It is an exhibition of Design student projects from the participating Schools and Universities. This selection brings together the best proposals and classroom experience for its own quality and as a model of good teaching practice. Its purpose is to value the main axes of each Meeting: Innovation, Sustainability, Creativity, Design for all people, Design and Development, among others.
The objective of the study was to verify and qualify the influence of the morphology, texture and chemical composition of substrates manufactured to promote the growth and propagation of corals. Additive Manufacturing technologies and silicone molds were used to convert the 3D samples (designed with different geometries inspired by nature) into substrates composed of a calcium carbonate mortar, Portland cement and Quartz (raw material acquired from waste from mining areas ). The substrates were placed in a closed circuit aquarium to monitor the weekly process of the coral species and analyze the results obtained.
The award-winning project, the result of the final master’s thesis and doctoral programme by Ilse Matus, focuses on the need to preserve and foster juvenile corals through the creation of substrates via 3D printing . In the investigation, guided by FEUP professors Jorge Lino, Joaquim Góis and Augusto Barata da Rocha, limestone residues were also used in order to promote the circular economy , taking into account the extensive areas of mining extraction that Portugal has.