Our History

The founders of Elemental developed the breakthrough idea for our technology in the early 2000s.

Since then, they have performed extensive testing to develop an efficient and scalable process. Along the way our team has been working with top tier universities, subject matter experts, independent research institutes, and select companies to develop, refine, and operationalize the process. As the commissioning of the technology ramps toward commercial production, Elemental aims to continuously improve and refine the process to maximize the production and quality of its products.

Looking to the Future

Elemental continues to expand our production and development capabilities and spearhead fundamental and applied research. By advancing materials to drive applications development in the graphene space, we will sustainably innovate the next paradigm shift in multiple industries.

Mission

Commercialize innovative materials to enable their use in broad applications, helping to build a better world while advancing global sustainability through novel technology.

Vision

Elemental aspires to be a world-class producer and thought leader in advanced materials, trailblazer in the conversion of unrecyclable materials, and champion for long-term sustainability.

Values

Accountability: Uphold the highest standard of integrity and commitment to do what is right for our people, our customers, and the planet

Innovation: Deliver novel solutions to critical problems through continuous improvement and development

Partnership: Develop relationships founded on trust, respect, and integrity

Executive Team

David Hudson
CEO
Ian Bishop
Director of Strategy
Ron Presswood
Founder & CTO

Leadership Team Members

Rob Van Paasschen
Senior Vice President of Finance
Thuan Vu
Senior Mechanical Engineer

Board of Directors

Ian Bishop

  • More than 40 years of experience
  • Avid entrepreneur and technology developer
  • Experienced CFO
  • Has negotiated commercial agreements and partnerships on a global scale

Ron Presswood

  • Advanced degree in mechanical engineering
  • Worked for NASA across multiple projects including space flight hardware
  • Holds numerous patents including novel equipment for treating contaminated groundwater

Trey Hatcher

  • Vice President, Tailwater Capital
  • Over 9 years of experience in private equity, midstream operations, and investment banking
  • Former Vice President at a private equity-backed midstream company and an energy private equity firm

Alex Elsik

  • CEO and Portfolio Manager at Geosol Capital LLC for over 12 years
  • Former Executive Officer and Head Trader at Keystone Energy Partners
  • Former Director at Reliant Energy
  • Graduated from the Texas McCombs School of Business with a degree in Finance and Business

Tom Samuels

  • Investment professional and entrepreneur
  • Former Managing Partner of Palantir Capital Management
  • Former Chief Investment Officer for regional RIA
  • Member of the investment committee board for the Houston Jewish Community Foundation

Advisors

Assisting the Elemental team are a diverse group of prominent scientists, academics and researchers dedicated to the innovation of advanced material science.
Dr. Rafaella Nascimento

President
C-Intelligence Tech LLC

Dr. Micah Green

Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas A&M University

Dr. James Meen

Center for Superconductivity
University of Houston

Dr. Krishnan Rajeshwar

The Electrochemical Society
University of Texas at Arlington

Dr. Rabindra Bhattacharyya

Retired Director of R&D
ALCOA

Our Partners

We work with experts across the industry, including four tier one universities to develop, test and refine our process.

The Graphene Council logo
Freestone Logo
Greentown Labs Logo
Texas AM Logo
ufmg-logo-34CF40CD60-seeklogo.com
UT Arlington

Our production process is faster, more efficient, more economical, and produces the highest purity graphene and hydrogen.

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© Elemental Advanced Materials 2024
David Hudson
Chief Executive Officer

David Hudson is an expert in the recycling, sustainability, and decarbonization space with over 15 years of experience in senior leadership roles in finance, operations, and commercial roles. Most recently, David served as CSO of Circulus Holdings, PBLLC, a company he founded in 2019 focused on recycling post-consumer plastics at scale. Prior to joining Circulus, David served as an operating partner at Houston, Texas based Ara Partners, an investment firm focused on sustainability and decarbonization strategies. Before Ara, David was Vice President of Commercial Business at Avangard Innovative, where he led all revenue-generating activities for the global waste and recycling optimization firm. Previously he was Director of Sales & Marketing at Recology, where he was charged with growing the revenues of a $1.2billion fully integrated waste and recycling company. David also served as both Vice President & Regional Manager and Vice President of Government Affairs & Business Development at Strategic Materials, Inc., where he had full P&L responsibility for the company’s facilities in the Midwestern and North eastern U.S. David also spent seven years at Owens Corning, holding leadership roles in sales, government, and industry affairs and in various senior operational roles. Earlier in his career, he worked in the financial services industry, including roles at AIM/INVESCO, UBS, and Prudential.

David earned an MBA with honors from Tulane University and a BBA from Southwest Texas State University. He also holds a certificate from The University of California, Berkley in design thinking and innovation.

Ian Bishop
Founder, President & Chief Financial Officer

Ian Bishop is a successful growth company CFO who structured and purchased two companies prior to founding Elemental. He is well versed in the unique challenges of middle market and smaller companies. As an avid entrepreneur, Ian has been involved in every aspect of the development of the technology and is hands-on in daily operations.

With more than 40 years of experience as CFO to several industrial and manufacturing companies, Ian has served as the lead on not only a variety of financial matters but also establishing commercial agreements and partnerships with companies on a domestic and global scale. Ian graduated from the University of Texas with a BA in economics and earned a MBA from the University of Houston.

Ron Presswood
Founder & Chief Technology Officer

After co-founding Elemental in 2019, Ron Presswood serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. His rich background as a mechanical engineer has led to Ron serving on a number of developments and application projects, including space flight hardware for NASA while working for Johnson Engineering-Space Hab, novel equipment for treating contaminated groundwater, tools for manufacture of dental restorations, software tools for capital asset management.


Ron was instrumental in developing the patented technology behind Elemental’s patented, single-step process used to produce high quality graphene. Ron earned a BA in environmental science at Rollins College and a MECE in mechanical engineering at the University of Houston.

Rob Van Paasschen
Senior Vice President of Finance​

Before joining Elemental Advanced Materials, Rob held progressively senior roles in corporate finance within private equity-backed companies. Most recently, he led the finance and accounting functions at Circulus, a leader in large-scale post-consumer plastic recycling. Prior to his transition to corporate finance, Rob worked in RBC’s energy investment banking group in Houston, TX, where he specialized in capital raises and corporate M&A. Over the years, he has helped raise more than $2.5 billion in debt and equity for various organizations. Rob also has an entrepreneurial spirit, which is highlighted by his successful acquisition and growth of a small business, where he was able to double the revenue within two years. His entrepreneurial experience, coupled with his expertise in scaling early-stage companies, has significantly shaped his career. He started his professional career at Milliman, working in their actuarial healthcare consulting group.

Rob earned his MBA from Rice University and holds a BA in Mathematics and a BBA from Southern Methodist University.

Thuan Vu
Senior Mechanical Engineer

Thuan Vu serves as a lead engineer on the commercialization of Elemental’s products. As a certified professional mechanical engineer, Thuan brings diverse engineering experience to the Elemental team including equipment design, steel structures, and commercial HVAC systems.

Thuan is well versed in performing a variety of research and reporting, including machine finite element analysis in ANSYS, manufacturing processes, and structural analysis. Thuan earned his BS in mechanical engineering and technology from the University of Houston.