Walking down the beach in Maldives, picking up a washed away coral and unintentionally admiring its texture and design, Hamed had a moment. 

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Having spent countless hours working on bone scaffold designs and testing their biocompatibility, the coral looked strikingly similar. The texture, the rigidity, the feel, all so familiar. What if we start 3D printing coral scaffolds? Is it far-fetched? What material would we use? What are the components within a coral? It felt possible but also, just a distant idea which perhaps might stay an idea. 

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Some days passed, Hamed found himself looking through and searching about corals and their importance. Looking into what builds their structures and all about its integrity. The story continued in the lab. Starting with the obvious, Calcium Carbonate, an integral part of corals and having to self learn all about the marine system and how and where corals play their invaluable part. The material aspect and development took numerous trials and errors. The mixture looks good but it wouldn't print, if it prints, it is not biocompatible. Maybe I'm trying to tackle a problem I am not well equipped for. Afterall, being a biomedical engineer, the marine world and its extensive species was not my expertise, perhaps, I should stick with my comfort, human body and more specifically, bone scaffolds.

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Research is afterall plenty of poking and prying until we are content with its formalised findings, to an extent. Hamed was back to studying corals and ever so determined this time, he will 3D print with a bioink which would kickstart and help the growth of these incredible species. After 13 months of going back and forth, at last, it was a success. A success which needed material experts, chemist, mechanical engineers onboard, all from alternative backgrounds but one aim, to make it happen. 

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Finally, came together InkSpire, which is 3 years after the first publication on succesfully 3D printing coral scaffolds using a biocompatible formulation. Those three years helped the team understand all aspects better, the texture, the material formulation, the in-vivo and in-vitro studies as well as the scalability. Into the picture came marine biologists, ocean experts as well as creativity pioneers to formalise all levels at which these breathtaking designs and their impact could reach. All in all, InkSpire is ready to take coral restoration to a higher forefront with its innovative and cutting-edge scientific approach.