Short Feature with Women's Basketball Sophomore Laura Ochsner

Sophomore Laura Ochsner, a mechanical engineering and robotics major from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, answers a few questions about student life at Carnegie Mellon, what she's excited for this semester, why she chose her major, and what she likes about Pittsburgh.

1. What do you enjoy about campus life?

What I like most about campus life at Carnegie is that I know I will always see a familiar face on my walk to class. The athlete community is also a very inclusive and diverse group which almost guarantees a Tartan athlete will be in one of your classes.  

2. What do you get involved in outside of basketball?

I am a member of the Carnegie Mellon Racing team where I specifically work with the Aerodynamics of the car. I am also a member of Lambda Sigma, an honor society for sophomores on campus. Every week I also tutor at Lincoln Elementary which is organized by Tartan Athletics.

3. What did you do during for first collegiate summer?

I did not have an internship after freshman year, instead I took classes at CMU over the summer. Taking classes over the summer helped me lighten my course load during season. I would recommend taking classes over the summer if possible.

4. What are you excited about this semester?

I am excited about Carnival, specifically Buggy, since it will be my first year competing. I will be pushing for PIKE, and maybe we can have an upset this year! I just finished the biggest project for my Intro to Robotics class where we had to build a Robot that had to save "people" in "disaster" situations. Even though this was very time consuming I was excited about the results.

5. What are your summer plans?

I will be interning for Rivian Automotive, a startup company near Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are working on building electric adventure cars. I will be working as the Aerodynamics Intern. I am excited about this because my goal is to end up in the automotive industry.

6. Why did you select your course of study – what class have you enjoyed the most?

I knew since high school that I wanted to do some type of engineering, and later I chose mechanical because I believe it has a broad range of applications. It was not until the end of my freshman year that I realized I wanted to pursue robotics. This realization came after I took 15-112 and became interested in computer science. I was curious about the field and I felt that robotics is a good way to integrate CS, Mech E and other academic fields.

7. What class has been recommended by your teammates (or past teammates) or friends as a MUST TAKE class at CMU? What would you recommended someone take?

I have heard that Writing for the Professions is a very helpful class, but it is hard to get into. I would recommend 15-112 for anyone who is slightly interested in computer science. The opportunity to take a CS class at arguably the top CS program in the country is hard to pass up. Even though it is a very time consuming class I learned a tremendous amount.

8. What have you enjoyed about living in Pittsburgh?

I absolutely love Pittsburgh! My favorite part of it is that you can change your surroundings drastically just based on the neighborhood you are in. My favorite neighborhoods in Pittsburgh are East Liberty and Shadyside. The food in these areas is really good. Girasole, Noodlehead and Point Brugge are among my favorites. You can make your experience in Pittsburgh whatever you want it to be.