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My name is Karin Bozak, and I'm an electrical
engineer in the power systems branch at the

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NASA Glenn Research Center.

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In my current job as an electrical engineer,
I'm supporting the design, integration, and

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test of a power-processing unit for NASA's
solar electric propulsion project.

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The power-processing unit serves as an interface
between your solar array and your electric

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propulsion ion thruster for NASA's future
NEXT generation space missions.

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On a day-to-day basis, I spend most of my
time working in a lab with a team of other

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test engineers.

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NASA has a lot of programs supporting women.

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At the agency level, we have the Women at
NASA website, which highlights the career

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paths and accomplishments of women across
the agency.

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Here at NASA Glenn, I'm a member of our Women's
Advisory Group, which promotes activities

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and volunteer events within the community
to support women in the workplace.

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My top role model for women in STEM careers
is Sally Ride.

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She's a role model for myself—being a female
in the space program—the first female, United

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States astronaut, as well as the youngest
astronaut to fly in space.

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I admire Sally Ride for being a strong advocate
of women in STEM career fields through her

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own company, Sally Ride Science where she
supports education and outreach activities

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for girls.

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I was inspired to pursue an engineering career
by my high school math and science teachers

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that helped me find a career path that fit
my passion for those subjects.

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I was also inspired by a summer engineering
camp where I got to see what each of the disciplines

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of engineers worked on and found that electrical
engineering was a good fit for me.

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Additionally, in high school, I did a job
shadowing program where I saw how engineers

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helped to improve medical imaging technologies
so that doctors could diagnose patients more

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accurately and faster.

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Through that experience, I saw how engineers
could make a world of difference through their

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career path, and I hope to inspire future
generations of engineers and scientists by

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sharing my work experiences here at NASA with
them.

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I think that one of the best ways you can
inspire girls to study STEM and pursue STEM

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careers is through education and outreach
and really the opportunity for them to see

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what engineers do on a day to day basis to
make the world a better place.

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I've been able to volunteer at Young Astronaut
Day and other opportunities to bring students

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on-site at NASA Glenn and see what engineers
do here at our research center.

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And I think, most importantly, just to make
sure that girls know that they can be an engineer