WISRD Research & Engineering Journal

We could not find a scientifically sound reason for the biomimetic aspect of their platforms and determined that it was more aesthetic than functional; however, Lang et al. claimed new corals seemed more natural and that this may have an effect on attracting other local marine life. They also used non-toxic materials, an important aspect of their project that we attempted to recreate as well. The notion of creating ceramic bases upon which fragments are adhered has recently gained popularity, and the university is now selling ceramic platforms, as shown in Figure 2, to the public as described by Cairns (2021).

Figure 2. Hong Kong University design. (Cairns, 2021) 1.2 MORI/WISRD Collaboration

MORI’s original impetus for forming a collaboration with WISRD was to share knowledge and resources. MORI had the marine tanks and WISRD had a ceramic 3D printer as well as the know- how for setting up communications through a Raspberry Pi . 2. Working with Clay 2.1 Meeting with Ceramicist The University of Hong Kong platforms are about 24 inches in diameter, and they went through many different designs to reduce cracking. Our assumption was that if our platforms are between 8 to 12 inches in diameter, we wouldn't have a severe cracking problem and could be more flexible in our own design. On January 22, 2021, we had a joint MORI/WISRD meeting with St. Monica Catholic High School (SMCHS) ceramicist, Mr. Conboy, regarding working with clay substrates. and asked the following questions regarding our research: ● Given our smaller size, are there some surface shapes that will be better than others? ● Does a 10% shrinkage seem realistic?

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