About
The South Texas Center of Excellence for Advanced Thermoplastics Additive Manufacturing and Materials Research (STCoE) was founded with the goal of helping Texas and US industry through advanced additive manufacturing and material research.
The Center of Excellence provides training on the AnyForm Factory, a unique thermoplastics additive manufacturing system, the only such system which utilizes AnyForm 3Dware technology.
The STCoE is also a research center based on AnyForm 3Dware technology and a repository of information on the system.
What is a center of excellence?
A center of excellence (CoE) is a team, collaborative center, or organization that provides professional leadership, compiles best practices, conducts research, and offers support and/or training in a specific subject or area.
Our purposes:
Develop new technologies and materials.
Introduce new technologies to industry.
Establish and maintain a knowledge center.
Develop and share best practices and standards.
Train specialists.
Provide quality assurance and performance improvement.
Our products and services:
Fulfilled orders from industry for items 1 - 5 above.
Completed customized technology solutions.
Executed implementation of the customized technology solution;
Information provided on the Center's area of expertise;
Received valuable technology solutions developed by contractors.
Trained specialists in the field (AnyForm 3Dware printing, AnyForm Factory operation and service, etc.).
Whom are we here for?
Industry, manufacturers
Universities and technical colleges
Local, county, state and federal government
National labs, research teams and laboratories, R&D centers
Professional societies.
Founder and Director
Message from our Founder
“Since early childhood, I have had a deep curiosity about how things work. This led to extensive study of mathematics and physics, from middle school all the way through to university where I focused on advanced mathematics.
At the same time, my love for creating things led to five years of parallel studies in art and different creative mediums.
I have been an entrepreneur since the late 1990s, beginning with a small art agency in Denmark. In 2007 I made my home in Harlingen, Texas, where I now own and run several companies.
Then in the last year or so I encountered a subject and specialty that promised to bring all my passions together into a single venture: the mathematics and physics; the art and media; the entrepreneurship. The subject? Advanced Thermoplastics Additive Manufacturing and Materials Research.
I had the good fortune to be invited to the research labs of the inventors of Versatile Thermoplastics Particle Manufacturing technology, a breakthrough in thermoplastics industrial 3D printing that has finally brought additive manufacturing into line with the needs of industry and opened the door to rapid, fruitful research in this field. I was thrilled to witness this technology in practice.
From there, the decision to create a Center of Excellence for this technology here in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas was a natural one. My vision is to make this a central hub for North and South America where this technology has not yet been seen.
Elena Villareal
Founder of the South Texas Center of Excellence for Advanced Thermoplastics Additive Manufacturing and Material Research
We have a unique opportunity to leap ahead of the game and become the new Silicon Valley for thermoplastic industrial 3D printing.”
We have a unique opportunity to leap ahead of the game and become the new Silicon Valley for thermoplastic industrial 3D printing.”