David M Johnson

David M Johnson is a Researcher and Software Engineer at the School of Computing, University of Utah, specializing in cloud infrastructure, wireless systems, and network security. He designs and builds software for large-scale testbeds like CloudLab, CapNet, and POWDER, focusing on low-level system interactions and secure network architectures.

Research Interests: His work spans

• computer systems
• virtualization
• security forensics
• software-defined networking (SDN)
• capability-based network design
• mobile sensor networks

and emphasizes least-privilege principles and end-to-end containment in cloud and wireless environments.

Publication Trends: Recent articles highlight his contributions to

• radio dynamic zones
• open RAN (Radio Access Network) slicing
• spectrum sharing
• secure network capabilities
• testbed automation
• kernel-level debugging

with a strong focus on open-source tool development for wireless and cloud research.

Scientific Recognition: He received the

• 2024 IEEE DySPAN Award Paper

for his work on POWDER-RDZ.

Collaborative Efforts: Johnson has worked extensively with teams on projects like A3 (attack diagnosis), Stackdb (stackable debugging), and SeaCat (secure application containment), often bridging systems software with security and network innovations.