The Chattanooga Engineers Society has presented Volkswagen employee Alexander Faupel with the 2016 Chattanooga Area E-Week Young Engineer of the Year award.
Faupel started his VW career in Chattanooga as an engineering associate at the automaker's new North American Engineering and Planning Center (EPC) last summer taking responsibility for exterior glass and plastic parts development.
Earlier, he spent three months with Volkswagen in Germany to support the midsize sport utility project. VW is spending $600 million in Chattanooga to start assembly of the SUV by late this year.
"Congratulations to Alex. We are very proud and happy to have him on the EPC team," said Dr. Matthias Erb, executive vice president of engineering and planning, in a statement. "Volkswagen keeps attracting young talents who help us in our ongoing effort to develop vehicles specifically for the U.S. market."
Faupel received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 2015.
The Engineering and Planning Center serves as a high-level research and development facility and houses product-related functions such as product engineering, innovation management, and product management.
Th EPC joins the production, purchasing and sales efforts currently operating in the North American region.
Chattanooga E-Week is organized through the Chattanooga Engineers Society and celebrates its 65th anniversary this year. E-Week promotes STEM activities and engineering scholarships in the Chattanooga area.