Elementum 3D appoints Andrew Crickenberger as CEO; founder Nuechterlein becomes Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer

Elementum 3D has named Andrew Crickenberger as Chief Executive Officer, with founder Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein moving to Chief Strategy Officer while retaining the Executive Chairman title. Crickenberger brings more than 30 years of aerospace and defense executive experience, most recently as Chief Growth Officer at NIOA Group, where he oversaw corporate strategy across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Earlier he served as Vice President of Strategy for the $2.5 billion Aerojet Rocketdyne segment of L3Harris Technologies, helped lead L3Harris's $4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne, and spent 25 years at Northrop Grumman, including leading the commercial business at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. The two executives will work together over the coming weeks on a planned transition.

Elementum 3D, founded in 2014, is known for its reactive additive manufacturing process, which enables laser powder bed fusion of aluminum and other alloys that are otherwise difficult to print. The company frames the leadership change as the start of a next growth phase, with plans to broaden its product portfolio and enter new industries. Crickenberger's background sits squarely in aerospace and defense program strategy and M&A, a pedigree that points toward a deeper defense-sector push rather than a pure technology pivot, consistent with the sector's politically accelerated defense demand since 2025. Nuechterlein's shift to Chief Strategy Officer keeps him anchored to the long-term technology roadmap, suggesting continuity on the materials and process side even as commercial direction is externally driven.