Valve World Expo, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial valves, is the ideal place to analyse the newest technological trends and find out about the sectors products and services. The fair is primarily directed at professional visitors from the oil and gas industry, shipbuilding, the marine and offshore industry, the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industry, the power and automobile industry, as well as mechanical and plant engineering and water management. The word “valves” can mean a lot of things, such as stopcocks, gates and flaps. All of these regulate and control the flow rates of liquids, gases and fluidised solids through pipes and also protect them from the environment. Valves are constructed in all sorts of sizes and according to different principles, depending on what tasks they will be used for. They are put to use in industrial plants, in farming, private households, in automobiles, heating and sanitary engineering. Valves have to function safely and reliably, in many cases under harsh operating conditions. The physical and chemical properties of the media being conveyed play a major role and their flowability, which may lead to shock-type loads. High pressures, extreme temperatures, aggressive and corrosive media both on the outside and inside also have an effect on valves. In power plants, for examples, valves can be exposed to abrasive substances, 400bar of pressure and temperatures of over 650C. Engineers designing valves also have to consider dangers such as electrostatic charging if the media being conveyed are explosive. The valve industry is segmented into many different companies, all specialised in making valves for certain applications. Makers of motors, pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders or mechanical devices, springs and gaskets belong to the industry’s suppliers. Valve makers face the task of having to create solutions designed to meet steadily increasing requirements, as well as having to maintain their position in the global market. Research and development activities are highly interdisciplinary, as valves are used in all areas of life. Next to materials science, other fields of engineering such as surface technology, fluid dynamics, design, foundry technology, product and drive engineering are all included, alongside the newer fields of nanotechnology and biomedicine.