Cordell Umland

Ph.D. Student in Physics at Auburn University | St. Norbert College Alumnus | BS in Physics (2025), BA in Mathematics (2025)

Auburn, Alabama, United States

About

I am a Ph.D. student in physics at Auburn University interested in experimental magnetized and dusty plasmas.

Experience

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant at Auburn University
    Aug 2025 - Present · 11 mos

    Graduate Teaching Assistant in introductory physics courses. Courses include PHYS 1600 (Engineering Physics I) and PHYS 1150 (Astronomy). Duties include: - Assist students with recitation problems during lab - Grade weekly quizzes, labs, homework, as well as essays, midterm, and final exams - Setup and alignment of telescopes - Weekly drop-in hours assisting students with homework problems in a variety of courses, including both algebra- and calculus-based introductory physics

  • DOE Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Intern at DIII-D National Fusion Facility
    Jun 2025 - Aug 2025 · 3 mos

    Worked with Laszlo Horvath and Raúl Gerrú Migueláñez on the LLAMA diagnostic. - Developing an analysis method to better understand how the diagnostic degrades throughout a campaign cycle - Evaluate changes observed in the LLAMA measurements during reference experiments due to changing wall conditions and diagnostic degradation.

  • St. Norbert College (De Pere, Wisconsin, United States · On-site)
    • Teaching Assistant
      Jan 2023 - May 2025 · 2 yrs 5 mos

      - Aid students in two entry-level physics courses during drop-in TA hours two hours per week - Report to respective professors of topics that students needed assistance for lecture improvement

    • Resident Assistant
      Aug 2022 - May 2025 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      - Contribute to supervising residents and responding to complaints, reports, requests, and emergencies - Create door decorations and bulletin boards as well as plan programs to help build community for fifty-three residents within an upper-class residence hall

    • Student Grader
      Aug 2022 - May 2025 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      - Grade twenty-two General Physics student’s homework for six hours weekly - Complete homework problems and create a grading scheme - Meet weekly with professor to review course content and confirm solutions and grading scheme - Give feedback to students for improvement on future work

  • NSF REU Summer Undergraduate Researcher at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
    Jun 2024 - Aug 2024 · 3 mos

    Worked with Dr. Xu Wang on dust charging mechanisms - Built a large-scale model of a dust particle microcavity to investigate two dust charging mechanisms: charge pumping and ion lensing - Used LabView and the Interface Description Language (IDL) to characterize plasma parameters inside a vacuum chamber with a Langmuir probe

  • Lifeguard at Clara R McKenna Aquatic Center
    Jun 2019 - Aug 2022 · 3 yrs 3 mos

    - Performed tests to determine water quality - Opened and closed facility - Taught swim lessons to 20 children of ages 6-11 years old for two summers