The kick-off meeting for project BioMeld was held online via Skype on 18th of October, 2022. All partners attended the meeting, bringing together researchers and experts from Serbia, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the UK.

At the start of the meeting, BioMeld project officer Loran Oliver presented the Horizon Europe programme, which funds the project, while project coordinator Igor Balaž (UNSPF) gave an overview of the entire project, its objectives, and milestones.

The second part of the meeting was dedicated to research-related matters. We heard from SSSA members, Leonardo Ricotti and Lorenzo Vannozzi, who talked about catheter design; while Samuel Sanchez from IBEC told us more about 3D bioprinting. Stefano Lai from UniCa gave an overview of the sensing technology that will be used in the project, and Igor Balaž and Antisthenis Tsompanas from UWE presented the modelling and simulation part of the project. And lastly, Alessandra Caggiano from Smart Sensing informed us how they plan to construct a bio-intelligent manufacturing cell.

The last part of the meeting covered ethical aspects of the project (Antonia Bierwith – Tecnalia), commercialization assessment (Lance Leverette), and communication and dissemination activities (Marija Bukurov – UNSPF).

Near the end of the meeting, the project coordinator gave an overview of the financial aspects of the project and financial reporting requirements.

The meeting was a success. It gave all participants a sense of direction and a shared understanding of the project’s goals and priorities.