re:vealing re:3D’s Houston Headquarters

In early April, re:3D held two events celebrating the re:vealing of our community space and customer showroom at our Houston headquarters. Nicknamed Mission Control by the re:3D team, the Houston location has always been our home for manufacturing, operations and research. As we near our second anniversary in this 7000 square foot factory in Clear Lake, near the NASA Johnson Space Center campus, we’re excited to share that this space now houses a dedicated showroom recognizing the creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship of those who harness the power of Gigabot, as well as a public gathering space which we and our greater community can use to host events, workshops, classes and meetups to explore all things 3D printing.

A silver mannequin of a boxing lady wearing a black hat and yellow tank top stands in front of a rustic wooden slat wall holding re:3D merchandise.

To get the ball rolling, The Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce hosted an official ribbon cutting & reception. We invited good friends from near and far (including a crew from Bunker Labs in Austin!), government officials, and Houston customers to celebrate with us and experience a party, re:3D style! Amidst the congenial hums of our Gigabots printing new creations, we toasted champagne and enjoyed tasty hors d’oeuvres provided by the team at  Hedrick’s Catering. Guests perused 3D prints designed by our global family of Gigabot users and got their first look at our new architectural wall panels conceived and produced by the innovative geniuses at Houston-based māk studio, also a re:3D customer. Clear Lake Area Board Chairman Brian Freedman presented re:3D Co-Founder and Catalyst Samantha Snabes a certificate and plaque, officially naming April 9, 2019 re:3D Day in Clear Lake!

photo credit: Morgan Hamel
Photo Credit: Morgan Hamel

At the end of the same week, re:3D kicked off our expanded outreach initiatives by hosting a community open house, and we’re grateful to the Houston Chronicle for sharing our news and helping draw people to our events. 3D printing enthusiasts of all ages joined us for tours of the factory spaces, hands-on activities, contests and a preview of our upcoming meetups and classes. We held a guess-the-number-of-layers contest where the prize for the closest guess was our friendly Eddy the Astronaut lamp.

A 3D printed lamp shaped like the body of an astronaut with an Edison light bulb instead of a helmet
Photo Credit: Morgan Hamel

Engineers of the future (and engineers at heart!) joined our Gigacrew and learned how to build a section of our Gigabots. These handy makers put together at least forty of our new unibody extruder block assemblies, which we’ll soon be rolling out as an available upgrade on the Gigabot.

Intrepid explorers took on the challenge of our scavenger hunt wherein they discovered some of the unique 3D printed features we’ve added to the factory since moving in, including a stapler-shaped door handle, whimsical light switch plates and custom computer parts. Food, fun and curiosity abounded while we opened minds to the limitless possibilities of 3D printing, and we couldn’t be more excited to now have a dedicated space to dive deep and collaborate with our customers, innovators and the next generation of problem solvers endeavoring to Dream Big, Print HUGE!

To schedule a Houston HQ tour or workshop, email us at discover@re3d.org.

For more information about re:3D community events, check out our calendar.

Three kids sit at a table with tools and build part of a 3D printer. A crowd of people is in the background.
Photo Credit: Kate Somers

Charlotte craff

Blog Post Author

Insights & Adventures From CES: Day 1

The first 24 hours in Vegas have been a thrill and day 1 at #CES2019 has been full of adventures.

3 years ago… re:3D co-founders kick it with founder of Zappos Tony Hsieh at his Downtown Container Park.

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The Eve of CES, our heroic quartet of re:3Ders who road tripped from Houston to Vegas rolled in and brought Gigabot X straight to the founder of Zappos Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Container Park, Bin 702 for Gigabot X’s  Las Vegas debut over a small dinner and drinks (and occasional background ambience of Downtown Park’s epic fire breathing praying mantis). Amazingly, this location Matthew & Samantha met Tony 3  years ago when the vision of Gigabot X is still in its beginnings.

CES Kicks Off… Gigabot X at Sands Expo Eureka Park Booth #51510

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Gigabot X 3D printing from trash!

Day 1 kicked off with an early load in to Sands Expo and getting Gigabot X to our booth at Eureka Park (meet us at #51510!) – where we are co-exhibiting at the U.S. Government Startup Connection booth in thanks to our partnership with National Science Foundation and Small Business Administration after receiving the NSF SBIR Phase 1 grant last year. This grant was instrumental in making Gigabot X a reality. There are also so many partners and supporters we owe huge gratitude to for making Gigabot X come to life and we’re proud Gigabot X’s top panel displays all their logos (more high res photos coming soon =).

Gigabot X – our large scale, affordable 3D printer that is printing from multiple types of plastic waste – is exhibiting in Eureka Park, Sands Hall G Floor 1 Tech West Booth #51510. After receiving the NSF SBIR Phase 1 grant this year, we were privileged to be invited as one of a handful of startups to co-exhibit at the U.S. Government startup connection booth. That said, the recent government shutdown has shaken a few things up and though our friends from NSF and SBA can’t be here, we’re still here and printing – so tell your friends to drop by!

U.S. Government Startup Connection Booth #51510

re:3D Wins Techstars #StartupStage Robotics Pitch Competition!

Samantha Snabes hit the #StartupStage powered by Techstars for their robotics pitch competition where 8 companies did a 60 second pitch followed by 3 minutes of Q&A from Karina Costa of Lynq, Ian Bernstein of Misty Robotics, Silas Adekunle of Reach Robotics and Tyler Mantel of Watch Tower Robotics.

re:3D Wins Techstars #StartupStage Robotics Pitch Competition!  (note: not all re:3D teammates included in photo)

The line up was fueled by entrepreneurs with amazing entrepreneurs and innovations in robotics, but Samantha and Gigabot X took gold with 1st place! Thanks Techstars for inviting us to this pitch competition and we were excited to snap a pic with Karina who is a fellow finalist for Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge where the finals will commence on Thursday at the Venetian Bellini Ballroom 2003-2006 from 12-3pm (come see Gigabot X product demo from 12-1pm)

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Extreme Tech Challenge Finalists Samantha & Karina after re:3D Wins Techstars Robotics Pitch Competition

A Giga Reunion with Doug Mockett of Mockett & Friends

Long Time Gigabot Owner Doug Mockett of Mockett

We were overjoyed to catch up with one of our first customers and long-time Gigabot owner, Doug Mockett of Mockett, who stopped by from California to say hi and meet Gigabot X. We love nothing more than to connect with our customers in over 55 countries, if you’re at CES – come find us!

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Gigabot Team Around Vegas after CES

After official CES activities closed at 6 pm, we headed to Tao Restaurant to meet with our friends at Finn Partners who partner with IEEE to share amazing stories of technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Samantha and Matthew bring their diverse expertise, talents, knowledge, and know-how as technical experts!

After official CES activities closed at 6 pm, we headed to Tao Restaurant to meet with our friends at Finn Partners who partner with IEEE to share amazing stories of technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Samantha and Matthew bring their diverse expertise, talents, knowledge, and know-how as technical experts!

Making A World Record & Having Some Fun Escap-ades at Escapology

Our troop of 13 re:3D teammates headed to Escapology after CES festivities to divide and conquer two different escape rooms. Team Knotnauts set a world record escaping the Under Pressure room in 40 minutes and 56 seconds. Team Awesome followed close behind, finishing (the arguably harder 😉 Budapest Express in 45 minutes. Let’s be real though, in this fun scenario, everyone won =).

Team Knotnauts Pose For Paparazzi After Setting Escapology World Record

And with that, Day 1 is a wrap! Tune in tomorrow for a recap of CES Day 2 adventures and don’t forget to follow along with our schedule for the week and our real-time activities on social media @re3Dprinting on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Don’t forget, #ReduceReuseRe3D !

Cat George

Blog Post Author

re:3D Makes Top 16 of Inaugural MassChallenge Texas!

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It’s with a huge amount of excitement, humility, and gratitude to announce that we have made it as one of the top 16 startups of the inaugural MassChallenge Texas! It’s been an incredible journey for our team to date to now be one of the top 16 startups from the 84 participating companies that hailed from 11 different countries across industries of high-tech, social impact, health, life sciences, general consumer products, and clean technology. We’ve been so inspired by the amazing entrepreneurs who make the magic happen of these 84 companies including companies like our fellow #HurricaneStrong Parallel 18 accelerator participants in Puerto Rico, Brands Of.

Other highlights from MassChallenge Texas to date have been receiving one of the People’s Choice Awards at the MassChallenge Texas Startup Showcase. Also, getting the ongoing mentorship and support from the MassChallenge team including getting to hire an amazing intern thanks to MassChallenge as well as receive incredible expertise and connections. These MassChallenge resources of knowledge and talent, exposure, and the inspiring fellow entrepreneurs part of this cohort make us so proud to be part of this community and are integral to where we are today.

Mike B. accepts re:3D’s People’s Choice Award at #MCTX Startup Showcase 2018

During our time at MassChallenge Texas since the program was announced in February, we’ve made huge strides including launching Gigabot X securing beta users around the world with a successful Kickstarter. Gigabot X is a large-scale 3D printer that can print from reclaimed plastic, and as of now is actively printing from FOUR different types of plastic waste. Also, we are geared up to launch the largest 3D printer to date in the re:3D family this fall – Terabot – that boasts a 36″ inch cubed build volume. We’ve also launched a full enclosure called the Gigabox Enclosure for our 3D printers as well as acquired PRINTinZ, one of the first 3rd party accessories that became commercially successful in the build surface market.  We’ve invested in building our applied R&D hub in Puerto Rico where we’ll continue to evolve the use of 3D printing technology in pursuit of a circular economy, decrease dependence on imports, and build a vibrant community of fellow problem solvers reimagining the ways in which we use technology to build a collective future, such as 3D printing hurricane relief and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. We’ve continued to collect stories of impact from our customers in 50+ countries and across industries such as education, manufacturing, research, health science and beyond. And we’ve hired 6 new teammates and are still looking for 20+ more 3D printing enthusiasts to join the re:3D team (check out these positions…and tell your friends!).

All this is to say that since we joined MassChallenge Texas – thanks to the support of this global community and experienced mentorship– we’ve taken flight even faster on the trajectory of our vision.

So after giving a 10-minute pitch and 10-minute Q&A session to a panel of mentors and judges the other week, we have landed where we are humbly today as one of the top 16 startups of this MassChallenge Texas. As if we weren’t already in awe enough of our cohort of 84 companies that comprised the inaugural MassChallenge Texas, this final 16 also includes 3 veteran or military-owned companies along with us, Sempulse and Abraxas Technology (shoutout to you Bunker Labs for the support!). We also join the ranks of 12 Texas-based companies along with – Abraxas Technology, Aquasprouts, Cloud 9, EQO, GrubTubs, Popspots, Sempulse, Tiny House Coffee Roasters, ZPeg, Cloud Dentistry and Novothelium. As well as share industry knowledge and excitement with fellow finalists Partboyz Auto Parts, The Mentor Method, Pay Your Tuition, and Augmenta.

To be amongst these 84 companies and now these top 16, without a doubt, already makes us winners to be considered compatriots of companies at this caliber of innovation and impact who share our values of building companies intent on making this world better off than we found it. That said, today (August 1st) we pitched to another panel of judges in pursuit of a share of the $500,000 equity-free cash prizes to be awarded at the first MassChallenge Texas Awards Ceremony taking place on Wednesday, August 15 in Austin, Texas at Hyatt Regency Austin. At that event on the 15th, we’ll be bringing along Gigabot X to show everyone in person 3D printing from FOUR different types of waste and we’re hoping to earn funds (such as the People’s Choice Award!) to fuel an even faster production of these 3D printers that will use garbage to fuel solutions to big problems. Thank you, MassChallenge. #DreamBigPrintBigger 

Cat, Mike S., Samantha S. & Major Paddy after today’s pitch for the MassChallenge Texas finale!

About MassChallenge: MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators. Headquartered in the United States with locations in BostonIsraelMexicoSwitzerlandTexas, and the UK, MassChallenge is committed to strengthening the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-potential startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world. To date, more than 1,500 MassChallenge alumni have raised more than $3 billion in funding, generated more than $2 billion in revenue, and created more than 80,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at http://www.masschallenge.org.

Cat George

Blog Post Author

Catch Us at SXSW 2017!

SXSW prep is in full swing and we can’t wait to see you!

You can connect with re:3D and Gigabot at the events below:

Do you have a request for another event Gigabot should visit?

~Email info@re3d.org with your tips!

THE GIGAPRIZE: 2016

I’m going to be forthcoming in this introduction and tell you that I have no background in 3D printing. In fact, working with the community during this year’s Gigabot Giveaway was my initiation into this world and network, and it has been nothing short of inspiring. My name is Beth Eanelli. You may know me as the community manager of the New Year’s Gigaprize: 2016 and I possibly sent you an email or asked to use one of your photos in a social media post.

As I mentioned, this was my introduction into 3D Printing, and I have been simultaneously humbled and overwhelmed by the innovation in the field. I had heard of 3D printing, read about it in magazines and articles, but as I was graduating University, I remember the first 3D printer coming to the Engineering Department, but I never had a chance to see the machine, or to watch it come to life.

My background is in public health and international development and I have dabbled in social impact, though never in the tech realm. I returned just in time for the holidays in 2015 after spending two years living and working as a health volunteer with the Peace Corps in a little country called The Gambia. The village I lived had no electricity and no running water, and health issues like Malaria and diarrhea still run rampant. In short, there were minimal resources and with the capital being across the country and transit towns having sporadic electricity and no consistency with products sold, managing projects and creating programs required constant rescheduling and a lesson in being a true MacGyver.

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The first time I met Samantha was at Unreasonable Impact, a program created with Barclays, which brings together entrepreneurs working towards social impact and change to build community, create jobs and help the entrepreneurs maximize their influence (blog to follow). In her introduction to re:3D, Samantha described the printers as having the ability to be mini factories in countries with little to no resources. Having seen the possibilities of what 3D printers could bring to communities such as the one I lived in, I was hooked, and Samantha and I spoke at length about what re:3D had and continues to accomplish. I imagined my community with a 3D printer, the nearest town with continuous access to a makerspace, and couldn’t believe this was a reality in some places because of re:3D. I learned of re:3D’s 1 Gigabot 3D printer donation for 100 sales during one of many conversations with Samantha and we connected right after the program. Shortly afterwards, I was asked to be the 2016 Community Manager for what was formally called The Great Big Gigabot Giveaway, renamed the Gigaprize due to Unreasonable mentor feedback that the opportunity should not be framed as a handout, rather recognition for global citizens doing extraordinary things to improve society.

I’m going to be honest and tell you that I watched each Giveaway entry video with an open jaw. And while many of you know that 3D printers can be used to print prostheses and create Makerspaces, I was learning along the way, consumed by the novelty. Some of our Gigaprize: 2016 applicants are impacting their communities by printing prostheses for low income families, using plastic waste to create clean energy, using makerspaces as a learning tool in schools and libraries and to keep students in school. There are entrepreneurs among us using plastic bottle tops as filament and creating jobs for those who are unemployed in the industry. Each applicant is a catalyst, an innovator and an inspiration and I am looking forward to the chance to see what everyone continues to do.

The most difficult part of the Giveaway was choosing just one winner to receive a Gigabot 3+ kit. Each person and group is contributing to their community in a profound way, so choosing just one entry isn’t easy. Emergency Floor, the winner this year, has an amazing story. They’re using the Gigabot to prototype flooring to be placed in refugee camps, providing refugees living in these camps warmer, safer and more hygienic. Amazing, right?

I also want to express my gratitude to the judges who helped us make this difficult decision, and brought their vast knowledge and range of expertise to the table. We could not have made this Gigabot giveaway possible without each of these individuals.

Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to the applicants and the 3D printing community for your ideas and innovation, your drive and passion, and for allowing me insight into this world. I also want to that the thousands that voted to share their support for such phenomenal idea. If you didn’t have a chance to watch the entries as they were live, you can still do so here. Want be introduced to one the amazing applicants? Feel free to send me a request!

Happy Printing!

~Beth

  • beth@re3d.org

PS- you can be the first to hear about Gigaprize : 2017 by signing up for the re:3D newsletter. Simply enter your email at the bottom of re3d.org 🙂

Beth Eanelli

Blog Post Author

Pitching for a Circular Economy: Why We Went to Hello Tomorrow in Paris

With the momentum of the Bunker Austin win behind us, Matthew & I flew to Paris and grudgingly paid the shipping for Gigabot to meet us in the gamble that either we would either 1) Get a selfie with Mr. Bloomberg (and much needed press) 2) meet someone willing to cover the bond & buy the ‘bot in France, or 3) we’d win our pitching track & return net positive.

It was a huge risk that our company really couldn’t afford in addition to our discounted flights and a shared hotel room (thankfully Matthew has a very supportive girlfriend with access to deals!). But as Matthew & I firmly believe printing from reclaimed plastics takes an ecosystem of problem solvers, which frankly needs more support, we felt that we had to attend once we were notified that we were pitching finalists.

We also were also intrigued by the premise of Hello Tomorrow, which unites technologists, academics, and corporations to solve the grand challenges facing humanity. 3D printing from trash appeared to be a perfect fit, and Gigabot had to be there. With the promise that we would print a kickass logo during the event, the incredibly kind Hello Tomorrow staff agreed to find space for Gigabot.

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Matthew arrived in Paris first from Houston, and greeted the oversized crate while I gave a talk on the social potential of 3D printing at Singularity University in effort to be considered as a speaker and then flew out from San Francisco.

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As we had witnessed at other events this winter, Gigabot arrived in perfect condition & was up & printing without any calibration. Jet lagged but determined to give it our all, we stayed up late practicing for the pitch competition the next day.

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The day kicked off with an outstanding keynote by Imogen Heap, who demoed her novel gloves to give more dimension to sound. Afterwards, we were humbled when she visited Gigabot and mused with us re: the intersections of community, technology & creativity. We (err….I) shamelessly asked to take a pic in return for a print.

Matthew unfortunately had caught a terrible cold from the travel & lost his voice, but powered through the day, ensuring Gigabot was tended to, I ate some food and we were set up for success at the competition.  We weren’t the only team committed to (or perhaps delusional about) our cause. The other startups were just as hungry to further their passion by building connections with other attendees, and meet corporations in order to foster partnerships. Even the Hello Tomorrow staff exemplified commitment to curating an ecosystem of problem solvers & pioneers, with a teammate receiving a Hello Tomorrow tattoo on stage live!

After witnessing one of the other finalists, Tridom, bring their impressively large robot to the stage, we seized the opportunity to roll Gigabot over as well, leaving the poor Hello Tomorrow staff with little space, and lengthy power chords to manage. However it was worth the inconvenience as our respective machines found love at first print & the selfies of Gigabot & Madeline were adorable.

Tensions mounted as each co-founder took the stage and presented the benefits our ideas offer society. The competition was fierce. Each company had significant traction, an impressive technology, and solid teams. Further adding to my nervousness was the realization that not only was this strongest cohort we had ever pitched against, but the judges were tough!  With Matthew manning Gigabot, I stumbled through slides & questioning. The judges challenged the market for 3D printing as whole as well as the profitability of printing from waste & thus eliminating the feedstock from what largely is a blade & razor model today. While I could certainly have done better, I did my best to build upon lessons learned from Atech in Aruba. I shared the promise of the growing industrial 3D printer segment, the opportunities to increase the market by enabling more people to fabricate onsite, and upside that direct drive pellet extrusion expands the library of printable materials while decreasing print times. Stepping off the stage I was sweaty, shaky, and confident we had lost. I apologized to Matthew, congratulated the team I thought had won and set our sights on the meetings we had arranged with L’Oreal, Michelin, and Airbus.

The afternoon flew by. We gave out all of the flyers we brought, and pitched several blue chip companies to give us access to their post-manufacturing waste. Gigabot had a blast 3D printing Hello Tomorrow logos for the staff & we found that while we likely hadn’t won our track, an unexpected gain from the event was that we had found our tribe.

The attendees were just like us: problem solvers spanning hard science, technology & impact. We met nonprofits such Claire from MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and academics from around the world that challenged us with their questions & feedback. Aside from the criticism we fielded from the pitch judges, we found the Hello Tomorrow community truly understood our vision & was incredibly supportive. Our only regret from the event was not having more time & resources to stay in Europe with Gigabot to follow-up on the multiple insightful conversations we had (or in Matthew’s case had pantomimed).

Tired, but encouraged & full of great French cuisine we caught a few more hours of sleep and dug out any remaining flyers we could scrounge up for a possible meeting with Mr. Bloomberg the following morning. We also stole an hour to sample French food- my taste buds were blown away!

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Meeting the former mayor of NY turned out to be a challenge as he was a popular man, and despite our best efforts we were unable to wrangle a selfie. We did however manage to meet a number of amazing people and took the time to visit the other exhibit booths. Before we knew it, the time had come to join the audience at the big stage and learn who had won the event.

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Coincidentally Matthew & I ended up sitting next to the team from Haelixa, which I was convinced had won. We argued about who was about to take home 15K euros until the programming began, and our track was announced first. To my utter surprise our name was called, and I wished I had taken the time to touch up my makeup, & brush my exhibit – day hair & coffee stained teeth while stumbling over legs and the sea of people between us & the stage.

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I arrived on stage with watery eyes and speechless as we received a hug & trophy from Airbus. You can imagine my consternation when I was then handed a microphone and told we had the next two minutes to pitch two rows of judges for 100K. Feeling ill prepared, I gave everything I had left in an enthusiastic and emotional appeal. While 15K would fund our prototype within a year, 100K could bring what we see as inherently right to commercialization. I did my best and knew that while willing the Grand Prize was a long shot, I was humbled to share our passion with such an amazing group. I also secretly hoped that Michael Bloomberg was watching from the sidelines and would offer our much sought after selfie.

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The best part of the night however, was backstage. As each other track winner joined us, we were blown away by their technologies and the awesomeness of each team. We also noted a curious fact: half of the track winners were pitched by females and/or also came from gender co-lead teams like us. We quickly assembled a cheering squad to celebrate the other winners as they joined us backstage and sponsor Chivas ensured there were plenty of drinks for the multiple toasts that ensued.

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After all had joined, we headed out to join a big band for the announcement of the Grand Prize winner, Lilium. Although the money would have provided what we desperately need to scale our vision to 3D print from waste globally, we were thrilled for their team!

We joined Gigabot & all for the after party and then rushed to pack up Gigabot before security threw us out.

The next day we caught a train and headed outside of Paris to meet a local Gigabot owner. At re:3D we try to visit customers when on the road as it not only provides valuable business intelligence but also is an incredibly rewarding opportunity to connect with the customers personally. We had a blast, and were super honored when they blessed us with a guided tour of the city on the way home and drove us to the Eiffel Tower. We couldn’t go up the monument due to the tools in our backpack, but we were fortunate to walk around the legs and stare into the impressive infrastructure for several minutes.

After pausing to reflect on the engineering & creativity above us, we grabbed dinner & prepped to leave.

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On the flight home my mind was filled with lights, relationships, and next steps. To all who made Hello Tomorrow and my first trip to France a success: thank you. Thank you for believing in bootstrapped underdogs, and for giving us a platform & resources to make the impossible slightly more tangible!

Happy Printing!

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Samantha snabes

Blog Post Author

@samanthasnabes

samantha@re3d.org

Drones & Open Source: Partnering with Local Motors

Below is a re-post of content MicheleAbbate hosted on the Local Motors Blog at: https://localmotors.com/MicheleAbbate/lmdrones-re3d-gigabot/

LMDRONES: re:3D Gigabot 

As part of the LMDRONES projects that you can find on Local Motors, we want to welcome re:3D and their Gigabot 3D printer as they join our LM Drone efforts!

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May 7th was International Drone Day and the Local Motors Teams, from both Vegas and Chandler, paired up with Matthew Fiedler, Co-Founder and Chief Engineer at re:3D, to bring their Gigabot 3D printer to the world’s first drone port, the Eldorado Droneport, in Boulder City, NV.

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The all day event included open tuning, demonstrations, races, and freestyle flying.  Matt Jackson, Alaric Egli, and Alex Palmer of Local Motors brought a variety of different drones to take part  in the event.  Matthew began printing with the re:3D Gigabot as soon as it arrived, showing it’s potential and usability for creating parts, wings, and even a full size Wing FPV.

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Stayed tuned for what’s next with the re:3D Gigabot which just made its successful journey from Nevada to Chandler, AZ at the Local Motors Headquarters!

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Gigabot arrives at Local Motors Phoenix facility after participating in the International Drone day festivities at Aerodrome near Las Vegas, Nevada. Engineers at Local Motors are excited to train on the Gigabot and start running their first prints!

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re:3D Gigabot can now be found at the Local Motors’ headquarters in Chandler AZ!

#Road2Collision Take 2 & a Southeastern Roadtrip to Digital Now!

We still can’t believe that a year has passed since Matthew, Katy & I packed up Gigabot and embarked on an unforgettable adventure to Collision in Las Vegas. The week was a milestone for re:3D.

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Not only were we honored to win PITCH, the same evening at an afterparty we had the chance to share our vision with Local Motors in an elevator (ironic, we know:), which consequently resulted in a tour the next day of the Las Vegas Local Motors Microfactory and several partnership conversations (stay tuned for more details!). We could hardly contain our excitement when the staff allowed us to take the Varrado Electric Drift Trikes out for a spin!

During Collision, we also finalized our acceptance in indie.vc, an inaugural cohort of 8 proudly bootstrapped companies. As the program launch was in San Francisco, just a few days after Collision, we made the real-time decision to continue driving from Las Vegas to Silicon Valley while visiting customers. Safely in San Fran, Matthew flew home while Lara & Morgan joined me & Katy for the indie.vc kickoff, the Bay Area Makerpro Event (thanks to our friends at OATV), and the San Mateo Makerfaire the following weekend. Katy & I then drove quickly back to Houston where I met up with Rebecca & Ernie for 4 days of Cosplay and 3D printing at Comicpolooza.

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It was a crazy season for our team as we collected requests that informed Gigabot Generation 3.0 while actively engaging with the community (which was well overdue!).  We learned a ton and grew a lot internally, while taking in the beauty of natural parks and inspiring Gigabot use cases our customers shared along the way.

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The journey revealed the importance of listening to those outside of our factory, and the value of sharing our experiences with friends & partners who can support our goals. For this reason, we are thrilled to announce a second roadtrip, this time throughout the Southeast United States as we return to Collision, cheer on this year’s winners, and also attend the Digital Now Conference in Orlando. Once again, we’re hoping to squeeze in a few customer visits and parks along the way.  Most importantly, we hope to catch up with new friends & old, and to possibly see you. We’ll be updating the itinerary below as the next two weeks evolve. Please email marketing@re3d.org if you’d like to set up time for coffee, a demo, some soul food or a beer! Also, to anyone looking to hitch a ride post Collision to TX, we’ll have a couple seats available if you don’t mind squeezing in with our large 3D prints!

TX Library Association

  • When: April 19th-22nd
  • Where: Houston, TX
  • More Info: http://www.txla.org/annual-conference
    • (The Austin team is enroute to do setup with Todd now who will remain in Hou with the gang!)
  • Follow Online: #txla16

Digital Now

  • When: April 21-23
  • Where: Orlando FL
    • Samantha Speaks at the Technology Showcase at 4:05pm on 04/21 with a Gigabot demo afterwards
    • A second Gigabot demo will take place at 9:55 on 04/22
  • More Information: https://www.fusionproductions.com/fusionnews/four-extraordinary-association-stories
  • Follow Online: #diginow

Collision

  • When: April 26-28th
  • Where: New Orleans LA
    • Samantha & Matthew exhibit Gigabot live at the START display: April 26 Booth S118
    • Hardware demo time: TBA
    • Matthew & Samantha will also be at the morning jogs and at night summit all week!
  • More information: https://collisionconf.com/
  • Follow online: @collisionHQ, #collisionconf, #road2collision

Forever Humbled,

Samantha, Katy, Matthew and the entire re:3D team

Katy, Sam & Matthew drive from Houston to San Fran demoing Gigabot & visiting customers (and a few national parks)

You’re Invited: 3D Printing @ Sea!

Recently, one of our customers (and owner of Cruise Planners) invited us to support a 3D printing cruise. We are honored to participate and can’t wait to spend three days with you during this exclusive experience!

3datsea

About the Event

3D at Sea is the first of it’s kind 3D Printing Workshop and Seminar at Sea. This Workshop will feature 3D Printing Experts both teaching and speaking on a variety of relevant topics. There will also be opportunities for community impact work in Cozumel, in addition to general fun and networking!

Whose Invited

Anyone with a passion for 3D printing is welcome to join us on the Carnival Liberty out of Galveston on 10/8/16! Pam, the organizer, is also accepting applications to speak or teach a class until May 5th. You can share your interest on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/3datsea/  or email Pam directly at: pam.stewart@cruiseplanners.com.

See you soon?!

Samantha snabes

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