Opening Evening of the 66th International Engineering Fair (MSV) Introduces a New Special Award from the CEO

October 8, 2025 / 11:00 AM

The very first recipient of this new award became Thomas Alijew, owner of the Swiss company ALFLETH Engineering AG, who was honored for his continuous participation in the last fifty editions of MSV.

The traditional gala gathering of exhibitors and guests of Brno’s most prominent trade fair took on an unconventional format this year. Since the MSV Gold Medal competition is currently undergoing a conceptual transformation and will be relaunched in its new form next year, only two awards were presented during the first part of the evening.

For the first time in MSV’s history, the CEO’s Award was introduced. It was presented to Thomas Alijew, owner of ALFLETH Engineering AG, in recognition of his company’s uninterrupted participation in the last fifty MSV editions. His firm represents leading European machine tool manufacturers, and exhibiting at MSV in Brno has long been an inseparable part of its annual calendar.

In his acceptance speech, Thomas Alijew emphasized not only the high quality of the fair itself but also the strong tradition of Czechoslovak and Czech mechanical engineering. He urged government representatives present at the ceremony to place greater emphasis on supporting technical education, which he described as a key prerequisite for the continued development of engineering and other technical fields.

The second award of the evening was a traditional one — the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the development of Czechoslovak and Czech engineering, presented annually since 2006 to recognize outstanding figures in the field. This year’s laureate was Prof. Ing. František Pochylý, CSc., FENg., who has played a major role in developing a new type of vortex turbine, a significant innovation contributing to renewable energy generation.

The evening also featured speeches from VIP guests, who highlighted both the importance of MSV for the Czech economy and the inspiring focus of this year’s edition. Before a packed audience in the Rotunda of Pavilion A, the speakers included Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček, Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Karel Havlíček, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Zdeněk Zajíček, President of the Confederation of Industry and Transport Jan Rafaj, Deputy Mayor of Brno Filip Chvátal, and CEO of Veletrhy Brno Jan Kubata.

In the second part of the evening, the results of the long-standing Manager of the Year competition were officially announced — an event organized for more than 30 years by the Czech Management Association.