Meet laser system engineer Heath Bigman

As a young boy, Heath Bigman was always curious: about nature, astronomy and about how things worked. It was this curiosity that led him to pursue a career in the sciences and eventually led him to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

Bigman grew up on a reservation in the small community of Shiprock, New Mexico, in the Navajo Nation, an area that spans over three states over the Four Corners region of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

“Living on the reservation was truly a unique experience and has truly shaped the person that I am,” said Bigman. “Both my maternal and paternal grandparents lived traditionally with farming and raising livestock. They knew how to be self-sufficient to survive without electricity or running water as the generations before them. These traditions were passed down to my parents whose first language is Navajo.”

Bigman recalled that when his parents were young, they were forced into boarding schools managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

“The objective during that time was to assimilate Natives into European American culture, preventing them from speaking their Navajo language and practicing their culture,” said Bigman. “Boarding schools misguidedly destroyed and vilified Native culture, language and spirituality.”

During his childhood, Bigman experienced living without running water or electricity when spending time at his grandmother’s.

“If you need to go to the restroom, the outhouse was typically located 50 yards from the house,” said Bigman. “As a kid, I use to be afraid of the dark, so in the wintertime, waking up in the middle of night and heading to the outhouse with the incandescent flashlight that barely illuminated the path was the worst. But I learned quick not to drink water after 6 p.m.”

Despite living at times without modern amenities, Bigman still misses life on the reservation.

“The parts I miss most about living on the reservation is that it’s an open range and it’s easy to explore. It made me feel free,” he said.

Culture and education were always guiding principles for Bigman, whose parents played a large part in guiding him and his brothers into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

“I remember quizzing my dad one day asking him if he knew the number of full moons in a calendar year,” Bigman said. “My dad quickly and confidently replied '13,' and I was amazed. I asked him how he knew this, and he told me that the Navajo Calendar is based on the lunar cycles. He went on to tell stories about how our people used astronomy for planting, hunting and navigating, to name a few. This cultural knowledge was passed down generation after generation and I am always inspired by my culture and understanding the parallels with science.”

Bigman said his mother was always an advocate for education and she would always take extra measures to teach him more than he was learning in school and would often sign him up to participate in science fairs and science camps. For him, one interest led to another. “My interest in science started with chemistry,” said Bigman. “One day I was studying and overheard students talking about wave functions. This piqued my curiosity and inspired me to take a new route into the field of physics. When I was a senior, I took a course in optics where I was able to do laser experiments and fell in love with the field of lasers.”

Bigman went on to double major in physics and chemistry for his undergrad, after which he obtained a master’s in physics from San Diego State University with an emphasis in lasers. In 2020, he joined LLNL, and as a laser system engineer for the National Ignition Facility in the Laser System Group, he gets to live his passion of working on high-energy lasers.

“I enjoy working on large complex laser systems and getting them to function as expected,” said Bigman. “There are many different highly specialized subsystems that goes into developing a high-energy laser system. My primary responsibilities are working on the system integration where we to collaborate with subsystem owners and unify these modules into a working laser.”

Coming to work at the Lab during the pandemic brought its own set of challenges for Bigman.

“The supply chain shortage made it difficult to obtain parts,” he said. “Coming up with novel work arounds has been a challenging task. We had to get creative.”

Working at LLNL has been interesting for Bigman. He loves that the Lab challenges him and he enjoys the problem solving he gets to do each day.

“Here at LLNL we are faced with solving complex science and engineering problems,” said Bigman. “The diversity of people brings different perspectives and viewpoints. This helps us expand our knowledge toolbox to successfully approach problems at different angles,” he said.

Bigman is proud of his Native American heritage, and he does whatever he can to raise awareness on Native American issues and to inspire others. He currently serves as the chair for the LLNL American Indian Activity group, an employee resource group at the Laboratory.

“I enjoy helping our community to inspire our youth into the field of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),” said Bigman. “Its really important, especially with Native American youth, to show them that the pathway to obtaining a career in STEM is attainable,” he said.

Despite his impressive educational and career achievements, Bigman said that his family taught him that education is more than what is taught at school. "My family, they are my role models. They have always been my support system,” he said.

Celebrating Native American History, diversity and heritage is important to Bigman.

“Native American History is not emphasized enough in the K-12 school curriculum,” said Bigman. "Much of this history is glossed over. The observance of Native American Heritage Month is a reminder how important it is to learn about our past."

Outside of work, Bigman enjoys the outdoors and riding/racing his mountain bike.

By Carrie Martin