Zabrina Johal

Zabrina Johal has over 20 years of technical management and program leadership experience, including 15 years with General Atomics (GA) and 6 years with the U.S. Navy as a nuclear engineering surface warfare officer.

Zabrina started her U.S. Navy career on the USS Paul Hamilton, where she served as the first female officer on the guided missile destroyer and led difficult female integration efforts. She advanced to nuclear engineering propulsion officer on the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier with a crew of 5,000.

After leaving the Navy, Zabrina joined GA in San Diego, where she is currently Senior Director of Strategic Development for the Energy Group. Zabrina directs strategic initiatives that support nuclear applications by developing high-impact technologies for government, military, and commercial customers in advanced materials, robotics, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, advanced diagnostics, rapid prototyping, precision manufacturing, and risk management. She serves as an interface between technology development and production capability to determine funding allocation and resources to increase efficiencies.

Zabrina holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration from the University of San Diego (USD) and Engineering Management from Old Dominion University, and a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Santa Clara University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Leadership Studies with an emphasis on gender studies in highly technical commercial and military fields at USD.