This past week, the Energy group had its second official out-of-class meeting to figure out a solid game plan. We realized that Internet research would not be enough to inspire a unique energy solution for the city of Vizag. Group members suggested methods to obtain some first-hand knowledge which are listed below:

• Organize a meeting with the professor to tap into his vast amounts of knowledge about Indian culture and social behaviors
• Contact a passionate citizen of Vizag who expressed interest below Natalie’s Youtube blog
• Reach out to a statistics professor at UC Berkeley who used to be a Vizag native in his time in India
• Design a survey that would encompass a variety of questions pertaining to energy use and find a way to distribute it among youth in Vizag
• Access primary sources like journals or scholarly articles about life in Vizag from an exclusive archive, perhaps one maintained by the Haas School of Business
• Meet a couple of international students already at UC Berkeley who are from Vizag

This week, we plan to start gathering local information by getting the ball rolling in at least a few of the above options. Our main purpose is to avoid seeming like a group of Americans coming into a foreign city and telling the indigenous people how they should do things while being completely out of touch with their way of life. There is a much higher chance of success if a good amount of time is spent understanding the perspective of the average citizen of Vizag. 

The Energy Group

Chaitanya Mittal, Trevor Dowds, Natalie Chyba, Wendy Ho, Mischa Fritz, Amy Nguyen