About us
The CTO Forum of the Rudolf Diesel Medal
The CTO Forum is a platform for technical executives that has evolved from the Rudolf Diesel Medal, a renowned German innovation award. The CTO Forum aims to make the contribution of technology and entrepreneurship to society visible and to promote the exchange and networking of its members. The CTO Forum offers various formats that are geared towards the topics on the global CTO agenda and enable a cross-industry, practical and personal discourse. The CTO Forum sees technology as a cultural contribution to social development and emphasizes the CTO's responsibility for the company's technical and digital vision.
Brand ambassador of the
CTO Forum
Our brand ambassadors stand out as leading personalities in the technology sector. With their commitment and ideas, they contribute to the further development and promotion of the CTO Forum.
We all need to ensure that we in Germany remain drivers of innovation in the 4th industrial revolution.
The members of the Rudolf Diesel Medal and its ambassadors are committed to these new challenges of digitalization.
Task of the Rudolf Diesel Medal.
The CTO Forum of the Rudolf Diesel Medal is an excellent platform for this.
The professional exchange with high-caliber colleagues in a pleasant atmosphere has always given me a lot of exciting ideas.
This social recognition and the associated emotion are important for the climate of innovation in our country.
Short vita
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Dr. h.c. Dieter Spath, born in 1952, studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. He then completed his doctorate at the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Engineering (IWB) at the Technical University of Munich. In 1981, Spath joined the KASTO Group, where he held various management positions, most recently as Managing Director, until his appointment to the University of Karlsruhe in 1992. Until 2002, he headed the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Engineering (wbk) at the University of Karlsruhe. Since 2002, Dieter Spath has been Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and the cooperating Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management (IAT) at the University of Stuttgart. During a leave of absence, Prof. Spath headed Wittenstein AG as CEO from 2013 to 2016. From 2016, he returned to the management of the two institutes and was Honorary President of acatech (German Academy of Science and Engineering) from 2017-2021. Since 2021, Dieter Spath has been President and Chairman of the Board of TÜV Rheinland Berlin Brandenburg Pfalz e.V.
In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Spath was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technical University of Munich in 2007. In 2008 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2013 an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania).
Promoting this was a concern of Rudolf Diesel, who himself was the ingenious inventor of an engine with over 50% efficiency.
One of the main tasks of the Diesel Medal and its ambassadors is to carry this spirit forward, to encourage and promote inventors and developers.
The CTO Forum 
brings those responsible for the technical vision of the company together. They are all passionate about innovation and think the opportunities of tomorrow.
Position of the industry councils of the Rudolf Diesel Board of Trustees
innovation
innovation
innovation
innovation
innovation
Advisory board of the
CTO Forum
The advisory board is made up of leading experts in various fields of technology. They contribute their expertise and innovative approaches to drive technological development and networking with qualified young talent. With around 25,000 engineers and technical experts, the advisory board supports targeted initiatives and promotes new thinking in a fast-moving, technically complex world.
Rudolf Diesel Medal
Rudolf Diesel Medal
Rudolf Diesel Medal
Rudolf Diesel Medal
Rudolf Diesel Medal
The Rudolf Diesel Medal
The Rudolf Diesel Medal is a prize awarded by industry for industry. The medal was donated by Eugen Diesel, the son of Rudolf Diesel. Since 1953, it has been awarded as a personal distinction for commercially successful innovative achievements.
