Dial, May 2009: Lecture Series Aims to Inspire

He was followed in the next three days by Kipp Edick, an architect and student at the Yale University School of Architecture; Joey Coleman, who works on the business side of engineering; and Sevinc Yulcsel, a native of Turkey, a structural engineer, and the first female lecturer to visit Hackley since the series began in spring 2006. The final lecturer in the series will be Hackley alumnus Tim Reynolds, who just completed his freshman year at MIT.

Mr. Karpinski says he never has to offer any incentive to draw these speakers to campus. “They all love doing it. They take a day off from work, and come up here to talk. I think they enjoy getting the chance to reflect on their jobs, and talk about how they came to be where they are,” he said.

There have been some surprises in past years. “Someone realized during their [Hackley] presentation that they didn’t really like their job, that they had sort of lost what they were passionate about,” Mr. Karpinski said, “and within a few weeks they quit.” On the whole, Mr. Karpinski says his visiting lecturers are passionate about what they do. “One of my goals when I got this job was not to just teach my kids physics,” he said. “The principles of physics are not what I’m passionate about. What really interests me, and what these speakers show, is how to apply those principles in interesting ways.”

It’s with this goal in mind that Mr. Karpinski started his lecture program three years ago. “My first year we only had three lecturers,” he says, “and the past two years we’ve had five.” The guest lecturers enjoyed the experience so much that three of this year’s speakers are returning.

The speakers generally come with prepared presentations, using either note cards or Power-Points, and are asked to address a few specific questions. “When they’re talking to the 9th graders, I have them talk a little more about their experiences in high school. Were they always interested in physics? Because many of them weren’t,” Mr. Karpinski said.

The lecturers are here to explain not only how to break into a career in physics-related fields, but also “how they use physics every day.” This is the application of principles Mr. Karpinski is so eager to teach his students. “I think that’s more important than anything,” he said.