Following a smooth preparation and signing of the grant and consortium agreement, GEN1200 officially kicked off on December 1st, 2024. Not long after, on December 10th, 2024, the kick-off meeting was organized by the coordinator Ghent University in the UGent building at the Tech Science Park in Zwijnaarde. As the preparatory meetings during the proposal writing phase took place online, this was the first in-person meeting for some consortium partners.
After a brief introduction by Prof. Hendrik Vansompel, the scientific coordinator of the GEN1200 project, we were introduced to the project officer at CINEA, Joao Duarte Miranda. Subsequently, agreements were made and documented regarding the project organization. This was followed by discussions on the technical content of the work packages, where important decisions were already made regarding the test vehicle in which the developed technology will be demonstrated, and we discussed how we will carry out communication and dissemination. Between the technical discussions on the different work packages, we popped into the labs for a short visit.
During the discussions, it was clear that there is a highly motivated and enthusiastic consortium at the table, with very complementary expertise.
The day concluded with a dinner where topics other than electric vehicles were also discussed.