I-Create, You Create: Inside the Gloria Furgason I-Create Makerspace
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Mary and Jeff Bell Library is a dynamic hub of learning, creativity, and collaboration, supporting student research while also welcoming the Corpus Christi community. One of its standout features is the Gloria Furgason I-Create Makerspace, a lab dedicated to turning ideas into reality. A recent gift from Dr. Robert R. Furgason, President Emeritus of TAMU-CC, established an endowment in honor of his wife, Gloria, to sustain the makerspace for years to come.
“The Gloria Furgason I-Create Makerspace fosters creativity not just in the arts but across many disciplines, including biology, nursing, and engineering,” said C. Derrik Hiatt, Interim Dean of University Libraries.
Designed as a resource for students, alumni, and the community, the makerspace provides access to tools and technology — including sewing and embroidery machines, CNC routers, a Cricut machine, soldering equipment, a large-format printer, and more — at a cost lower than what the public would typically pay. These resources support both academic and personal projects.
One student making full use of the lab is Kyle King ’26, a marine biology graduate student and research assistant in the university’s Movement Ecology lab.
“For my study, I’m investigating whether a shark can be deterred by a magnet attached to a fishing line,” King said. “The I-Create Lab allowed me to 3D print a plastic replica of my magnet, which helps me determine if the magnet works compared to a non-magnetic prototype.”
Beyond the 3D-printed replica, King has leveraged the lab to design a GoPro mount that attaches to his fishing pole, create custom stickers for outreach events, and print conference posters — essential tools for presenting his research.
David Jones, I-Create Coordinator at TAMU-CC, leads day-to-day operations of the lab.
“The creative and educational opportunities here are endless,” Jones said.
Thanks to two other donations to the space, the university recently added a sublimation printer and heat press to the lab’s offerings. This technology allows users to transfer high-quality designs onto T-shirts, hats, tote bags, and more — an affordable option for student organizations and nonprofits looking to create customized merchandise.
One local nonprofit, K Space Contemporary, regularly utilizes the I-Create Lab to bring its projects to life.
“We mainly use the large-format vinyl cutter to create business stickers and help with oversized projects,” said Nichole Schiller ’20, K Space Education Coordinator who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from TAMU-CC. “More recently, I’ve started using the recording studio for our educational podcasts.”
K Space Contemporary also organizes the Día de los Muertos Festival, the largest one-day street festival in the region. In preparation for the event, the nonprofit commissioned a 15-foot Catrina sculpture but faced challenges when constructing its massive fabric skirt. With no grommet machine on hand, manually hammering in 50 grommets felt like a daunting task. Schiller recalled that the makerspace had a grommet machine available, enabling her team to complete the project quickly and efficiently — while staying within the nonprofit’s budget.
“The resources here have saved us so much money,” Schiller said. “We’ve easily saved hundreds of dollars using the lab."
