By Sophie Yang ’27
The Dominguez Center for Data Science recently hosted a student lunch with Bucknell alumna Laurie Nelson, who shared stories and lessons from her more than 35-year career in engineering. After graduating from Bucknell in 1982 with a background spanning computer science, mathematics, and engineering, Laurie went on to work at Texas Instruments and later Lockheed Martin, where her career included software engineering, systems engineering, spacecraft development, and engineering leadership.
One theme that came up throughout the conversation was being willing to take on work even when you do not have all the answers yet. Early in her career, Laurie was given flight-control software to work on despite knowing very little about flight control at the time. Her approach became, as she put it, “make it up as you go along.” That did not mean working without preparation, but rather being willing to learn, ask questions, and take on unfamiliar challenges.
That mindset continued throughout her career. While working on a spacecraft program, Laurie and her team had to figure out how to transmit extremely large amounts of sensor data. Their solution eventually involved putting fiber-optic technology into space. As people moved to other opportunities, Laurie kept taking on areas that needed attention from software and hardware to systems integration. She described herself as “White Space Laurie” as when she saw an area where no one was taking ownership, she would step in and figure it out.
Laurie also emphasized that technical ability alone was not what allowed her to grow in her career. She credited Bucknell with teaching her how to work with different kinds of people, particularly through team projects where students did not always get to choose their teammates. Later in her career, understanding people became just as important as understanding software or hardware. As she explained, she became someone who did not necessarily know how to solve every problem herself, but often “knew who could get it done.”
When students asked what they should expect when entering the workforce today, Laurie’s advice was simple: “Go in curious.” Rather than waiting for someone to tell you exactly what to do, she encouraged students to ask questions, take ownership of problems, and be willing to learn outside their existing areas of expertise. Her own career moved across software, electrical engineering, systems engineering, and leadership largely because she continued stepping into new challenges instead of staying within a single job description.
The lunch gave students a chance to learn more about Laurie’s engineering career and ask questions about career growth, teamwork, work life balance, and the transition from Bucknell to the workplace. Through her stories and advice, Laurie encouraged students to stay curious, be open to new challenges, and not be afraid to take on responsibilities outside of what they already know.