‘The world needs pumps like the human body needs a heart’

At the time of writing this opinion editorial, the world is in a state of change. I started the month of March plugging away on planning committee activities for the Hydraulic Institute’s upcoming technical conference. I was also a proud father of one (with another child on the way). In a few short days, I saw the arrival of my second son just before COVID-19 transformed into a global pandemic that would radically alter day-to-day life for my family, my team and HI’s community of pump engineers and experts. Many of our member companies – and HI itself – have survived enough of history’s unprecedented challenges to know that this too shall pass. The world needs pumps like a human body needs a heart. But as shelter-in-place ordinances go into effect across the world, our members, staff and governments are deliberating on the criteria that makes certain services and products essential to a functioning society. And that got me thinking...