Science minister breathes new life into university wind tunnels

Cash for wind tunnels will boost pioneering work on aerodynamics, says David Willetts

Wind tunnels at seven UK universities are getting a huge funding boost to support their pioneering aerodynamic research, the minister for universities and science, David Willetts, has revealed.

The £13.3m investment will allow students and researchers to use the wind tunnels to come up with more efficient designs for road vehicles and aircraft.

Institutions that will receive funding are the universities of Southampton, Oxford, Cambridge and Glasgow, Cranfield University, City University London and Imperial College London.

Announcing the funding at Imperial today, Willetts said the upgraded wind tunnels would help the UK to "get ahead in the global race".

He said: "The investment will support vital research. It will create energy savings, and bring environmental benefits."

The university wind tunnels have been used in the past to advance Formula One car design and create better aircraft components.

Students will now be given the opportunity to use them for projects that benefit society, such as improving the efficiency and noise reduction of aircraft.

At Imperial, the funds will be used to position lasers inside one of their wind tunnels to model airflow more accurately. Glasgow will introduce a "gust facility" to its tunnel.

Behrooz Barzegar, head of flight physics integration at Airbus UK, said: "These initiatives are key to developing aircraft that provide cleaner and more accessible air transportation."

The seven universities will combine to form the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF), which will receive £10.7m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and £2.6m from the UK Aerodynamics Centre.

Willetts also announced that 19 new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) will be opened to support a further 900 students in postgraduate training for engineering and science. The new CDTs come on top of 72 centres unveiled in November.

Professor David Delpy, chief executive of the EPSRC, said the CDTs "will provide training in many areas of science and engineering, including quantum technologies, manufacturing, robotics, energy and sustainability".

(source: The Guardian)