Yogesh Sharma still holds the record for shaking the most hands in a mere eight hours. However, Sharma's stunt did nothing to raise awareness about cancer. Although UD student Michael Doyle did not reach his intended goal of shaking 32,000 hands, he did raise awareness about a serious disease.

Doyle, senior mechanical engineer major, wanted to break Sharma's record to call attention to cancer and raise money for research. However, after shaking only 2,742 hands during the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, he was kicked out. Doyle and counters were with the Guinness float and fell behind, Doyle said.

The security guards did not believe the group when they said they were a part of the parade and made them leave, Doyle said. Being taken out of the parade did not deter Doyle from seeking more handshakes; however, Doyle found that he 'lost credibility' when he was no longer connected with the parade, and people were more reluctant to shake his hand.

For Doyle, the fight against cancer is personal.

'Cancer took away both of my grandmothers,' he said. 'Of course I wanted to go after it.'

Doyle said he prepared for his event by 'squeezing tennis balls, swimming, and lifting weights.'

Doyle had tremendous help from UD's Marketing Club and students from Ohio State, Bowling Green and Xavier. Doyle said he raised about $3,000 in addition to the $1,000 he raised previously. Although he did not quite reach his goal, future campaigns against cancer are in the works.

'The fight against cancer is not going to end today or tomorrow,' he said.

He said attempting to break the world record for handshaking was to 'grab attention' and 'raise as much money as possible.' The use of the handshake was also symbolic. Doyle said a handshake was a greeting, and by using a greeting to raise both money and awareness for cancer research, 'we can greet a better tomorrow.'

The donations Doyle and company raised are being given to the American Cancer Society.