Her Story
About Laura
Laura Auer is a Senior Quality Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she supports quality systems, customer concerns, and manufacturing operations in the biotechnology industry. She brings a unique perspective to the field, having transitioned into biotechnology during the COVID-19 pandemic after approximately 15 years in the restaurant industry as a pastry chef and restaurant professional. She began her transition by inspecting medical equipment and later advanced into a leadership role supporting critical ventilator projects and Department of Defense contracts. That experience established a strong foundation for her work in quality, compliance, and operational improvement.
Auer has an associate degree in general studies from Northern Essex Community College and a culinary arts background through the National Restaurant Association Foundation. She holds certifications in ISO 9001 quality management systems and ISO 14001 environmental management systems. She has also continued expanding her professional expertise, earning a Leadership Certificate and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification in 2026. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, her work includes quality investigations, customer experience, regulatory training, documentation, internal audits, and collaboration across departments to strengthen processes and support continuous improvement.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Auer is involved with the Women's Empowerment business resource group, supporting initiatives that encourage women and young people to explore opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She is also a member of the American Society for Quality and the American Chemical Society, and has volunteered with the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society for more than a decade. Her community involvement also includes supporting organizations focused on domestic violence and environmental causes. Auer credits flexibility and a willingness to pursue new opportunities as important to her career journey. Her advice to young women entering the industry is to seek mentors, continue learning, and remain open to the possibility that their first career dream may lead somewhere unexpected.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Laura
01What do you attribute your success to?
I guess it would just be, the correct answer for that would be just the flexibility of whatever's happening around you has allowed me to realize, like, your first dream doesn't have to be the end dream. Like, I went to culinary. So, my career now is completely opposite of what I originally thought And I just, I guess it My biggest thing was I attribute that to the ability to be flexible as a woman in business, because your original thought is never gonna… you're probably never going to end up where you thought you originally were.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
For me specifically, its listen, don't speak, especially in meetings. Not… don't speak, but listen first, speak later would be the advice that I would follow. I have a little post-it for my mentor, and it says, make people around me better. So trying to focus on the other people around you versus what you're working on.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, to try and find a mentor in the industry, whether it's a male or a female, I had a male mentor, and it was It was needed, it was my first year in this industry, and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. So I definitely think getting a mentor, and a meeting with them at least every two weeks would be important, and having one on one. The other thing I would say, is to always have some kind of, like, continuing education, or Something that you're continuously working on, like, always be working on something new.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some opportunities, in our field would be to, have more research about women's health. I think we focus a lot on Men's halls and men's issues, and there's not a lot of research and funding going towards women's issues.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Personal accountability is a big one, especially in today's workforce where, you know. You own your… your results, so you want to have personal accountability, and then the other one, I would say is, Like a desire to improve the passion behind it is needed, I guess Try and always find that.
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