Adrian is CFI’s Process Improvement Specialist. Adrian is responsible for managing events, helping members and guests, and brainstorming with the team; he’s always on the go! His contributions are vital to the smooth operation of CFI, and we’re so grateful to have him on our team!
Adrian studied International Relations at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico, and after that, earned his Master’s degree in Prospective and Strategic Studies at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Kevin is a Commercialization Specialist here at the Center for Innovation. He works as the community-facing coach helping to guide startups and businesses through their commercialization journey.
Amy has cultivated an expertise in innovation and creativity. She is happiest when hiking on a mountain trail. Amy is an authority on innovation & creativity. Amy had a hidden talent growing up for stacking her family farm’s best wagonload of hay bales.
Travis is the commander of the Incubator (tenant spaces), the technology, and the buildings. You will find him giving tours, fixing networks, or on the roof. He loves his kids, wife, dog and cars, especially cars. So much so that when he was little he wanted to be a race car driver. Today he races around in his yellow Camaro.
Sona is your go-to if you are interested in turning your idea into a business. She is part of our SBIR/STTR team. Her focus is on outreach to the North Dakota community at large. She specializes in non-DoD agencies for funding opportunities. Her involvement with NSF I-Corps training program brings added value to applicants.
When she is not busy connecting with students or faculty, she can be spotted cooking, salsa dancing, playing pickleball, chasing adventures and always connecting with new people.
Jeff is CFI’s Project RuralReach Program Manager and SBIR Specialist. He usually spends his day engaging with people across the UAS sector to facilitate the completion of use tests and flight demonstrations specific to a grant that CFI is working on. As an SBIR Specialist, he also helps startups and entrepreneurs navigate federal funding opportunities, guiding them through proposal development, compliance, and commercialization strategies to bring innovative ideas to market.
He is a lifelong resident of ND and claims Michigan, ND as his hometown, and has called Grand Forks home since 1984.
Zahra assists the Center and its clients with the research and development of grant proposals submitted to federal agencies, state organizations, and private foundations. She is the author/co-author of 15 peer-reviewed publications, which collectively have been cited more than 500 times.
Haylee is the Marketing Outreach Coordinator for CFI. She is responsible for all CFI Marking & Outreach activity! She is a UND graduate and enjoys spending her time being active and watching new movies! Her favorite part about her position at CFI is getting to see all the innovative ideas that come from our members!
