"The design of axial flow fans is a branch of engineering science which has been the subject of ad hoc study, but in view of the very wide use of the fan, surprisingly little really systematic scientific attention has been devoted to it…" Professor A.R. Collar, University of Bristol (1960).

Five decades elapsed since Professor Collar's introduction to the book Axial Flow Fans: Design and Practice, and today it is still difficult to find engineering conferences specifically focused on industrial fan technologies, addressing the aerodynamic, acoustic and mechanical challenges related to design.

The Fan 2012 Theoretical and Numerical Methods Track, is intended as a field open to discussion of those modelling issues that foster the advancement of industrial fan technology. The track is dedicated to the R&D experiences entailing the use of theoretical and numerical methods which drive the shift from empirical fan to industrial turbomachinery technology, and thus the development of a new generation of industrial fans.