Vibishna Balagopal – Head of Electronics, OME, Thales UKVibishna Balagopal is Head of Electronics at Thales UK, leading a team of over 50 electronics engineers focused on developing cutting-edge optronics systems for defense applications across land, sea, and air domains. Since joining Thales in July 2024, she has introduced process and tools improvements, collaborated with extended teams, championed inclusive leadership practices, and created structured pathways for apprentices, interns, and graduates entering the electronics field.

Prior to Thales, Vibishna served as Vice President of Systems Integration and Hardware at LumiraDx, a global healthcare diagnostics company. During her tenure, she led the engineering function through rapid growth. Her leadership was critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she directed the development of point-of-care diagnostic devices capable of delivering lab-quality results in minutes. She also implemented a structured Hardware Development Lifecycle. Her work supported the company’s acquisition by Roche.

Earlier in her career, Vibishna worked as a researcher at the University of Southampton, where she focused on energy efficiency in multi-core computing systems. Her work contributed to academic research on sustainable and high-performance electronics.

Vibishna began her career at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in India, where she contributed to the digital design and development for India’s first X-band Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

In addition to her engineering and leadership roles, Vibishna is an active advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. She chaired the Women’s Employee Resource Group at LumiraDx and continues her contribution in Thales. She also volunteers in the UK to teach Malayalam, her native language, supporting community engagement and cultural connection.

In recognition of her contributions, Vibishna was recently shortlisted in four categories at the 2025 Women Leaders in Electronics Awards and was Highly Commended in the prestigious Woman of the Year category. 

Vibishna Balagopal combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, and has made impactful contributions across defense, healthcare, and academic research.