Our Team
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Co-Founder
Mark Strauss – Set apart by extraordinary creativity, Mr. Strauss holds a degree in chemistry from Yale University and has extensive experience in marketing, e-commerce and analytics. Mr. Strauss is an accomplished leader able to navigate the most complex projects forward, quickly, without fail and with distinction.
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Co-Founder
Steven Bofill – Steve is currently co-founder of Vengolabs, a successful mini compact vending machine company located in NY. Vengolabs was on shark tank and has raised 7 million to date. Vengo has over 1300 machines across the US generating vending and media revenue. Before this Steve was an aerospace engineer at Sikorksy &
a composite & propulsion Design Engineer. Skills: 3D modeling, Aerospace background, Concept to prototype to production, cost savings, sales. Tech Operations, Engineering, Manufacturing & Supplier MGMT. -
Ely Driscoll
Research Fellow
Ely is a 3rd year student in the UConn Engineering Physics program. Ely has extensive experience in small aircraft design, operation, and mission planning. He has worked in multiple manufacturing research and development departments as the head author of his published research. Ely is previously certified to perform high-risk operations to maintain critical public infrastructure.
Our Advisors
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Brian Bofill
Brian was a Systems Engineer for a major defense company, and prior has worked as a System Engineer for Ericsson. Brian has a BS degree in Computer Science from SUNY, a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute and a Masters Degree in Management of Technology from NYU/PolyTechnic. Brian’s knowledge and experience span from hardware, firmware and systems design and development, PCB development, test engineering, concept proving and configuration management and control.
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Executive Director, UConn Venture Development
TIP Executive Director – With oversight of venture development activities for UConn startups and the Technology Incubation Program (TIP), Mostafa supports the launch and growth of UConn companies. He also works closely with partners throughout UConn and UConn Health to support entrepreneurship and innovation programs. He also collaborates with organizations and institutions around Connecticut to support economic development efforts in the state.