Maker Faire Yearbook 2025

Projects

Found 26 Results

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Happy Valley Improv at the Blue Brick Theatre

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Happy Valley Improv

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Happy Valley Improv is State College's premier longform improv company. We are a growing community of improvisers who aim to bring the art of improv theatre to State College. At the fair, we hope to engage the community about our classes, shows, and youth programs, as well as celebrate the many makers we have within our own community.

Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society Rides and Guided Rail Car Exhibit

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society plans to provide ongoing tours of our passenger rail cars as well as give rides in speeder cars for the duration of the Maker Faire. There will be a $5 per person fee for rides only. The rides and tours will occur at Epply White Road off Axemann Road.

Bootleg Boomerangs

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Bootleg Boomerangs

Home: New York, United States

Hello! My name is Riley Auer, and I‘m the owner of Bootleg Boomerangs, a handmade wooden boomerangs company that makes uniquely shaped boomerangs that actually come back! We started our brand in 2020 and have been growing it ever since. We started out of my parents‘ garage, then moved our production right into The Rivet itself, and currently make them out of a dedicated workshop in Buffalo, NY. As a Penn State alum, I am delighted to take part in this event. Any excuse to come down to State College again sounds delightful. I plan to sell a few different types of my boomerang models and Bootleg Boomerang t-shirts. I also look forward to teaching Maker Faire visitors how boomerangs come back.

Radio Denali

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Jeff Brown

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

"Radio Denali" is a 3d-printed, video-mapped, Arduino-controlled interactive holograph-esque artwork that allows visitors to control the sun and sky above the highest mountain in the United States (and North America).

Stained Glass Creations

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Glenn Johnson

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Lapidary: Crafting Gemstones, by Nittany Mineralogical Society

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Nittany Mineralogical Society, Inc.

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Lapidary is the craft of shaping and polishing gems and other decorative items from rough stones. Three principal methods are cabochon cutting of rounded-top gems, tumble-polishing of free-form or pre-formed shapes in batches, and faceting of transparent gems to maximize sparkle and fire. Carved figures and polished slab assemblies may also be made. Nittany Mineralogical Society will discuss and demonstrate the machines used in the making of cabochons and tumble-polishing of stones, and discuss the other areas of our interest in earth science.

The AI and Maker Showcase: Building a Local LLM

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Ratchet Rake, LLC

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Experience the synergy of artificial intelligence and hands-on making! Our booth will feature a live demonstration of a custom-built, multi-GPU computer running the powerful Llama 3.3 Large Language Model (LLM). We will showcase the hardware and software required to bring a sophisticated AI to life, highlighting the possibilities of local AI computation. A unique, parent-designed small outdoor table will be on display, with a video loop of its creation process playing on an adjacent screen.

Brick Derby

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Brick Derby

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Build the ultimate racecar using LEGO bricks, then watch it fly down the 35-foot test tracks used for the fastest derby cars in the world! Kids become engineers, testing aerodynamics, weight distribution, and wheel alignment while parents rediscover their inner child. No instructions needed―just creativity, gravity, and the thrill of competition! Bring nothing but imagination―we supply the bricks, track, and inspiration.

Baxterbots

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Dan Baxter

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

My work explores the deconstruction of antiques and their transformation into robotic art. This project, RustyBot, combines vintage materials with modern electronics to create a robot that moves, lights up, and speaks. At its core is a Raspberry Pi controlling servos, sound and music hats, NeoPixel LEDs, and solenoids, all integrated through custom-designed PCB boards. A built-in wireless access point and webpage allow visitors to control the robot’s sounds, lights, and movements in real time. Much of the coding was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, blending human creativity with AI collaboration. Alongside the finished robot, I will also display a working prototype rig that exposes the wiring, components, and code, making the inner workings transparent and easy to understand

Originlabs

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Originlabs

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Originlabs is Happy Valley‘s newest prototyping and fabrication space open to all Originlabs encompasses roughly 7,000 square feet across three floors and allows users to design, prototype and test potential solutions for their startups or ideas. The well-appointed facilities give users access to a breadth of materials and methodologies for production, with dedicated lab spaces including benchworking, woodworking, metalworking, surfacing, welding, digital fabrication, and additive manufacturing.

Turning in metal

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Douglas Ripka

Home: PA, US Minor Outlying Islands

Use of the small metal lathe as a hobby and as an extension of other hobby interests. Examples include making small wooden and metal parts for models and repairs to items that would otherwise have to be thrown away.

BobbinAround4U

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Loretta Maines

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Make your own button pin. You can choose from a variety of cotton fabric prints and use our button machine to make your own custom pin. We‘ll also have a variety of handmade fabric items for sale, including hot pads, fabric topped t-towels, quilted purses, tote bags and much more.

Shaving Horse: Handles and Legs

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Glenn Johnson

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Ever try to purchase a tool handle and realize that a new handle costs more than a new tool? Why not make your own. You just need a shaving horse and a few tools. Demonstration will show you how easy it is!

Rag Rugs

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Kim Hunziker

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Make old, new…boring, beautiful! “Amish toothbrush” rag rugs are made using any ole discarded fabric/textile, a simple tool and a simple technique. You can see a demo, try it yourself & take home goodies to make one later.

K‘NEX

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Jon Gumble

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

A Master K‘NEX builder demonstrates what the toys are capable of creating and advises on attendee‘s own K‘NEX builds.

Jeremy French Custom Knives

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Jeremy French

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Blacksmithing and blade smithing items for sale.

Centre Model Railroaders

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Centre Model Railroaders

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Elements, crafts and disciplines involved in Model Railroading.

STEM Table – Things that Soar!

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: KidTech, Inc.

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

KidTech will run two tables, Saturday and Sunday, for 2 hours each day. Saturday will be Straw Rocket Day where young (and young-at-heart) makers build and fly a small air-powered rocket from straws, paper and tape....limitless fun! Sunday will be Hoop Glider Day: build and fly a glider out of one straw, two loops of paper and tape. Kids (and adults) get to take home their creations, and the know-how to build more.

The Make Space of Centre County

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: The Make Space of Centre County

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Stop by The Make Space of Centre County‘s booth to find out more about this community workshop and put together your own fidget spinner. There will be a colorful selection of materials to personalize your own. We will show you how to put them together, and have some pre-assembled also.

Tufting

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Ciera Hall

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Tufting is a textile process where yarn is inserted through a backing fabric to create a pile or looped surface. It‘s a method commonly used to make rugs, carpets, and even some types of clothing. The process involves using a tufting gun to push the yarn through the backing, creating either a cut pile (where the loops are cut) or a loop pile (where the loops remain uncut.) The project/demo would be a hands on experience for people to use a tufting gun and get a general sense of the process‘s.

Coffee roasting

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: DOUG Laplante

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

I‘d like to demonstrate home coffee roasting. I‘ll bring the roasting equipment and the green coffee beans. The only requirement is that the roasting equipment can‘t operate off of an extension cord; needs to be plugged into a wall outlet and preferably close to the breaker box

The Many Faces of Sculpture

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Scott Camazine

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

The human body is a marvel of complexity― curves, lines, and fleeting facial expressions of muscles, tendons, skin coming together to create elegant forms and patterns. But how can one design a face or figure in three dimensions? As a sculptor I explore these questions using various techniques, and media. My work blends centuries-old craftsmanship with modern tools―clay, carving, casting, glass, wood, stone, metal, paper, 3D printing, and even AI-assisted design―each chosen to reveal a subject’s unique character. At Maker Faire, I’ll share my processes and demonstrate some of the many approaches available to figurative sculptors. Visitors can explore my tools, see works-in-progress, and discover how art, craft, and technology come together to bring the human form to life.

Avail Technologies

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Avail Technologies

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

We partner with our customers to create solutions with our enterprise transit management software. Founded in 1999, we’re a family-oriented staff that works hand-in-hand with transit professionals. By design, Avail has remained a mid-sized company that stays focused on providing cost-effective engineering services and cutting-edge technologies to our target market of transit operators with medium-sized fleets. Today, we are recognized as the industry’s leading provider of ITS technology solutions for mid-sized transit operators throughout the United States. Because of our unique market focus, our dedicated team is firmly positioned to better serve you, the transit operator, by providing industry-leading products, proven engineering processes, and the highest degree of integrity possible.

Keystone Stitches

Faire: Happy Valley

Maker: Dale Walker

Home: Pennsylvania, United States

Crochet Fiber Art, I usually make clothing, blankets, and plushies with other small gifts all created towards the theme of the event.

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