Calvin Hosts Michigan Governor

A Calvin College engineering professor and six students presented a seminar on wind energy to a very special guest on February 20 at the college's Bunker Interpretive Center.

Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, who has made alternative and renewable energy a focus for her administration, sat front and center as professor Matt Heun and his students walked Granholm through recent Calvin efforts to harness the power of the wind, including a grant from the state of Michigan to install a demonstration turbine on Calvin's campus.

"We take our mandate to be stewards of creation very seriously," said Heun to begin the approximately 20-minute presentation. The fulfillment of that mandate, he went on, involves working on sustainable technologies.

Indeed the roof above the governor's head was a vivid demonstration of that commitment to sustainability with its photovoltaic system that partially powers the Bunker Interpretive Center. And the center itself (one of very few LEED gold certified buildings on a college campus) is also an example of Calvin's recent work on sustainability.

Calvin's demonstration turbine will be put into place this spring and is expected to generate two kilowatts of energy for lighting and computers in the Bunker Center.

After Heun's remarks a sextet of students all sketched out a different portion of the demonstration turbine project for Granholm.

Concluding the presentation, Heun told the governor, "We're hoping that you've been able to get a sense that learning opportunities abound here. We're educating tomorrow's leaders for new technologies."

Granholm praised the enterprising nature of the wind energy demonstration project and said it lined up well with Michigan's goals to establish new technologies. "You're probably aware that this is an area as a state that we should be capitalizing on," she said. "This state can be a magnet state for both wind and solar industries."

Granholm also praised Calvin's faith-based emphasis on stewardship: "I'm so pleased to hear that undergirds what you're doing here because that is so critical." she said. "Thank you so much for your leadership on this."