Recently, Grand Valley State University was named as one of only 12 universities in the country to offer a certificate in green technology. This approach to revolutionizing the work force and providing leadership is a cornerstone of the new GVSU initiative to create students who can lead the way into new technology. Leading the charge for this new kind of student is Norman Christopher, a graduate level professor and the Executive Director of the Sustainability Community Development Initiative at GVSU.

Christopher recently accepted an appointment to the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee which will report to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The 25-person committee will examine the export capabilities of the United States as it pertains to air, water and pollution.

“We do a lot with trade barriers,” Christopher said. “We also handle export assistance, better product ideas and technology.”

Christopher is the only member of the education system to be a part of the committee; the other members are business owners and trade experts. This, Christopher said, allows him to do what is in the best interest of the country.

“I’m the only one without a stake in the outcome,” he said. “Others may have the ‘I’ mentality, but I will only do what I see as the right thing.”

Last year, the United States gross domestic product grew last year by 2.9 percent, 1.5 percent of which was attributed to the export industry. Christopher, along with the rest of the committee, acts as facilitators of growth for export.

“We can’t just sell products anymore,” Christophers said. “They (other nations) don’t want products anymore, they want solutions.”

Christophers went on to explain that where we could once sell purification for contaminated water, we must now sell the technology for the nation to do it themselves. This change in the needs of our export partners creates a speed bump in the growth of the industry. The committee’s first task is to figure out what their partners want, before they even begin to sell.

“We separate them into two categories,” Christopher said. “Developing and developed. A developing nation is happy with the basic technologies, things like water purification. A developed nation may want the newest technologies.”

Christophers’ appointment will last through Oct. 2012, but he said that his role in government will have no effect on his position at GVSU.

“We only meet four times a year,” he said. “We do committee work in between, but we meet in Washington only four times a year.”

The ultimate goal, Christophers said, is to bring this back to Michigan. Once the structure is in place to make export of these technologies profitable, he hopes to get Michigan on the front line manufacturing it.

“There are over 100,000 jobs in green technology in Michigan. That is 3 percent,” he said. “Once we get students in there, that can grow to 5 or 7 percent.”

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