Dr. George R. Lester

George R. Lester, President of George Lester, Inc., is a consultant on catalysts in environmental and energy conservation applications. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Dr. Lester retired in 1996 as Senior Research Fellow at AlliedSignal after almost thirty-eight years with AlliedSignal, Signal Companies, UOP, and Universal Oil Products Company.

He is known internationally for his contributions to heterogeneous catalysis - most notably for his involvement in the development of the original automotive exhaust catalysts and for extensions of that technology to create new business opportunities in environmental, air purification, and energy-conservation applications. He holds 45 US Patents and has authored over 50 technical publications. He chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis in 1991, and in 1992 was elected a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers for his contributions to automotive exhaust emissions control. He represented AlliedSignal on the White House Policy Dialogue Committee to Reduce Automobile Greenhouse Emissions in 1994-5. He was awarded the 2002 E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry by the American Chemical in April, 2002.

Dr. Lester was a pioneer in the development of catalysts designed to destroy all three of the noxious auto exhaust pollutants (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides), and developed one of the earliest catalysts (LEANOX™) for destruction of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust of fuel-lean automotive and stationary engines. He directed a program to develop advanced catalysts for use in Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) processes for removing NOx from flue gases of electric power plants, waste incinerators, and industrial boilers. An industrial catalyst business built on catalysts for destruction of halogenated organics that were developed by George and his group was sold to Degussa in 1995. He was a key player in programs leading to catalysts for protection against chemical warfare attack, and is one of the inventors of the very lightweight catalytic converter that is being used for removal of ozone from the cabin pressurization air on the Boeing 777 and other airliners.

During his final years at AlliedSignal, Dr. Lester was involved in the development of catalytic combustors for very clean and highly efficient gas turbine engines for hybrid electric autos. The NOx emissions of these engines are very low because the catalyst inside the combustor allows operation at fuel/air ratios (and thence temperatures) so low that virtually no NOx is formed in the combustor. These catalysts were developed by AlliedSignal in programs supported by several US and European government agencies and auto makers, including DOE/Ford and a consortium including Renault, Peugeot, Volvo and the French and Swedish governments (AGATA).

Dr. Lester is a 1954 graduate of Berea College, and received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physical Chemistry from the University of Kentucky in 1956 and 1958, respectively.

Monday, April 12, 2004
 · 6:00 pm - Dinner

Tuesday, April 13, 2004
 · 8:30 - 9:00 AM - Drive to campus
 · 9:00 - 11:00 AM - Meet with faculty and students, campus and department tour
 · 11:00 - 12:00 PM - Lunch
 · 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lecture
 · 1:00 - 2:00 PM - Meet with students and faculty