Section: 4

Major: Astrophysics

Future plans: I’m not planning on going to grad school but I might change my mind, who knows! I would really like a job in data, nothing specific. I also want to travel so hopefully my job will include that, and if not, I’ll likely take a gap year and travel Europe!

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Don’t be scared to work in groups, it helps so much to get input from others on all of the different approaches to each problem. Read the feedback and adjust accordingly! The feedback is there to help you succeed and we just want the best for you!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? I highly recommend going to help room, and utilizing all of the other help options (piazza, asking ULAs, and even talking to your group).

Fun fact about me: I have three part time jobs, one of which is observing at the MSU observatory! I work through MORP, a research program where I observe transiting exoplanets from sundown to sunrise.

Email: arndtale@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Biosystems Engineering

Future plans: I actually don't know! I've been looking for internship opportunities anywhere I can but I'm not too sure on my future career.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Don't stress about the problems too much. The problems can seem really scary and complicated but I promise if you take it step by step with your group you can do anything in this class.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Reread the notes and come to help room. The notes and equations are a huge resource and help room is amazing for clearing up anything that may still be confusing.

Fun fact about me: Eminem used to live in the neighborhood across from mine

Help room hours: Mondays 10 - 11 am

Email: bauertru@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Future plans: Graduate and see where is takes me, maybe grad school or a cool job.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: My biggest pieces of advice would be to make sure to do the notes before hand and to be open to new perspectives within your group.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? QUESTIONS!! Help room is extremely helpful because of the one-on-one help where you can work through your problems!

Fun fact about me: I have two little dachshunds named Rocco and Diesel.

Help room hours: Mondays 5-6 pm

Email: bednardo@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Astrophysics

Future plans: I’m honestly not sure! I plan on getting my PhD, and my dream is to start my own business that leads in space innovation and exploration.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Have an open mind. Those who haven’t experienced a flipped classroom environment yet may not enjoy or understand its usefulness until they adjust to it. I promise it’s worth it!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Go to help room! Use Piazza! Ask questions! The EM/P-cubed staff are at your disposal, and here to help whenever it’s needed.

Fun fact about me: I’ve been singing since the 4th grade, and I am the current director of the MSU Grand Canonical Ensemble (Physics Choir). Contact me if you’re interested in joining!

Email: copel116@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Biosystems Engineering

Future plans: Attend med school or a PhD program

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Get comfortable with your groups and make connections outside of just physics.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Go to your group first, that’s why they’re there! Ask for clarification or an explanation. Beyond that, help room is a great time to get assistance and discussion boards are helpful too.

Fun fact about me: I’m licensed to operate a forklift.

Email: dashner1@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Computer Science

Future plans: Make enough money to have an absurd number of pets and plants!

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Don't be afraid to be wrong! It's better to facilitate discussions in your group than for everyone to sit there stumped.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? You can always ask your group mates and the teaching staff in class, there is a reason the class is structured the way it is. Secondly, go to help room!!! It's a super valuable resource that can help with homework or conceptual questions.

Fun fact about me: I love to draw and paint, especially things from nature like plants and animals!

Help room hours: Tuesdays 5-6 pm

Email: dawsonfa@msu.edu

Section: 5

Major: Astrophysics

Future plans: Would love to work for NASA or be a part of a research team for further space exploration.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Go into the class with an open mind. It might seem like a lot at first but it gets easier if you are on top of the work!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Help room is your best friend. There is nothing that helped me more than help room please utilize it!

Fun fact about me: I have lived in 8 different places

Help room hours: Mondays 11-12 pm

Email: doddamre@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Future plans: Grad school! I am currently interviewing for PhD programs in Pharmacology and Biomedical sciences.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Don't be afraid to ask questions. The ULAs are here to help, and we probably had the same questions when we first took the class.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Come to helproom! It's a great place to ask questions about the homework, or even things you struggled with during class.

Fun fact about me: I am currently doing research on photosynthetic bacteria!

Help room hours: Mondays 6-7 pm

Email: donnera2@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Future plans: Something in automotive testing and manufacturing.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Get to meet your group mates, don't be afraid of failure and stay on top of your work!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Watch the videos/read the readings more in depth, visit office hours, ask questions and collaborate with your group mates.

Fun fact about me: I had to get a haircut from my soccer team…was stuck with a mullet and finger tips for a year.

Help room hours: Tuesdays 6-7 pm

Email: dotymax1@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Future plans: To work in the biomedical field, designing medical devices.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Come to class prepared and make sure to talk with your group.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Come to help room and ask lots of questions!!

Fun fact about me: I love reading!

Help room hours: Mondays 1-2 pm

Email: jeffe122@msu.edu

Section: 5

Major: Chemical Engineering

Future plans: To work with chemicals, either to reduce waste or to create new solutions

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Read the notes before class, attempt every single homework question, and don't be afraid to ask for help!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Go to help room. It doesn't matter if you have homework questions or you are studying for the exam - help room will help you with any and all of it!

Fun fact about me: I have a lizard named Dan.

Help room hours: Piazza Discussion Board Manager - Thursdays & Fridays

Email: mintonem@msu.edu

Section: 5

Major: Computer Science, Minor in Business

Future plans: To work in AI and create solutions to problems all over the world.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Do the readings and make friends with your teammates! It will make the class much more enjoyable and you never know where a connection can take you.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Don't hesitate to reach out to the TAs or ULAs if you have any questions. We are always happy to help!

Fun fact about me: I love playing tennis with my friends and family on my off time!

Help room hours: Piazza Discussion Board Manager - Saturdays & Sundays

Email: mohabans@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Computational Data Science

Future plans: Graduate and move out to Cali for grad school, or a fun job in fintech

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: : Make sure you are taking the time to read the notes and attempt the examples yourself before you come to class. Knowing the content before coming to class is going to be super helpful.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Ask questions!! The content can be hard and confusing so the more you are willing to ask questions, the better it will be for you, plus we are here to help you so take advantage of it.

Fun fact about me: I can speak 5 languages fluently and am learning a sixth.

Help room hours: Tuesdays 7-8 pm

Email: nagikriz@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Computer Engineering

Future plans: Robotics and Automation! I love both software and hardware, so I see myself contributing to hardware design and describing the logic that runs them as well.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: View things explosively, do each thing one at a time, and see where and how the different parts of E&M intersect or diverge. Stories are usually easy to understand and remember, so when you can, animate what you learn.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Discuss your challenges with your teammates, and 100% utilize Helproom. ULAs and instructors are ever ready to help guide you to resolve your challenges.

Fun fact about me: I love Gospel arrangements for Jazz and Neo-soul.

Help room hours: Mondays 12-1 pm

Email: narhmate@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: Computer Science

Future plans: Graduate and hopefully get into dental school

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Be open-minded and ready to learn! Get to know your groupmates.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Take good notes (re-watch the videos if still confused), come to help room, and ask your groupmates. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, we are here to guide you through!

Fun fact about me: I fell from a scooter and broke my front two teeth.

Help room hours: Mondays 2-3 pm

Email: parkeu24@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Math

Future plans: Do a lot of math. Hopefully enough to get a PhD.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Come to class prepared and make friends with your groupmates!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Come to the help room often! All of us LAs are on your side and want you to succeed.

Fun fact about me: I have a Mexican Street Dog named Delso.

Help room hours: Thursdays 6-7 pm

Email: procto86@msu.edu

Section: 5

Major: Electrical Engineering

Future plans: Work on projects that have a strong focus on sustainability. I would also love to work globally.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Challenge yourself by stepping into different roles and don’t fear being wrong. Doing notes before class and being engaged during class is the best way to learn.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Try switching to active learning methods! There’s a lot of resources online but some of my favorite methods in summary: teaching the content to someone or an imaginary person, practice problems, after class write down any important processes/ideas from memory right away and then fill in knowledge gaps with your notes. Also come to help room for anything you need help with!

Fun fact about me: I am half Macedonian half Serbian.

Help room hours: Mondays 9-10 am

Email: ristosk2@msu.edu

Section: 5

Major: Computer Engineering

Future plans: Work in embedded systems or software development. Autonomous vehicles or smart devices seem like interesting applications.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Come to each class prepared by reading the notes or coming in with questions on the material. Also, don’t be afraid to share your ideas or to let others share theirs.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? There are a lot of modes of resources we throw at you to learn the material in this class. Find what works best for you. Help Room and Piazza are great resources.

Fun fact about me: As a side project for interns this summer at my place of employment, we built a go-cart from scratch to race other teams.

Help room hours: Piazza Discussion Board Manager - Tuesdays

Email: sande501@msu.edu

Section: 3

Major: Computer Science

Future plans: not coding

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Try to build good connections with your group and trust the process, you will get better.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Watch the videos and read the topics, take notes. Discuss with your group and EMP-Cubed instructors.

Fun fact about me: I'm from Turkey and my hometown is in 2 continents

Help room hours: Thursdays 5-6 pm

Email: unerbora@msu.edu

Sections: 3 & 4

Research Area: Physics Education Research

Description of research in that area: I am currently researching the ways in which computational thinking manifests in introductory physics classrooms, and how we can guide curricular design to promote computational thinking engagement.

What excites you about physics: I find that learning physics is very exciting; the notion of understanding the ways in which the universe operates is quite fascinating. I grow more intrigued as I learn about new phenomena, and I feel as though I have truly found my passion.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: Stay ahead of schedule by reviewing ideas before class, because it will make class time feel much more productive

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? I’d recommend reaching out to an LA who could point you in the right direction of where a valuable resource might be for your unique situation, including online notes, homework problems, exam prep folders, help room, discussion board, etc.

Fun fact about me: I play piano and have a big cat named Solomon who is the ruler of our apartment

Help room hours: Tuesdays 5-6 pm, Piazza Discussion Board Manager - Mondays

Email: botttheo@msu.edu

Section: 4

Major: PhD in physics

Future plans: Becoming a professor and or making a career out of nuclear physics research

Advice on how to approach P-Cubed: Write things out and organize your thoughts and information in a way that flows for you. If you haven't tried it much, try writing things in variable form and see the broader relationships between the things present in the expression! If you don't know if an answer makes sense, compare it to something you do know and see if the units work out. Order of magnitude estimates and unit checks are your friend!

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class?: Go to office hours or the help room! Either are great options that will save you a lot of head racking all while being a great way to establish connections with your peers and physics faculty. Finding help does not make you a lesser student, but rather shows that you know how to use your time efficiently and utilize the resources available to you to learn. Be patient with yourself. Physics can be hard, and it took hundreds of years for humans to collectively figure this stuff out. You are learning it in a few months.

Fun fact about me: I have lived in 8 states!

Email: graybird@msu.edu

Section: 5

Degrees: B.A. in Physics, Ph.D. in Physics with research area in high energy astrophysics

Research/Interest Area: Particle astrophysics

Description of research in that area: My research focuses on ultra-relativistic particles coming from deep space, especially neutrinos, both attempting to understand where and how they are produced and to use them to study their fundamental properties. Most of my work is related to two projects: the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE) off Vancouver Island. Several undergrads work in my research group – if you're interested, let me know!

What excites you about physics: Physics is both a great way to learn about cool aspects of the world around us, and also a toolkit that's useful for thinking about a very broad range of problems: breaking them down into models, applying quantitative reasoning or computation to understand what the models predict, and using graphs and data to evaluate evidence.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: EMP-Cubed asks you to go beyond little self-contained “crossword-puzzle physics” problems and learn how to think about and model bigger, more open-ended problems. The point is not to memorize equations, but to be able to apply them to whatever crazy new situation you're given. Be sure to prepare before class so that you can apply the new principles to the problems we'll work on. There won't always be a single right answer, and the hardest part is usually figuring out a reasonable model to apply.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Don't be reluctant to ask for help, and don't convince yourself that everything's OK because you understand things once someone explains them to you. Physics takes practice, and the LAs, TAs, and faculty are here to be your coaches and help you learn.

Fun fact about me: I've been to the South Pole three times.

Help room hours: Mondays 4-5 pm, or by appointment

Email: tdeyoung@msu.edu

Section: 3 & 4

Degrees: B.S. in Engineering Physics; M.S. in Physics; Ph.D. in Physics, research area in Physics Education Research

Research/Interest Area: My research area is Physics Education Research.

Description of research in that area: My research has focused on the development and evaluation of active learning (non-lecture) physics classes, particularly introductory mechanics and E&M. Most recently, my research has focused particularly on two areas: 1) how we can make active learning classes more accessible and 2) how students develop scientific practices in physics courses, including computational thinking skills.

What excites you about physics: I love the explanatory power of physics and that physics can explain what happens in every day life - like how metal detectors work or how power is generated or how the electric grid is set up.

Advice on how to approach EMP-Cubed: This class is about more than getting a final answer, it's about understanding the process and understanding what your final answer actually means. Spend the time understanding the assumptions that are in the notes and in the problems, and really evaluate your answers. It's ok if they aren't completely realistic, the important part is to be able to identify why they aren't realistic and what the effects are on your solution.

What do you recommend doing if you are struggling in class? Remember that you have a lot of resources in this class. In addition to help room, you have your instructors in class, you have your group mates, there's piazza discussion boards, and the notes. Don't be afraid of not knowing something - it is always worth it to ask questions or say something if you don't get an idea/concept!

Fun fact about me: I love to cook and bake. Most recently, I've learned to make panna cotta from scratch (I've decided it's basically just fancy pudding) and a variety of homemade sausages. I'm also learning how to make lots of different breads as an ongoing project.

Help room hours: Mondays 3-4 pm, or by appointment

Email: mcpadden@msu.edu