Sonya Gomez Ensign Sonya Gomez was a female Human Starfleet engineering officer serving in the late - 24th century . Her specialty was in antimatter . Opinionated and vocal , she also had a tendency to speak quickly when excited . In 2365 , she had recently graduated from Starfleet Academy and was transferred from Starbase 173 to the to serve under Lieutenant Geordi La Forge , who requested her after reading her graduating thesis . Brandishing a cup of hot chocolate , Gomez babbled on and on about her assignment , as it had been her goal to serve on the " Enterprise " - D for year s , with her second choice being Ranuos VI . La Forge expressed appreciation for her excitement , and mentioned that she could be of better service if she learned to relax a little . She apologized when he noted that she had brought the beverage into engineering where it might spill on the equipment and damage it , saying that she had forgotten she was holding it . In her eagerness to get rid of it , she accidentally spilled it on Captain Picard instead . Embarrassed , she offered to clean him up , but he told her it would be easier for him to change his uniform instead . Later , La Forge took her to Ten Forward to unwind . There , she explained that she had wanted to be among the first to see the new discoveries out in space . La Forge then cautioned her to slow down , saying she " won ' t last long banging into walls " . He also promised to let her know about any exciting things which came their way . While trying to reactivate the " Enterprise - D " ' s shields , Gomez was having trouble concentrating on her work , thinking of the eighteen crew members who had died due to a Borg attack . La Forge helped her to focus on what needed to be done , assuring her she could grieve later . ( ) Later that year , she and La Forge reassured Wesley Crusher as the would - be Starfleet Academy cadet left to take his exams . When Crusher clarified that he was worried about having nothing to discuss with Captain Picard during the 6 hour shuttle flight to Starbase 515 , she suggested archaeology , semantics , literature , or art as possible topics of conversation , adding that Wesley could learn a lot from the captain . She later assisted in the rescue of La Forge from his captors aboard the Pakled transport " Mondor " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Gomez was played by actress Lycia Naff . The script for " Q Who " describes Gomez as " " a young twenty five to twenty eight year old ensign – who has newly arrived on the Enterprise . She is very energetic , and enthusiastic in an open and ingenuous way , which is both appealing and refreshing . " " In a interview with Naff , it was noted that her character was initially supposed to be recurring with the intention of becoming a love interest for Geordi , but she was dropped after her second appearance . According to Naff , " " I was supposed to be there for three episodes , because they were trying to find a reason [ Geordi ] would take his visor off , to justify a reason he would undergo a dangerous surgery to risk his life so he could see again , and the reason was supposed to be because he ' s in love . They wanted to have us fall in love so deeply that in the next season , he would say , " " I have to do this so I can see my beauty . " " But they also wrote Sonya Gomez as comic relief , as a bumbling ensign with bright eyes who wants to save the world but ends up spilling hot chocolate on Picard , and the feedback they got was that there was no way Geordi would fall in love with someone like me . And I didn ' t know what they were going for , because we weren ' t told to play it like it was romantic . I didn ' t get that clue until later . So we did it more like a little sister / big brother relationship . " " Regarding her proposed third appearance , Naff said , " " We also had a major hair crisis . I did two episodes , and I was supposed to come back and do a third , but I wanted to cut my hair . My agent asked if it would be okay , and since I wasn ' t under contract , they said , " " Okay , we ' re releasing her . " " So I cut it shaggy , but above the shoulder . I get a call the next week , and they want to redo a hallway scene , and I go back , and they lose their tiny little minds . They were so angry . Everyone was grumbling at me , and making me feel not so great , but LeVar [ Burton ] was so sweet . He said , " " Don ' t worry . This gives us a chance to do the scene even better . " " He was so supportive and encouraging , and the scene did come out better . So if you look really closely , you can see the hair extensions . " " Apocrypha . In Pocket Books ' " " series , Gomez appears ( in the post - Dominion War era ) as the executive officer of the series ship , USS " da Vinci " , with the rank of commander . Her middle name is given as " Guadalupe " . In the " " novels , Gomez had been made captain of the " da Vinci " . In " Star Trek Online " Gomez became head of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers prior to 2401 , and resigned the position that year to be replaced by Miles O ' Brien .