Karina Kangas is a Scientist for the The Inertial Fusion Technology Program at General Atomics. Her work focuses on the development and production of targets for the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She was a National Science Foundation (GRFP) and Ford Foundation Fellow as a graduate student and received her Masters degree in Chemistry at the University of Michigan. Karina is passionate about encouraging and mentoring students in STEM and has volunteered with various organizations promoting minority student participation.