On a flight out of Houston, a cardiovascular surgeon and the passenger next to him, a drilling engineer, struck up a conversation about their respective professions, discussing a range of topics from blood vessels to extended-reach wells. As the exchange progressed, the heart doctor and engineer realized that underneath the specialized verbiage of each of their industries—whether drilling for oil or performing heart surgery —it’s all a matter of pumps and pipes. Since 2007, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, NASA, University of Houston, and now Rice University, have collaborated on the Pumps & Pipes Symposium. This annual event brings together innovators in the energy, medical, academia and aerospace industries, as well as venture capitalists and equipment manufacturers, to exchange ideas and explore crossover technologies. Our mission is Threefold: * Provide a platform to bring together professional groups who may not otherwise have the opportunity to interact for the transfer of knowledge and technology know-how * Be the leader in promoting cross-industry collaboration to solve challenging Pumps & Pipes problems * Help strengthen the educational offerings in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM)