Piece of My Heart

Ever wanted to hold a human heart in your hands? Well, now you can—minus the blood and ethical dilemmas.

In this workshop, you’ll take real volumetric data (fancy word for medical scans) and transform it into a 3D-printable heart model using 3D Slicer. You’ll get to slice the heart into two pieces (don’t worry, it won’t feel a thing) to reveal its internal anatomy.

Once you’ve got your heart split just right, you’ll move to PrusaSlicer, prep your print, then send it to one of our 3D printers to bring your digital heart to life. Finally, you’ll post-process your print, giving it that clean, polished look.

At the end of the session, you’ll leave with your very own 3D-printed heart! If your heart needs a little more time in the printer, you can come back for it later—or, if patience isn’t your thing, take home a pre-printed one instead.

No scalpel required.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Think Piece of My Heart was intense? Buckle up—this is Piece of My Heart on steroids, grad school edition.

This advanced-level workshop takes a deep dive into 3D Slicer, pushing participants to isolate the pulmonary and systemic circuits of the heart by extracting blood pools from volumetric data. It’s our most difficult workshop, and there’s a steep learning curve—seriously, we mean it.

While we strongly encourage participants to be TTUHSC students or faculty, it’s not a hard rule. But fair warning: you’ll be navigating complex data segmentation, slicing models with precision, and troubleshooting like a pro.

Once you've successfully conquered the blood pool isolation, you'll go through the same printing prep and post-processing as Piece of My Heart, turning your hard work into a physical, 3D-printed heart model.

If you love a challenge and want to flex your biomedical 3D modeling skills, this workshop is for you.

Welcome to the deep end.

Let’s Get Digital

Ever wanted to build a hand—from the bones up? This workshop lets you do just that.

Using 3D Slicer, you’ll isolate the bones of the hand, making this an ideal intro to biomedical 3D modeling. Since bones are easier to isolate than soft tissue, this workshop is designed for high school and undergraduate participants, though it’s fun for just about anyone (except maybe toddlers—unless they’re absolute prodigies).

Once your bones are prepped, you’ll go through print preparation and post-processing, but we’re not stopping there! In a second or third session, you’ll take things a step further by creating silicone ligaments to attach to your printed bones, giving your oversized finger, thumb, or wrist some serious anatomical flair.

Want to build an entire oversized hand? Team up with your fellow participants and combine your pieces into one big, beautifully bizarre bony masterpiece.

Due to the extra sessions (and the sheer coolness of making ligaments), this workshop comes at a slightly higher price—but trust us, it’s worth it.

Coil Creations

A 3D printing workshop…with clay? Absolutely.

Designed for elementary-aged participants (but just as fun for adults), Coil Creations walks through 3D printing step by step, making it easy to understand how these machines actually work—by building things layer by layer.

Here’s how we do it:

• Post-process a 3D-printed heart slice – We start with a finished print so students can see what the final product looks like.
• Prep and start a print in PrusaSlicer – Participants will set up and begin an actual 3D print before moving on to the next step.
• Break out the clay! – While the printer does its thing, students will use coil-building techniques to recreate the process the printer is following, bringing the concept to life in a way that’s tactile, messy, and fun.

By the end, participants will walk away with both a post-processed 3D-printed heart slice and their own handmade clay creation—and a clearer understanding of how 3D printing works from the inside out.

Because what’s better than learning, making, and getting a little messy all at once?

Knee-Cap Know-How

Get hands-on with life-sized human knee models in this interactive, multi-session 3D printing workshop—designed for high schoolers, undergraduates, and anyone big enough to hold a drill!

Over the course of two to three sessions, participants will:

• Isolate knee structures in 3D Slicer to prepare them for 3D printing.
• Print and post-process a full-scale knee model.
• Create and attach silicone ligaments, bringing their model to life with moving parts.

By the end, you’ll walk away with your very own full-size, fully assembled 3D-printed knee—no sharing required! The multi-session format allows for deeper exploration, hands-on time, and plenty of fun with both digital modeling and physical assembly.

If you’ve ever wanted to build a knee from scratch, this is your chance—no med school required!