Thor Martinsen, PhD

Thor Martinsen

      Captain, United States Navy
      Permanent Military Professor

      Dean of Students
      Naval Postgraduate School
      Monterey, CA 93943
      Phone: 831-656-2581
      Email: thor@nps.edu
      Web: https://tmartins1.wixsite.com/thor

 

 

EDUCATION:

 

PhD         Naval Postgraduate School, Applied Mathematics, 2017

MS           Naval Postgraduate School, Applied Mathematics, 2007

MS           Naval Postgraduate School, Computer Science, 2007

PgCert     Naval Postgraduate School, Mathematics of Secure Communications, 2006
BA           Skidmore College, Pure and Applied Mathematics, 2007

BS           Thomas Edison State College, Electrical Engineering Technology, 1996

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EXECUTIVE EDUCATION & TRAINING:

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• Navy Senior Leadership Seminar

• Navy Command Leadership School Commanding Officer's Course

• Navy Command Leadership School Executive Officer's Course

• Navy Military Justice Senior Officer's Course

 

NPS EXPERIENCE:

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• 2023 - Pres.   Dean of Students, Naval Postgradaute School

• 2020 - 2023.   Associate Chair for Student Program & Academic Associate, Department of Applied Mahematics

• 2020               Associate Dean, Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

• 2020 - Pres.   NPS Faculty Council Nominating Committee

• 2020               Member, NPS Provost Search Committee

• 2020               Member, GSEAS Dean Search Committee

• 2020 - Pres.   NPS Academic Command Assessment Board

• 2019 - 2023   NPS Faculty Council Execulive Board

• 2018 - 2019   Associate Chair for Research, Department of Applied Mathematics

• 2017 - Pres.   Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics

• 2017 - 2020   Assistant Professor, Cyber Academic Group

• 2017 - Pres.   Member, Center for Cyber Warfare

• 2017 - 2019   NPS Faculty Council Research Board Representative

• 2018 - Pres.   2020 NPS WASC Accreditation Steering Committee 

• 2017              President, NPS Honor Code Board

• 2012 - 2017   Lecturer, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Applied Mathematics

• 2015 - 2017   Applied Math PhD student

• 2012 - 2014   Program Officer, Electrical & Computer Engineering (590) and Applied Math (380) programs

• 2005 - 2007   Applied Math and Computer Science master’s degree student

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MILITARY EXPERIENCE:

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• 2023 - Pres.   Commanding Officer, NPS Military Student Element

• 2014 - Pres.   United States Navy Permanent Military Professor

• 2012 - 2014   NPS Program Officer, Electrical & Computer Eng. and Applied Math

• 2010 - 2012   Commanding Officer, Information Warfare Training Command Monterey (IWTCM)

• 2008 - 2009   Deputy Information Warfare Commander, PELELIU Expeditionary Strike Group (PELESG)

• 2007 - 2009   Cryptologic Resource Coordinator, Amphibious Squadron THREE

• 2003 - 2005   Electronic Warfare Officer and Ship’s Cryptologist, USS KEARSARGE (LHD-3)

• 2000 - 2003   Senior Watch Officer & Navy Department Head NSA/CSS Hawaii / NSGA Kunia

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HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE:

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• 2023 -Pres.

  Dean of Students , Naval Postgradaute School.

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• 2020

  Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science at NPS.

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• 2020 - 2023

  Associate Chairman for Student Programs, NPS Applied Math department.

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• 2019

  Assistant Inspector General and education Subject Matter Expert in support of the Navy Inspector General's 

  2019 Command Inspection of the United States Naval Academy.

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• 2018 - 2019

  Associate Chairman​ for Research, NPS Applied Math Department.

 

• 2012 - 2014

  Program Officer for the United States Navy’s Applied Mathematics and Electrical and

  Computer Engineering programs at the Naval Postgraduate School.  Led and mentored 100 Applied Math

  and Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate students.

 

• 2010 - 2012

  Commanding Officer and US Navy designated School Administrator for Information Warfare

  Training Command Monterey.  This command is responsible for all language training in the

  United States Navy.  It consists of approximately 750 students, faculty, and staff.  Located on the

  Presidio of Monterey, it is a component command of the Defense Language Institute/Foreign

  Language Center, a degree granting institution of higher learning​

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TEACHING INTERESTS:

 

• Combinatorics

• Cryptography

• Coding & Information Theory

• Logic and Discrete Mathematics

• Cyber & Electronic  Warfare

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RESEARCH INTERESTS:

 

• Cryptography & Coding Theory

• Cyber & Electronic Warfare

• Decision Superiority / Machine Learning

• Combinatorics

 

AWARDS:

 

• Teaching

  • Naval Postgraduate School Joint Service Warfare Faculty Award, 2020, 2013

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• Research

  • Fulbright US Scholar, Academic Year 2021-2022

  • Elected Fellow, The Institute of Combinatorics and Its Applications

  • General Omar N. Bradley Research Fellowship in Mathematics, 2021, 2017

  • Elected Fellow, Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications

  • Best Paper Award, 7th International Workshop on Arithmetic of Finite Fields, WAIFI 2018

  • Elected member Sigma Xi International scientific research honor society

  • Nominated for IEEE Information Theory Society Thomas M. Cover Dissertation Award

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• Academic

  • Elected member Pi Mu Epsilon national mathematics honor society

  • Elected member At Large Upsilon Pi Epsilon national computer science honor society  

  • Elected member Eta Kappa Nu national electrical and computer engineering honor society

  • Elected member Alpha Chi national academic honor society  

  • United States Air Force Bootstrap program

  • Air Force Association Pitsenbarger Award (Eagle Grant)

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• Leadership
  • Naval Postgraduate School Captain David S. Bill, Jr., Leadership Award, 2020

 

• Military
  • Meritorious Service Medal
  • Joint Service Commendation Medal
  • Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2)
  • Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
  • Air Force Achievement Medal (2)
  • Combat Action Ribbon

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BOARDS/MEMBERSHIPS:

 

• NPS Faculty Council Executive Board

• NPS Faculty Council

• Cyber Academic Group Executive Committee

• NPS Academic Command Assessment Board

• NPS WASC Accreditation Steering Committee

• Navy Community College Curriculum Development Working Group

• Fellow, Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications (2020)

• Senior Member IEEE (2013)

• Member of IEEE Information Theory Society

• Fellow, Institute for Combinatorics and Its Applications

• Member of American Mathematical Society

• Member of  International Association for Cryptologic Research

• Member of  Navy Cryptologic Veterans Associations

• Member of  Naval Order of the United States

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:  

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• V. Kanth, T. Martinsen, P. Stanica, "The Self-Shrinking Conflation Generator: A Proposed Improvement to the Self-Shrinking Generator," European Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 15(4), pp. 1426-1443, October 2022.

• T. Martinsen, "Developing Critical Thinking Military Officers," Mathematica Militaris, Vol 25 Issue 1, Aricle 2, April 2022.

• S. Maitra, B. Mandal, T. Martinsen, D. Roy, P. Stanica, "Analysis on Boolean function in a restricted (biased) domain," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 66:2 (2020), 1219- 1231.

• S. Maitra, B. Mandal, T. Martinsen, D. Roy, P. Stanica, "Tools in analyzing linear approximation for Boolean functions related to FLIP," 19th International Conference on Cryptology in India, INDOCRYPT 2018.

• T. Martinsen, W. Meidl, A. Pott, P. Stanica, "On symmetry and differential properties of generalized Boolean functions," Proc. WAIFI: Arithmetic of Finite Fields, 2018.  

• T. Martinsen, W.  Meidl, S. Mesnager, and P. Stanica, “Decomposing generalized bent and hyperbent functions,”  in IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 63, no. 12, pp. 7804–7812, 2017.

• T. Martinsen, “Correlation Immunity, Avalanche Features, and Other Cryptographic Properties of Generalized Boolean Functions,” PhD Dissertation, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 2017.

• E.J. Ionascu, T. Martinsen, and P. Stanica, “Bisecting binomial coefficients,” Discrete Appl. Math. , vol. 227, pp. 70–83, 2017.

• T. Martinsen, W. Meidl, and P. Stanica, “Partial spread and vectorial generalized bent functions, “Des. Codes Cryptogr. Vol. 85, pp. 1–13, 2017.

• T. Martinsen, W. Meidl, and P. Stanica, “Generalized bent functions and their Gray images,” in Arithmetic of Finite Fields, 6th Int. Workshop, WAIFAI 2016, ser. LNCS, vol. 10064, Berlin, Springer, pp. 160–173,  2016

• T. Martinsen, P. Pace, and E.L Fisher, “Maneuver Warfare in the Electromagnetic Battlespace, “ Journal of Electronic Defense, 10, vol. 37, no. 10, pp.30–44, 2014.

• P. Stanica, T. Martinsen, S. Gangopadhyay, B.K. Singh, “Bent and generalized bent Boolean functions,” Des. Codes Cryptogr., vol. 69, pp. 77–94, 2013.

• T. Martinsen, Refinement composition using doubly labeled transition graphs, Master’s Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 2007.  

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JOURNAL REVIEWER:

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• Discrete Applied Mathematics, Elsevier

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CONFERENCE REVIEWER:

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•  39th International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Cryptography (Eurocrypt 2020)

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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:

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• Workshop on Current and Future Projects of the University of Bergen's Selmer Center, 22-27 November 2021, Granada Spain

  • Open Problems and Current Research Focus

• 2021 Joint Mathematics Meeting, AMS Special Session on Mathematics in Security & Defense, 5-9 January 2021

  • The Self-Shrinking Conflation Generator: A New Pseudorandom Bit Generator

• 2019 Professional Military Education (PME) and the Cyber Domain Workshop, Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute, Naval War College, Newport, RI, 17-18 January 2019

  • Panel member, PME Institutions and Educating the Cyberspace Warfighter

• Correlation Immune and Resilient Generalized Boolean Functions, 3rd International Workshop on Boolean Functions and Their Applications, Loen Norway, June 2018

• Maneuver Warfare in the Electromagnetic Battlespace, AOC Electronic Warfare Europe Conference, Edinburgh Scotland, May 2014.

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INVITED TALKS:

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• Correlation Immunity and Machine Learning, Selmer Center for Secure Communications, University of Bergen, 20 June 2022.

• 21st Century Information Operations and Joint All-domain Command and Control, Norwegian Security Authority, Horten, Norway, 11 June 2022.

• 21st Century Information Operations and Joint All-domain Command and Control, Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, Bergen Norway, 25 May 2022.

• A brief introduction to correlation immune generalized Boolean functions, United States Naval Academy, 27 September, 2019

• Maneuver Warfare in Cyberspace and the Electromagnetic Battlespace, Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee, 26 March 2018

• Maneuver Warfare in Cyberspace and the Electromagnetic Battlespace, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata India, 21 March 2018

 

COURSES TAUGHT:

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• MA1025 -  Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning

• MA1112 -  Single Variable Calculus I

• MA1113 -  Single Variable Calculus I

• MA1114 -  Single Variable Calculus II

• MA1115 -  Multivariable Calculus

• MA1116 -  Vector Calculus

• MA2025 -  Logic and Discrete Mathematics I

• MA3025 -  Logic and Discrete Mathematics II

• MA2043 -  Introduction to Matrix and Linear Algebra

• MA3042 -  Linear Algebra

• MA3393 -  Topics in Applied Mathematics

• MA3560 -  Applied Modern Algebra and Number Theory

• MA4026 -  Combinatorial Mathematics

• MA4393 -  Topics in Applied Mathematics

• MA4570 -  Cryptography

• CY3200 -  Cyberspace Operations Fundamentals

• CY3800 -  Topics in Signals Operations

• CS4615 -  Formal Analysis of Cryptographic Protocols

• DA4500 -  Special Topics in Strategic Analysis

• EC3000 -  Introduction to Graduate Research

• EC3760 -  Information Operations Systems

• EC4900 -  Topics for Individual Study in Electrical Engineering

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COURSE COORDINATOR:

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• MA4026 -  Combinatorial Mathematics

• MA3025 -  Logic and Discrete Mathematics II

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STUDENTS ADVISED:

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  Doctoral students:

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• Bryan Martin, LCDR, USN, PhD Electrical Engineering, Expected 2023 (Dissertation committee member)

 

• Vikram Kanth, LT, USN, PhD Electrical Engineering, Expected 2022, (Qualifying & dissertation committee member)

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• Tristan Li, DSc Cybersecurity, Marymount University, Expected 2022 (Dissertation committee external member)

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• Aaron Geary, CDR, USN, PhD Applied Mathematics, Expected 2022, (Qualifying & dissertation committee member)

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• Michael Cribbs, LCDR, USN, PhD Electrical Engineering, June 2021, (Qualifying & dissertation committee member) 

 

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• Ashley McAbee, LCDR, USN, PhD Electrical Engineering, September 2020, (Qualifying & dissertation committee member)  

        

 

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  Master's degree students:

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• Elana Kozak, ENS, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, Expected June 2022 (Co-Advisor)

       Awarded Outstanding thesis.

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• Philip Smith, ENS, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, Expected June 2022 (Co-Advisor)

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• Devon Zillmer, CPT, USA, MS Applied Mathematics, June 2021 (2nd reader)

    

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• Zachary Klein, ENS, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, June 2020, (Co-advisor)

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• Matthew Dods, ENS, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, June 2020, (Co-advisor)

 

   

• Andrew Cammack, MAJ, USA, MS Applied Mathematics, June 2020, (2nd Reader)

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• Alexander Gutzler, LT, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, March 2020, (Advisor)

       Winner: 2020 William Randolph Church award for Excellence in Mathematics,

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• Ryan Hard, LT, USN, MS Applied Mathematics, March 2020, (Advisor)

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• Nickos Leondaridis-Mena, LT, USN, MS Applied Mathematics and MS Operations Research, September 2019, (Co-advisor)

       Winner:  Navy League Award for Highest Academic Achievement at NPS

       MORS-Tisdale finalists.  Awarded Outstanding thesis

        

        

• Oliver Dinallo, 2nd Lt, USA, MS Applied Mathematics, June 2017, (2nd Reader)

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• Nicholas Sharpe, LT, USCG, MS Applied Mathematics, December 2016, (2nd Reader)

       Winner: 2017 William Randolph Church award for Excellence in Mathematics,

       Winner: United States Navy League Award for Highest Academic Achievement at NPS.

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• Thomas Kuhn, 2nd  Lt, USA, MS Applied Mathematics, September 2016, (2nd Reader)

       Winner: General Joseph W. Stilwell Award for Outstanding US Army NPS Student.

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• Bijesh Shrestha, 2nd Lt, USA, MS Applied Mathematics, September 2016, (Co-advisor)

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Master's Degree Thesis External Examiner:

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• Sindre Tornes Steinsvik, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway, 16 June 2022.

  • Thesis: Measuring and Mapping Sensitivity of Rotation Symmetric Boolean Functions.

       

KEYWORDS/TECHNOLOGIES:

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Keywords: cryptography, coding theory, combinatorics, computer security, cyber warfare, cybersecurity, information warfare, electronic warfare

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