Research & Applied Work
Kurt Pasque
Decision Boundaries · Robust ML · Neural Reasoning
My research is centered on neural-network decision boundaries: what geometry they learn, how that geometry relates to robustness, and where it breaks. I use tropical geometry as both an analytical tool and a way to build new architectures, then test the ideas under adversarial perturbations, noise, and distribution shift.
U.S. Navy officer · Data Scientist, Naval Education and Training Command · Research Collaborator, Naval Postgraduate School
Selected Research
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Phylogenetic Tree Inference with Tropical Axial Attention
Accepted August 6, 2026
Tropical axial attention for learning phylogenetic distance structure from multi-species sequence alignments. Code · Preprint.
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Tropical Attention: Neural Algorithmic Reasoning for Combinatorial Algorithms
Introduces tropical attention for neural algorithmic reasoning, using max-plus structure in place of standard dot-product attention. Code.
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Adversarially robust neural network decision boundaries via tropical geometry
Connects tropical-geometric structure in neural decision boundaries with empirical adversarial robustness.
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Tropical Geometry in Neural Networks: A Novel Defense against Adversarial Attack
My master's thesis on tropical representations of neural networks and adversarial robustness.
Selected Work
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Challenge Winner · Individual Effort · 2026
Human Capital Optimization Challenge
I built an LLM workflow in GenAI.mil and the War Data Platform to estimate the marginal strategic value of more than 6,000 tags applied to Navy billets. The analysis was designed to help prioritize manpower requirements under a constrained budget.
The project won the directorate's Human Capital Optimization Challenge. I received the award at AFCEA East in spring 2026 and later briefed the workflow to other organizations working through similar AI-integration problems.
Award presentation · AFCEA East, spring 2026 -
Tropical Attention
Co-developed the research and contributed substantially to the implementation of Tropical Attention, including the model and experiment code used in the NeurIPS work. Repository · Baran-phys/Tropical-Attention.
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Universal Reasoning Models
Experiments with recursive reasoning models and tropical-attention variants on ARC-AGI, Sudoku, and related reasoning tasks. Repository.
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Tropical Axial Attention Reproduction Pipeline
Research code for simulating data, running the model, constructing phylogenetic trees, evaluating results, and aggregating experiments. Repository.
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Eval First Draft + FitRep First Draft
Built and released two small drafting tools for Navy evaluations and fitness reports, with a simple front end and API-backed generation. I iterated on them from user feedback and failure cases. Eval First Draft · FitRep First Draft.
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Naval Postgraduate School Return on Investment Analysis
Developed quantitative measures for estimating and communicating the return on investment of graduate education at the Naval Postgraduate School. Repository.
Background
Experience
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Data Scientist · Naval Education and Training Command
Works on AI integration, training modernization, and data products for senior decision-makers at NETC.
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Research Collaborator · Naval Postgraduate School
Collaborates on research in tropical geometry, neural algorithmic reasoning, and robustness.
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Division Officer · U.S. Navy Pay and Personnel Support Center
Built UiPath automations for back-office workflows and led transition activities from legacy systems to Salesforce CRM.
Education
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Naval Postgraduate School · M.S., Operations Research
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United States Naval Academy · B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Recognition & Certifications
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Human Capital Optimization Challenge Winner
ASN M&RA MAHRS directorate · Individual effort · Award presented at AFCEA East, spring 2026. Project & award photo.
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Research Recognition
INFORMS Military & Security Society Donald P. Gaver, Jr. Thesis Research Award winner (2025) · MORS Stephen A. Tisdale Graduate Research Prize finalist.
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Professional Credentials
Certified Analytics Professional-Expert · Professional in Human Resources · UiPath Certified Advanced RPA Developer · Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.