The SONATA project enjoyed its official kick off, at a meeting hosted by KU Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium, on the 1st -2nd February 2024. Held at the De Hoorn Building, this intensive meeting brought together our partners from industry, academia and stakeholder representative groups, to discuss the vision and future of the project, its management, research aims, and how to maximise the potential of this innovative and multi-disciplinary consortium. As our partners are drawn from diverse backgrounds, a key focus was on getting to know each other, through a “speed-dating” session and some excellent dinners, learning how our different expertise will contribute to making SONATA truly ground-breaking.