Victor Poirier is a professor at the USF Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation, former CEO and president of Thermo Cardiosystems, and former chief technology advisor for Thoratec Corp. He is internationally recognized as a pioneer of artificial heart technology and invented the Heartmate Technology used to take over the pumping function of the natural heart. He is a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He holds 17 U.S. patents and has published more than 110 papers. Poirier is the recipient of the Mediterranean Institute of Cardiology Award (France), the Himet Award, and the Barney Clark Award from the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, and was elected by his peers as the national "Engineer of the Year" (Design News, 1992), among other honors and awards. He has a BSME and MBA from Northeastern University and was an assistant professor at the Tufts School of Medicine. He has served as chairman of the board as a trustee of two hospitals. In 2013, he organized and chaired the International Gordon Research Conference on Assisted Circulation in Tuscany, Italy.