Dr. Johnson is the director of the Human Performance Laboratory. Equipment in the laboratory includes treadmills, bicycle ergometers, ski machines, hand-eye coordination apparatus, a muscular strength laboratory, blood analysis equipment, gas monitoring equipment, and pulmonary function monitoring equipment. The facility provides researchers with the tools to effectively measure human subject performance.

Computer-based communication, monitoring and testing devices assist researchers in their efforts to understand, evaluate, and help workers improve their cognitive, motor, and psychomotor skills that are integral to worker performance of highly skilled occupations. Having the technology and resources to explore these important areas of human performance can make a difference in how proficient a factory or agricultural worker is on their job. Also, it is imperative for workers holding jobs in highly technical-oriented fields, such as computer operation, to be able to expedite their tasks in the workplace in a competent manner.

Thorough testing and data collection are important for new medical and health care technology. Laboratory personnel and equipment are able to assist in this process, lending expertise from both physiological and biological engineering perspectives. The technology also plays an important role in the sports arena; allowing researchers to evaluate equipment designed to enhance and strengthen athletic performance, or to protect athletes from injury, which can make a great difference in a competitive situation.