Justin Firestone

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Justin Firestone

Asst Prof of Practice Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
KAUF 123
Lincoln, NE 68588-0690
Phone
402-472-6000 On-campus 2-6000
Email
justin.firestone@unl.edu
Website
Website
Social Media

Justin Firestone is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Computer Science at the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he teaches RAIK 283H — Data Structures & Algorithms,  RAIK 284H — Introduction to Software Engineering, and RAIK 372H - Business and Ethics Law. He also teaches LAW 681 - Cyberlaw—Jurisdiction and Laws Governing Users at UNL’s College of Law and is licensed to practice law in Nebraska and Illinois.

Firestone was a recipient of the Regents Scholarship for his B.A. and a recipient of the GRF-STEM fellowship from the National Institute of Justice for his doctoral degree. Firestone’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersection of computer science, synthetic biology, and regulatory frameworks, including how traditional software engineering principles could apply to synthetic biology.

Firestone is a noted food enthusiast who enjoys preparing ingredient-driven meals while composing music using KORG Gadget.

Education

Firestone's degrees, all from UNL:

  • 2020: Ph.D. in Computer Science
  • 2016: M.S. in Computer Science
  • 2013: B.S. in Computer Science
  • 2005: J.D. in Law
  • 1998: M.A. in Classics
  • 1996: B.A. in Latin and Economics

Courses Taught

RAIK 283H — Data Structures & Algorithms (Software Engineering III)

This course focuses on algorithmic analysis and design, along with tradeoffs associated with different data structures and their real-world uses.

RAIK 284H — Introduction to Software Engineering (Software Engineering IV)
This course broadly introduces a variety of software-engineering principles primarily through a semester-long, team-based project. Teams must make choices related to system architecture and technology while learning how to work and communicate effectively within a small team.

RAIK 372H - Business and Ethics Law

This course explores issues arising from rapidly advancing technologies. It presents basic legal and ethical frameworks for understanding, analyzing, discussing, and addressing such issues.

LAW 681 - Cyberlaw—Jurisdiction and Laws Governing Users

Often called “Internet Law” at other colleges, this course explores a wide range of legal issues in the cyber domain with emphasis on breadth, not depth, such as:

  • Jurisdiction and conflict of laws
  • Cybersecurity
  • Privacy and pseudo-anonymity
  • Network ownership and access
  • Private and public regulation
  • Speech, content moderation, and platforms’ rights
  • Intellectual property

PUBLICATIONS

Bourke, Chris, and Justin Firestone. Codeless PDC Modules for Early Computing Curriculum. IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium, 2024.

J. Firestone, M. B. Cohen, and R. R. Lutz, SynBioTrace: Integrating Safety and Security Artifacts to Build Assurance Cases for Synthetic Biology Applications. 2024 IEEE 35th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW), Tsukuba, Japan, 2024.

Firestone, Justin. The Need for Soft Law to Regulate Synthetic Biology. Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science,and Technology. American Bar Association, Winter 2020.

Cashman, Mikaela, Justin Firestone, Myra B. Cohen, Thammasak Thianniwet, and Wei Nu. DNA as Features: Organic Software Product Lines. In Proceedings of the 23rd International Systems and Software Product Line Conference (SPLC) - Volume A, pp. 108-118. ACM, 2019.

Firestone, Justin W., Rubi Quiñones, and Brittany A. Duncan. Learning from Users: an Elicitation Study and Taxonomy for Communicating Small Unmanned Aerial System States Through Gestures. In 2019 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), pp. 163-171. IEEE, 2019.

Firestone, Justin, and Myra B. Cohen. The Assurance Recipe: Facilitating Assurance Patterns. In International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security, pp. 22-30. Springer International Publishing, 2018.

Cohen, Myra B., Justin Firestone, and Massimiliano Pierobon. The Assurance Timeline: Building Assurance Cases for Synthetic Biology. International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. Springer International Publishing, pp. 75-86, 2016.

Swanson, Jacob, Myra B. Cohen, Matthew B. Dwyer, Brady J. Garvin, and Justin Firestone. Beyond the Rainbow: Self-adaptive Failure Avoidance in Configurable Systems. In Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering, pp. 377-388. ACM, 2014.

MEDIA AND PUBLIC WORK

Section 230 and NetChoice v. Paxton: A Deep Dive into Recent Developments with the CDA. U.S.A.F. Academy Law, Technology & Warfare Center, July 2022

Current Topics in Cyberlaw. U.S. Army Futures Command, October 2022

Soft Law for Synthetic Biology: The Only Viable Option. Conference presentation, Governance of Emerging Technologies & Science (GETS), Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (Phoenix, AZ), May 2019.

Cyberbiosecurity and The Need for Soft Law. Guest lecture, Domestic Cybersecurity, University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law, April 2019.

Mapping Synthetic Biology Assurance Cases to BioBrick Feature Models. Workshop presentation, Feature Oriented Software Development (Weimar, Germany), March 2019.

The Assurance Recipe: Facilitating Assurance Patterns. Abstract and poster, the PITTCON (Philadelphia, PA), March 2019.

Synthetic Biology Regulation and the Assurance Timeline. Conference presentation, Governance of Emerging Technologies & Science (GETS), Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (Phoenix, AZ), May 2018.

Building Assurance Cases for Synthetic Biology to Validate Functionality and Detect Illegal Use. Abstract and poster, the PITTCON (Orlando, FL), February 2018.

AWARDS

Graduate Research Fellowship Program in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics from the National Institute of Justice.

Best Student Paper Award at SPLC 2019 for DNA as Features: Organic Software Product Lines.

Nominated for Best Paper at HRI 2019 for Learning from Users: an Elicitation Study and Taxonomy for Communicating Small Unmanned Aerial System States Through Gestures.

Center for Computer-assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Awards for best individual grades in law school for: Individual Income Tax; International Trade Law; and Style & Composition in Legal Writing

Member of Phi Beta Kappa