MIT’s Richard Lester to speak at engineering seminar series ANN ARBOR—Richard Lester, director of the Industrial Performance Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will be the featured lecturer in the Dean’s Seminar Series, scheduled for Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Ford Lecture Hall (Room 1610) on the first floor of the Industrial and Operations Engineering Building, 1205 Beal Ave., at the University of Michigan North Campus.

Lester, who is also a professor of nuclear engineering at MIT, focuses his research on technological innovation, productivity, and industrial competition. His latest book, “The Productive Edge: How American Industries are Pointing the Way to a New Era of Economic Growth,” examines the origins of America’s industrial revolution.

Lester’s topic for the seminar series is “Productivity and Creativity: Old Lessons from the New Economy, or New Lessons from the Old?”

A reception will follow his speech.

The Dean’s Seminar Series was established by Stephen Director, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, to welcome internationally renowned academicians and researchers to the U-M community to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and stimulate discussion on topics of importance in today’s world.

Richard LesterThe Productive Edge: How American Industries are Pointing the Way to a New Era of Economic GrowthStephen Director