Forum: Breaking World Records
Note: This course is cancelled for Fall 2024
FORUM: Breaking World Records HNRS 300H1-007
Thursday 5:00-6:15 P.M., FALL 2024, GEAR 129
Note: This is a one-credit course. Only register for one hour of course credit.
This course is cancelled for Fall 2024
Did you ever wonder what it takes to break a world record? One way you can do it is
to be Lebron James and score more than anyone in history by pure talent. Another way
is to be like Robert Waldow and be the tallest man ever by genetics. Or you could
be like Amelia Earhart and be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic based on
her skill, facing adversity, and never give up attitude. But how many of you know
who Dick Fosbury is? What did he do to break a record? (HINT...it combines science
and sports) This class will not just be about learning record breaking figures, but
also about how to identify limitations that can be overcome to break records. This
includes identifying a difficult problem that might have a solution, figuring out
a creative way to approach it based on fundamental principles, marketing the record-breaking
method, and then going for it. It won't be easy, maybe we will fail, but we will do
everything we can to show that students from all backgrounds, working together, can
indeed break a world record. And if we do break said record, making sure everyone
is there to witness it. Are you ready to try???
About Jamie Hestekin:
Jamie Hestekin received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1995 from
the University of Minnesota, Duluth and his PhD in chemical engineering in 2000 from
the University of Kentucky under the advisement of Dr. D. Bhattacharyya. He spent
three years at Argonne National Laboratory where he worked on a research project that
won a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2006. He spent 3 years at Kraft Foods while co-inventing
the milk component of Tassimo Hot Beverage System. He is an associate professor at
the University of Arkansas where he has won a faculty gold medal, one of 7 given out
campus wide each year for outstanding service to undergraduates; was in the inaugural
class of the Honors College distinguished faculty award, one of 10 given out university
wide; has been to the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering and
Frontiers of Engineering Education Camps; was conference co-chair for the 2012 North
American Membrane Society Annual Meeting; and currently serves as secretary for the
North American Membrane Society as well as many other activities. Hestekin students
have won many national awards including 4 NSF graduate research fellowships, a Ford
Foundation Fellowship, a DOD SMART fellowship, 1 Goldwater Fellowship (2 honorable
mentions), 2 EPA GRO Fellowships, and many other awards.