MAJ Dave Pert Instructor Physics and Nuclear Engineering dave.pert [at] westpoint.edu About Education Research & Publications Major Dave Pert commissioned into the Ordnance Corps from ROTC in 2010, completed Explosive Ordnance Disposal school in 2012, and transferred into Functional Area 52 (Nuclear and Counter WMD) in 2020. He holds an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology with a thesis in machine learning for nuclear fuel cycle detection, a B.A. in Physics from Wright State University with a published senior project in fast-curing organic scintillator characterization, and a B.A. in Psychology from Binghamton University. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.MAJ Pert served as a Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer for the 663rd Ordnance Company (EOD) and Assistant S3 for the 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) at Fort Carson, CO. During this time, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 13-14. MAJ Pert commanded the Headquarters and Headquarters Company for 710th Brigade Support Battalion at Fort Polk, LA. He was selected for Training With Industry as a Guest Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM, with a follow-on utilization as a Combat Developer and Officer Training Developer in Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, VA.MAJ Pert married Lydia in 2014 and they have two cats, Sheldon Coo-Pert and Pamela Hal-Pert. He is a private pilot, skydiver, scuba diver, travel hacker, firearms enthusiast, and bourbon snob. M.S., Nuclear Engineering - Air Force Institute of TechnologyB.A., Physics - Wright State UniversityB.A., Psychology - Binghamton University Research Interests Nuclear weapon design, nuclear counterproliferation Current Research Machine learning applied to nuclear fuel cycle detection, Characterization of high-Z loaded, fast-curing, plastic scintillators, Selected Publications Pert, D.C., B.J. Borghetti, A.L. Franz, D.E. Holland, and A.A. Bickley, "Explainability for Machine Learning Applied to Nuclear Fuel Cycle Detection," Journal of DoD Research and Engineering 8, no. 1 (2025): 9–24. (S//NF)Pert, D.C., T.W. Stephens, B.G. Frandsen, J.J. Manfredi, M.T. Febbraro, N.J. Cherepy, and A.W. Decker, "Characterization of Novel High-Z Loaded Fast-Curing Plastic Scintillators," Journal of Radiation Effects: Research and Engineering 41, no. 1 (2023): 191–199.