Resume

David Dahl

david@ddahl.com

Long time HTML superfan, python nerd, node.js enthusiast, Bitcoin maximalist, engineer & researcher

Experience

https://f5.com

Jun 2020 to present

Principal Software Engineer, AI Team & Greenhouse Innovation Team

• Design and implementation of an AI Assistant service that product teams can easily leverage
• Design and implementation of the internal F5-GPT chatbot, conversation persistence layer and vector query tools
• F5-GPT is used by the entire enterprise
• Actively building Web Component-driven frontends sans build processes like Babel, etc.
• Design and build innovation tools that manage the flow of ideas that become software POCs
• Engineering work and leadership on innovative software POCs
• Lead and mentor US and offshore engineering teams

Senior Software Engineer, (Volterra) Security Team

• (Volterra was acquired by F5)
• Design & development of CI automation tools, concentrating on developer security and best practices
• Built a set of daily CI pipelines & associated containers that automate adding various security scanning jobs to all VCS/F5 Gitlab projects
• Integration with with GCP, AWS, Azure and other cloud systems as needed to collect and analyse developer, IAM and project data
• Designing bigger-picture application to leverage collected data for security team single-view, exposing each developer's footprint on all clouds

Senior Software Engineer, F5 Cloud Services

• Gitlab CICD meta-programming: automating security, privacy and compliance into the developer experience at F5
• Developed a suite of tools to automate and nudge developer best practices inside Gitlab CI pipelines

https://grove.co

2019 - 2020

Senior Software Engineer, Team Lead

• Helping scale Grove's database, engineering tools, techniques and team
• Created automated docker-based developer environment
• Integrated fraud-detection services into Grove's core application

https://ibm.com

2016 - 2019

Software Engineering Researcher

• Designed and implemented systems to help IBM with internal tools and web standards
• Worked with IPFS decentralized P2P filesystem & related technology
• Created POC: IPFS Social Proof
• Implemented GDPR tracking tool which surfaces compliance status for division applications to management
• Created application based on Lighthouse & browser User Timing API to understand and rectify web page performance issues

Advisory Software Engineer

• Built parts of IBM.com & IBM.com/search using Node, SearchKit, TypeScript and React

https://spideroak.com

2013 - 2016

Director, Crypton project

• Directed an engineering team that built a privacy framework for mobile devices
• Wrote code for the Crypton framework (Node.js, PostgreSQL) https://bit.ly/2JdzsGW
• Created Kloak private social network application for iOS and Android
• Coordinated Zooko-led (Least Authority, Inc) security review and remediation of Crypton framework

https://mozilla.org

2009 - 2013

Senior Software Engineer, Privacy

• Contributed to new and existing browser features and WebAPIs to increase user privacy
• Collaborated with the Identity team for FirefoxOS
• Implemented DOMCrypt browser extension, which was used as an initial straw man proposal for the W3C Web Cryptography Working Group

See https://bit.ly/2JcCS0M https://mzl.la/2JhUzb2

Implemented window.crypto.getRandomValues See: https://mzl.la/2JhP0JO https://mzl.la/2HkvQRR

Firefox Engineer

• Created front-end browser features, developer tools, identity APIs
• Implemented the Web Console developer tool, see: https://mzl.la/2JrzPBg https://mzl.la/1IOQVno
• Wrote code for bookmarking subsystem, awesomebar
• Worked on Firefox SafeBrowsing client code

https://ilm.com

2007 - 2008

Software Engineer

• Re-wrote the in-house special effects teaching CMS, LOIS
• LOIS is built in Python, Django, Postgresql and ffmpeg for training artists, software engineers and other technical staff at ILM / Lucasfilm

Skills

• Linux, Python, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, SQL, automated testing
• Langchain, PGVector, OpenAI APIs, Huggingface / Open Source LLMs
• Node, Express, npm & yarn, webpack, TypeScript, React, Django, FastAPI, SQLModel
• Postgresql (including replication), MySQL, SQLite, Redis, IndexedDB
• Heroku, AWS, Azure, GCP, Gitlab services & APIs, Docker
• Swift, C, C++, make, Android toolchain, iOS toolchain
• Raspberry Pi, hardware sensors, see: https://github.com/daviddahl/radar
• Bitcoin, Litecoin, IPFS and related tools / frameworks
• Shitcoin consulting work: Eth mempool / trading experimentation
• Litecoin mining (2013 - 2014)
• BTC full node operator, lightning network enthusiast
• Nostr application developer
• Browser extensions: https://github.com/daviddahl/nuke-dialog
• Evaluation and recommendations for technology, teams, business processes

Talks / Writing / Teaching

Defcon 23: Crypto Village: Anti-social Networking

• Presented on Kloak; an application I built that resembles Twitter but is end to end encrypted
• https://bit.ly/2JoSNbu

Future Insights Live: Privacy is a UX Problem

• Privacy is not simply a technical issue; more designers are needed to solve privacy application issues https://bit.ly/2Jr80Jd

Hack in the Box Malaysia: Crypton Workshop

• https://bit.ly/2JaB2JC
• Live-coding workshop on Crypton

Crypton Whitepaper

• Crypton paper produced for Hack In The Box conference
• https://bit.ly/2Jbubjg

Kloak Private Social Networking Application: Slides

• Produced for Investors and Management
• https://bit.ly/2sorG6P

Cato Institute: "NSA Surveillance: What We Know; What to Do About It"

• Technology panel
• https://bit.ly/2xO8lAS

Referenced Work

W3C Web Cryptography API Working Group covered

• Engineering Rules, Global Standard Setting since 1880
• Joanne Yates and Craig Murphy, 2019
• Ch. 8, Development of the W3C WebCrypto API Standard, 2012-2017

Awards

• 2018 IBM: Eminence and Excellence in Engineering Award