David has worked as a nuclear engineer for the Department of Energy's Office of Naval Reactors. He began working with Naval Reactors while serving in the US Navy. David was a lead engineer in the core materials group and responsible for core cladding materials and performance. He was also a lead engineer for expended core and radioactive materials examination which, beyond ensuring execution of materials tests, included responsibility for ensuring compliance with regulatory standards for radioactive materials transportation, criticality safety, special nuclear material accountability, and radiological controls.