Volkswagen Hosts E Lab Showcase
Chattanooga, Tenn. (WDEF) — Volkswagen hosted its annual E Lab showcase at their Chattanooga Conference Center Friday.
The event brought students and parents from all over Hamilton County to one place to show off their various creations, all put together thanks to the E Labs sponsored by VW.
Mario Duarte, Training and Development Leader at Volkswagen told us, “Sometimes we don’t realize what’s happening in our schools in Hamilton County. We have 55 of them with Volkswagen E Labs. It’s the highest concentration of that type of E Lab in the entire world. Our kids are having the opportunity to build, to create, to think big, and it is something that a lot of places would love to have. That is something that we have in Hamilton County.”
One of the main attractions was a 3d printed VW ID Buzz.
Michael Stone VP Innovative Learning, Public Education Foundation told us, “With the partnership with Volkswagen and Hamilton County schools since the fall we’ve been working with more than 40 schools students, and those schools have 3-D prints and more than 3000 pieces to produce a 100% scale version model of the VW ID Buzz. That Buzz has been assembled by staff members, by students, as early as five and six years old, kindergarten, first grade, all the way to post-grad students to come together put pieces together. Problem solved side-by-side just in the last six days. It’s still a work in progress, but we are so excited about this kind of collaborative effort we get to have with our partners, our students, with our community.”
The E Labs across Hamilton County give kids an opportunity to use high-tech tools that they otherwise might not have access to.
Mario Duarte told us, “For us the development of our kids, of our students has to be something that is hands-on in an environment which they can collaborate, which they can think critically, in which they can try, fail, and try again. That’s development and that’s exactly what happens with the Volkswagen E Labs.”
Two new e-Labs will be opening at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary and East Brainerd Elementary in August.
