Under contract to the state of Massachusetts, he produced reports and surveys on the Troy & Greenfield Railroad and the unfinished Hoosac Tunnel in 1862.

[1] Laurie was an early attendee of Boston Society of Civil Engineers meetings; when it was incorporated in 1848, he was appointed president for two years.

[1] In 1852 Laurie opened an office in New York and began to build on the success of the Boston group.

In 1867, he held a meeting to reinvigorate the society, and uncovered funding to establish a permanent office for the group.

Although largely taught through experience rather than schooling, Laurie believed that proper education was essential for engineers and mandated that only college graduates could join the society.

It is awarded annually to "a member of the Society who has made a definite contribution to the advancement of transportation engineering, either in research, planning, design, or construction.