Nadya T. Bliss

Assistant Group Leader

Group 102: Embedded and High Performance Computing

Yesterday was my eight-year anniversary at Lincoln Laboratory. I have been in the Embedded and High Performance Computing Group since I came to the Lab. I joined the group after finishing my master's at Cornell in 2002 and now I am an assistant group leader. I’ve had the opportunity to work on very different projects, from mathematical algorithm development and software implementation to hardware architecture. One of the reasons I have stayed in the same group is that my group leader has been incredibly supportive of new things that I wanted to start. If I had a crazy idea, he would say, “Go do it.” I appreciate and enjoy having freedom in what I do. At Lincoln Laboratory I have been able to define my own path.

I often seek projects that are open-ended and well-suited for collaborations with academia. I aggressively pursue new, non-traditional areas and am not afraid to dive in head first. Once a professor from Harvard gave a seminar at the Laboratory – at the time we were both just getting into statistical network/graph analysis. I caught him after his seminar and we spent an hour right there chatting about graphs. Now, a year and a half later, it’s a strong collaboration with a number of joint publications and interesting technical results. I am also collaborating with a professor at Columbia University. Together, we are designing a new computer architecture that uses photonic technology. These diverse efforts span the field of computer science – it is unlikely that these two professors would ever interact, but I am lucky enough to work with both of them.

There is a good mixture of research and development work here. I appreciate that this place supports publications. The Laboratory’s strong publication record establishes it as a technical leader in many areas. We also apply new technology to real problems. There are very few places that provide opportunities to do both types of work.

When I chose to work at Lincoln Laboratory, I was looking for a place that, if I left after a year or two, wouldn’t close any doors for me. But I never left. I’ve treated my entire career at Lincoln Laboratory the same way: I always take initiative rather than waiting for an invitation, and I feel that the environment here has rewarded me for that.

I find that over the years I’ve grown incredibly. I feel very different from when I first started here. I have a lot more self-confidence. Lincoln Laboratory has been very good to me. My technical accomplishments have been respected and there has always been a lot of opportunity.

I am Nadya Bliss. I am Lincoln Laboratory.