I hope you remember The Awesome Foundation, one of the coolest organizations in Boston that funds ideas based not on the business model behind them but on “awesomeness.” The Awesome Foundation (AF) gives the wacky, fun, and completely novel a chance to materialize.

Awarding $1,000 grants each month, The Awesome Foundation recently announced their March winner: DIY biologist Charles Fracchia. What’s

Fracchia’s awesome idea?

Bioengineered inks derived from different colored plants that can be grown and used as ink in pens.

If Charles’ goal is met, it will be possible to grow your own pen inks at home. Not only this, but the inks can be engineered such that colors only show at certain temperatures or under other specific conditions. Not only is the idea of growing ink cool, but writing eerie messages and turning the heat off would be a great way to prank my roommate Sixth Sense-style.

This idea fits perfectly with the Awesome Foundation mission. With no suitable comparisons that I know of, it would be difficult to judge how a product like this would fare in stores, but it is nonetheless an awesome idea, and that is what AF is all about.

In addition to awarding their new March fellow, The Awesome Foundation recently opened a chapter in San Francisco. This puts them at four chapters: Boston, Providence, New York, and now San Francisco.

With chapters popping up all over the country, and ideas like grow-able pen ink, you can bet we’re going to be keeping tabs on AF and their fellows.

If you’d like to learn more about AF and the awesome project’s they’ve funded, you can check out the Awesome Foundation blog, or hit up their main site for general details and application info.