Initial discussions between several European wind tunnel operators regarding the concept of a European Windtunnel Association started in December 2002 in reply to a Call for Proposals from the European Commission for Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area.
Following expressions of interest from other wind tunnel operators a formal first meeting of all interested parties was held in March 2003 and a proposal preparation committee set up to investigate its viability. Clients of wind tunnels and universities were not considered as possible core member organizations of the European Windtunnel Association due to different interests and objectives.
Following discussions about the legal, economic and social aspects involved and the lessons learned from previous attempts to integrate European wind tunnels the proposal preparation committee came to the conclusion that the goal to establish a European Windtunnel Association was a realistic objective which could be achieved within a few years using a phased approach.
Despite not involving wind tunnel clients and universities directly it was recognised that information exchange with industrial end users and university teams was also a necessity and that this information dissemination could be achieved by means of open workshops and presentations of wind tunnel standards and advanced measuring technologies and by training and exchange of personnel and co-operation with universities.
It was also considered that new member organizations not represented in the original European Windtunnel Association consortium at the time of the preparation of the proposal could join the Association later on if they were able to offer relevant and complementary contributions and to comply with the objectives of the network.
Depending on the success and depth of the co-operation it was felt most likely that after the first few phases of integration considerable progress towards much stronger relationships between the member organizations will have been made than can be foreseen today without having the experience and benefit of this co-operation.
The mapping of the general objectives of the European Windtunnel Association to measurable and verifiable objectives for the planned duration of the project and for each of the planned four phases were developed during proposal preparation meetings and incorporated into the project proposal.
From discussions held at the same time it was felt that the European Windtunnel Association could act as Network of Excellence in the research area Strengthening Competitiveness under Topic 12 "Wind tunnel testing for aeronautical applications and related advanced measuring technologies" of the European Commission funded Sixth Framework Programme.
This was based on the view that building long-term formal relationships between the research capacities of 11 major European industrial wind tunnels from 8 different countries would provide direct competitiveness improvements. In addition the integration of 7 research organisations developing advanced measuring technologies each with staff having different scientific, cultural and human background would have considerable implications for the professional and social life of each person involved.
The proposal was submitted for consideration for European Commission funding and following acceptance went live on 1. April 2004.