News Releases

December 2007

Patrick Wagner, head of Computing, Engineering and Testing Facilities (GMT) at Onera

An engineer specializing in wind tunnel work, from testing and the engineering that goes with it to commercial and managerial activities, Patrick Wagner has been appointed to head GMT, the Onera facility covering large-scale wind tunnels, engineering and computer calculation.

Patrick Wagner was appointed Head of GMT at Onera on 1 October 2007, to replace Maurice Bazin following the latter’s retirement. GMT is responsible for operating Onera’s park of large-scale aeronautic wind tunnels, as well as for the associated engineering services and scale model manufacture and for managing the scientific computing facility. GMT is also a partner with the Dutch and German wind tunnels of DNW as part of the European consortium ATA (Aero Testing Alliance).

Patrick Wagner began his career at Onera as a testing engineer in 1981, in Modane. After 1986, he became involved in the ETW project (European Cryogenic Wind Tunnel, Cologne), starting at the design stage. His responsibilities were then extended to cover all mechanical parts in the installation (of a total value in the range of €150 m), with numerous contracts in Europe and the USA. He eventually became responsible for launching the wind tunnel and for its operation during the first few years. In 1999, he returned to Onera as Head of Experimental Techniques in Modane, and simultaneously acted as the manager of the commercial team for wind tunnels in Châtillon. At the start of 2003, he became head of the Engineering and Scale Models Department (DRIM), where he remained until 1 October 2007, when he was appointed head of GMT.

Patrick Wagner has already set goals in terms of adapting the ‘wind tunnel’ range to his clients’ new development cycles. The priority is to incorporate both numerical simulations and wind tunnel simulations within the same services. He also intends to improve the department’s competitiveness via technological innovations in the way scale models are created and the way signals are processed, on the one hand, and in the technology of measuring methods on the other hand.

Last Update: December 17, 2007 - © ONERA 2009 - Terms of use