LTC Scott Nestler, PhD

  

 

Brief Biography:

Lieutenant Colonel Scott Nestler was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Central Dauphin High School in 1985.  He graduated from Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in May 1989.  After completing the Air Defense Artillery Officer Basic and PATRIOT Officer courses, he was assigned to Battery A, 3rd Battalion (PATRIOT), 43rd Air Defense Artillery, at Fort Bliss, Texas.  During this assignment he deployed to Southwest Asia (SWA) for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as Fire Control Platoon Leader.  LTC Nestler returned to SWA as a Battery Executive Officer in 1992 and Tactical Director in 1994.  Between these deployments, he served as the Battalion Adjutant for 3-43 ADA.

Following attendance at the Air Defense Artillery Officer Advanced Course in 1994-95, LTC Nestler served as a Mentor for the PATRIOT Weapons Track of the Air Defense Artillery Officer Basic Course.  His next assignment was in the Republic of Korea, first as the Assistant S-3 (Operations) for 1st Battalion (PATRIOT), 43rd Air Defense Artillery, Suwon Air Base and later as the Commander, Battery D, 1-43 ADA, at Osan Air Base.

After completing the Combined Arms Staff Service School, LTC Nestler entered graduate school in the summer of 1997 at the Naval Postgraduate School  in Monterey, California.  He earned a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics in 1999 and reported to the Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he served first as an Instructor and later as an Assistant Professor.  Upon completion of three years of teaching (Discrete Dynamical Systems, Probability and Statistics, Applied Statistics, and Deterministic Modeling), he was assigned to Headquarters, Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1 as a Force Structure Analyst for two years. 

He completed three years of study for a PhD in Management Science in the Decision and Information Technologies department, R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.  He recently spent a year as a Research Analyst in the Operations Research Center (ORCEN), Department of Systems Engineering, USMA, was the Chief of Strategic Assessments for Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) in 2009.  LTC Nestler is currently the Director of the Center for Data Analysis and Statistics (CDAS) and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, USMA.

Publications:

[13]     “Cost-Benefit Analysis Trade-Space Tool as a Design-Aid for the U.S. Army Vehicle Health Management System (VHMS) Program,” joint work with Jason Hines, Lorri Bennett, Chris Ligetti, and Jeff Banks, Annual Conference of the Prognostics and Health Management Society. 2009.  [Available online]

[12]     “Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Quick-Reaction Analysis,” joint work with Andrew Hall, PHALANX, the Bulletin of the Military Operations Research Society. June 2009.  [Available online]

[11]     “OR Credentialing: What’s It All About,” joint work with Jennifer Leong, OR/MS Today. February 2009.  [Available online]

[10]      “Properties of Q-Statistic Monitoring Schemes for Start-Up Processes and Short Runs,” joint work with Paul Zantek, University of Minnesota.  Naval Research Logistics, April 2009.  [Available online]

[9]        “Empirical Analyses on Federal Thrift Savings Plan Portfolio Optimization,” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.  December 2007.  [Available online]

[8]        “Non-Gaussian Asset Allocation in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan,” Proceedings of the 2007 Winter Simulation Conference, Washington, DC.  December 2007. [Available online]

[7]        “Your Retirement Savings on Cruise Control:  A Critical Analysis of the TSP L Funds,” Phalanx, the Bulletin of the Military Operations Research Society, March 2007 [Available Online]

[6]        “Developing Strategic Leaders for the Army,” ARMY Magazine, September 2006 [Available Online]

[5]        “TTHS (Trainees, Transients, Holdees, and Students) Is Not A Four-Letter Work”, Land Power Essay 04-8W, Institute for Land Warfare, Association of the United States Army, November 2004. [Available Online]

[4]        “Changing Requirements or Officer Bloat?,” ARMY Magazine, February 2004 [Available Online]

[3]        " Statistical Analysis of Atmospheric Properties for Infra-Red Radiance Estimation of Ballistic Missiles," Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, 1999 [Available Online]

[2]        " Air Defense Artillery Officer Advanced Course Red Book," Air Defense Artillery School, Fort Bliss, Texas, 1994

[1]        " Airborne Warning and Control System / ADA Interoperability Guide," Air Defense Artillery School, Fort Bliss, Texas, 1994 (with Richard Anz)

Presentations:

"Is the Spaghetti Done? Analysis", Innovations Session, ORSA-Palooza, Baghdad, Iraq, October 2009.

"Credentialing for Operations Research Practitioners", Panel Session Moderator, INFORMS Conference on Operations Research Practice, Phoenix, Arizona, April 2009.

"Performance and Properties of Q-Statistic Monitoring Schemes", Sponsored Session on Monitoring and Diagnosis of Complex Engineering Systems, Quality, Statistics, and Reliability Section, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, October 2008.

"Mathematical Perspectives on the Federal Thrift Savings Plan", Benet Laboratories, Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, NY, July 2008

"Mathematical Perspectives on the Federal Thrift Savings Plan", 76th Military Operations Research Society Symposium, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, June 2008

"Don't Wait Too Long When Looking For Change", Center for Faculty Development, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, NY, November 2007

"Mathematical Perspectives on the Federal Thrift Savings Plan", Center for Faculty Development, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, NY, October 2007

"Independent Components Analysis", Center for Data Analysis and Statistics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, NY, September 2007

"Performance and Properties of Q-Statistics Monitoring Schemes", PhD Colloquium, Winter Simulation Conference 2006, Monterey, CA, December 2006

"Adapting LifeLines for Army Officer Personnel Processes,"  74th Military Operations Research Society Symposium, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, June 2006

"How Many Soldiers Do We Need at Key Experience Facilities:  A Discrete-Time Markov Chain Model,"  74th Military Operations Research Society Symposium, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, June 2006

"Military Manpower and Force Structure", U.S. Army Traveling Contact Team, Kiev, Ukraine, May 2003

"Mathematical Stabs at College Football", Center for Faculty Development, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, NY, April 2002

"Statistical Analysis of Atmospheric Properties for Estimation of Infrared Radiance of Ballistic Missiles", U. S. Army Conference on Applied Statistics, Rice University, Houston, TX, October 2000

Selected Activities:

Member, INFORMS Credentialing Committee, Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, 2008-present.

Reviewer, American Society for Engineering Management Conference, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2008.

Coordinator, Hollis Award for Outstanding Research in Operations Research, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2008.

 Working Group Co-Chair, 76th Military Operations Research Society Symposium, United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut, 2008.

Reviewer, American Society for Engineering Education Zone1 Conference, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2008.

Member, Parish Finance Committee, Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2008-present.

Officer Representative, Men’s Tennis Team, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2007-present.

Lector, Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2007-present.

Member, West Point Speakers Bureau, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2007-present.

Administrator, The Warlord Loop, www.warlordloop.org, 2006 – present.

Technical Director, 9th Annual Army Research Laboratory / U.S. Military Academy Technical Symposium, West Point, New York, 2002

Director, Computer Operations, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2001-2002

Director, Mathematical Sciences Laboratory, Department of Mathematical Sciences, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2001-2002

Technical Director, 9th Annual Army Research Laboratory / U.S. Military Academy Technical Symposium, West Point, New York, 2001

Advisor, Interdisciplinary Competition in Modeling, Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP), 2001

Member, Superintendent’s Honor Review Committee, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, New York, 2000-2002

Board Member, Christmas in April Monterey-Salinas, Monterey, California, 1997-1999

Research Interests:

Scott is interested in data analysis and visualization, decision analysis, and financial modeling.  Current projects include a variety of projects for the Center for Data Analysis and Statistics.

His PhD dissertation was titled Non-Gaussian Asset Allocation in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). 

His Masters’ thesis was titled Statistical Analysis of Atmospheric Parameters for Estimation of Infra-Red Radiance of Ballistic Missiles.  The abstract follows:  Missile defense systems currently under development rely on thermal Infra-Red (IR) seekers to detect and track incoming ballistic missiles.  Atmospheric properties, like temperature and density, can greatly affect the amount of IRE energy that is reflected off a targeted missile.  While many models to predict mean atmospheric conditions exist, there are no global models that account for the variability in these properties.  This shortcoming makes it difficult to assess uncertainty due to atmospheric conditions.  For this reason, a model that is adjusted for known extreme values is needed for use in describing the global behavior of atmospheric parameters.  This study is in support of MSIC’s development of a Bounded Earth Atmospheric Model (BEAM).  This study will attempt to create such a model through statistical analyses on an existing atmospheric model.  It is expected that BEAM will primarily be used by designers of IR sensors used in missile defense systems.

Memberships:

ASA (American Statistical Association)
AUSA (Association of the United States Army)
ADAA (Air Defense Artillery Association)
GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals)
IAFE (International Association of Financial Engineers)
INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science)
MOAA (Military Officers of America Association)
MORS (Military Operations Research Society)
SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)

Hobby Interests:

Cooking, Reading, Wine Collecting, Travel, Golf, Tennis

Awards and Decorations:

LTC Nestler's awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three Campaign Stars, the Iraqi Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star, the Korean Defense Service Medal,  the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), and the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal (Kuwait).  He has also earned the Parachutist Badge.

Last updated on 7 January 2010