xCoral – Restoration of coral reef using 3D ceramic printing

A research project in the field of coral reef restoration using three-dimensional clay printing.

The study by Prof. Ezri Terzi, together with doctoral student Ofer Berman, and other researchers in the laboratory, senior lecturer Haim Perens, and in collaboration with marine biologists.

The main idea is to create an infrastructure for recruiting fish by producing different and varied models that create sufficient complexity that allows marine animals to see the artificial reef as a home where they can stay and reproduce. This infrastructure may serve as a substrate for the growth of coral spores and to cover the reef in the living infrastructure of new corals

The research is conducted at the Interuniversity Institute in Eilat, in collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Nadav Shasher of Ben Gurion University, and in collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Oren Levy of Bar Ilan University