He coulda been a millionaire

Dale Masel

Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Dale Masel found himself sitting across from Regis Philbin after earning a spot on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in January.

Masel, 28, correctly answered six questions before missing a $16,000 query seeking the capital of Australia. Utilizing the show's "Ask the Audience" lifeline, Masel agreed with the 47 percent of audience members who chose Sydney over Canberra, Melbourne or Perth. But the audience was wrong. The answer was Canberra, and Masel walked away with $1,000.

Since then, Masel has been bombarded with calls from old friends and university faculty and students.

"It's been weird having people recognize me," he says. "Nobody's asked me for money yet - one of the few benefits of coming home with only $1,000."