basic science principles won Best STEM Presenter of the Year. He showed the difference between states of matter by putting three drops of liquid in a smoke machine to fill the Stafford Theatre with smoke. At the 1PM showing, he also invited several kids from the audience to hoist a school nurse up several feet above the stage with 12 pulleys. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this simple machine, a seven-year-old audience member held the rope supporting the school nurse above with one finger.

At the Children’s Museum of Houston exhibit, attendees of any age could make and launch paper rockets and parachutes, as well as design and race a balloon car out of Styrofoam and straws. If a participant struggled to create an operational balloon car, booth volunteers would ask, “What are you going to do to make it work?” This prompted the young maker to return to the creative space to implement design changes and try again. Attendees could also make their own soap, nail polish, hula-hoops, Lego creations, and stationary at other various booths.

Houston Community College Southwest rented a large exhibit table and displayed several 3D printers, dozens of 3D printed designs, high-tech quadruplanes, and high-powered microscopes. Many attendees gave their friends and family members a shock of static electricity with HCC’s Van de Graaff Generators. Guests could pump air into a pig’s lung and could touch it if they put on medical gloves. Brochures for HCC Southwest’s Drafting/Design Engineering program and other programs were available.