CST462S Service Learning Experience
CST462S Service Learning Experience
Experience with Noble Reach Foundation and Sunereum Labs
Over the course of CST462S, I was provided the opportunity to conduct my service learning in a new format, consequently gaining a unique opportunity to explore a field and it's technology I never would have either considered or been exposed to prior. This was provided through the Noble Reach Foundation, a non-profit that was able to pair a group of us students with a startup in the field of renewable energy and work towards developing a Minimum Viable Product under the mentorship of the startup, Sunereum Labs. Resembling the speed of a startup, we were provided with a problem space, dealing with risk assessment in the solar insurance landscape, and were tasked with conducting interviews with stakeholders and beneficiaries in the respected industry. With these interviews, we were able to collect qualitative data that would confirm or deny our hypotheses about the problems in the space week by week. This allowed us the capability to further refine our MVP, and gain clear insights into its potential as a product.
I think overall, as a group, I could not have had better teammates. As communication was open, available, and we were all willing to contribute and wear the hats necessary to get our goals accomplished. Especially for a course like this, which required consistent collaboration in order to learn from each other's previous interviews and research experiences. I definitely enjoyed all of my interviews, although getting them through cold calling was a difficult task, I found that every person I had the chance to, was sincere, and genuine in assisting my understanding of the topic, especially in the early weeks when the solar insurance space was quite novel to me.
In terms of improvement, I do think we had a bit of a hangup with obtaining interviews, especially in the first week, and it set us back some since we were not able to obtain references from the available interviewers either. I'd suggest that the initial contacts provided for the first week are made aware, and have ready available contacts for reference. This most likely would allow the team to maintain momentum and make the transition a bit smoother, since at the start we were generally new to the space and did not know quite how to approach and talk about the problem space quite yet.
In terms of challenges, I know in the middle of the course we were on the path of unveiling the solution that Sunereum Labs was planning to do, however in the process we overlooked the minimum, in our MVP. Essentially we were theorizing about a final product, when what we should have done, was to approach our problem through an MVP lens. Having a thorough MVP tree is vital for doing this, and really breaks down the foundation of potential solutions you are presented with when you collect the data.
As for advice to future SL students, I'd say if you're tasked to take on track 2, consider the amount of teamwork that is required, and look to put your best foot forward, in every aspect. Conducting interviews can be scary or difficult, but I've found that making direct connections and asking personable questions really opens up the floor and allows you to ask the meaningful questions you want to be answered. It also has been a good form of networking as I have been in regular communication with a few of my interviewees, updating them on our progress, and also inquiring further into topics we covered in our interviews.
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