Taylor Johnson
- becker63.digital
- github.com/becker63
- (220) 246-8386
- New Albany, Ohio, USA
- johnsontaylor6320@gmail.com
Summary
Platform- and infrastructure-focused engineer with software engineering and security foundations. Experienced in Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, IAM/authentication systems, reproducible environments, and cross-service debugging. Strong at making opaque systems easier to inspect, reproduce, test, and operate.
Skills
Languages: Python, Go, JavaScript / TypeScript, Nim, Bash
Infrastructure: Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Crossplane, FluxCD, Nix, Buck2, CI/CD, Networking
Security & Systems: IAM, OIDC, LDAP, authentication tracing, reproducible environments, security testing, platform tooling
Experience
- Security & Infrastructure Documentation Intern
- Ohio Supercomputer Center
- Oct 2024 – Nov 2025
- Reverse-engineered and documented a 100k+ LOC production HPC platform supporting ~2,100 academic sites
- Traced OpenID Connect → JWT → LDAP identity flows across Apache modules, Nginx per-user process isolation, and Lua auth hooks
- Built Docker-based local reproduction of production authentication stack to reason about IAM behavior without privileged access
- Analyzed embedded Apache and Nginx subsystems implementing layered MVC-style configuration over authentication infrastructure
- Designed security test scenarios identifying double URL encoding with RCE-adjacent implications
- Proposed reproducible dependency management using Nix / asdf to reduce CI flakiness and environment drift
- Systems-Oriented Frontend Engineer
- Tarigma Corporation (now GE Vernova)
- 2021 – 2023
- Built state coordination layer for a real-time electrical grid incident response platform
- Synchronized multiple live relay data feeds while preserving operator trust and temporal consistency
- Integrated Recoil with react-mosaic to support high-density diagnostic workflows and dynamic windowed layouts
- Extended Chart.js fork supporting draggable temporal annotations for grid event analysis
- Implemented COMTRADE-based relay data pipelines used in electrical disturbance analysis
- Programming Instructor & Technical Operator
- STEMTree
- 2021 – 2023
- Taught Python, JavaScript, React, and core CS concepts to students ages 10–16; managed classroom network and device infrastructure
Projects
Static Control Plane — Kubernetes / Crossplane / KCL / Nix / Buck2
- Built typed Crossplane/KCL control-plane infrastructure for GitOps-based cloud provisioning, with Nix/Buck2-pinned schema generation and pytest validation of rendered resources
SearchBench — Go / Python / Pkl / Agent Evaluation
- Designed a typed evaluation harness for comparing AI code-search backends, separating pure scoring/report models from adapters for configuration, filesystem bundles, model execution, and subprocess pipelines
libnftnl / netfilter Fuzzer — Nim / Nix / Linux Networking
- Built a reproducible fuzzing harness for nftables userland serialization paths using Nim bindings, protobuf-based mutation, sanitizer instrumentation, and isolated runtime support
Professional Engagement & Recognition
- Active participant in the Central Ohio engineering and consulting community, with conversations around platform engineering, infrastructure reliability, security, and reproducible development environments
- Selected for US Cyber Challenge Cyber Camp, 2025; participated in multi-day cybersecurity training and CTF-style competition
- PicoCTF, Carnegie Mellon University — Placed 57th of 1,329 teams, 2024; SkillsUSA Cybersecurity, State Competition — Second Place
Education & Certifications
Computer Science Coursework — Ohio State University, Newark
Cybersecurity Program — Eastland–Fairfield Career & Technical Schools
CompTIA Security+ · CompTIA Network+ · TestOut Network Pro