Leadership

Steve Zika

President

Steve brings decades of leadership experience from across cutting-edge tech companies and social impact ventures to NFW. As both a veteran founder and seasoned C-suite corporate exec, Steve applies his operational expertise and pragmatism to scale NFW’s material platforms growth and steward long-term profitability.  

A Peoria native, Steve returned to his hometown with his family several years ago after a 16-year career at the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices, where he served as director of product management and chief of staff to the president.  

Having spent time in both Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas, Steve has helped foster Illinois’ own blossoming startup ecosystem as director of Startup Peoria and co-founder of an investment firm that sparks the creation and growth of sustainable, mission-driven businesses.  

Steve earned a BS and MS at Stanford University where he studied Material Science and Engineering. He joined the NFW leadership team in 2016 to put his unique blend of material science-savvy, social entrepreneurship, and corporate management to work to transform lives in Peoria and all over the world. 

Rob Salter

Chief Financial Officer

Rob Salter is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at NFW. As CFO, Rob will lead NFW’s finance operations and financial activities, including accounting and controllership, financial planning and analysis, forecasting and investor relations. Rob has more than 24 years of finance, merchandising, and operations experience in vertically integrated multi-channel companies.    

After graduating from Ohio University with a dual major in Business Economics and Business Management, Rob started his career at Cheryl’s Cookies. When Cheryl’s was purchased by 1-800-Flowers.com, the retail giant that revolutionized the floral industry, Rob took on additional leadership positions, culminating in financial and Executive Leadership Team responsibility for revenue across four companies. Prior to joining NFW, Rob served as Senior Vice President of Finance for the Midwest Food Brands segment.  

Rob currently resides in the high energy Chicago West Loop area, a change of pace from his rural Ohio roots. He enjoys travelling the world and broadening his perspective of various cultures.   

Aaron Amstutz 

Chief Technology Officer

Aaron Amstutz is a passionate material scientist and serial innovator redefining circular design. As NFW’s chief technology officer, his favorite days are spent in the lab alongside his team—sharing their excitement, getting dirty, and pursuing the next breakthrough. With nearly two decades at Caterpillar designing new materials and exploring patents, he brings a wealth of practical experience and knowledge to NFW’s technical team.  

Named IPOEF Inventor of the Year, Aaron specializes in tailoring the morphology of polymeric materials through novel formulations and groundbreaking processing methods. Amstutz leads R&D on MIRUM® and the rest of NFW’s breakthrough material platforms. With a deep belief in the importance of high-performance, bio-neutral materials, he is excellent at imagining categorically new approaches to material science and encouraging those around him to think outside the box. 

As a triathlete in his spare time, he tests NFW’s performance textiles firsthand. Aaron is married and has four adult children.

Dirk Zikeli

Chief Engineering Officer

Dirk joins NFW with more than 30 years of experience in the machine tool industry, providing fully automated, complex machining solutions and turn-key applications to the automotive industry in Europe, the United States, and Mexico. Over the last 15 years, Dirk has held senior management roles with a focus on efficiency by building effective teams and developing employees and business partners. Most recently, Dirk led the start-up of a US subsidiary of a German based manufacturing group and acted as the Interim CEO for an industrial equipment manufacturer throughout a major reorganization. 

At NFW, Dirk leads an engineering group that is focused on excellent planning and execution of infrastructure. Dirk’s cross-functional focus synchronizes technology development and execution across NFW’s Innovation team, Business Units, and Operations/Production teams. 

Dirk was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States in 1994. Dirk and his wife love to alpine ski in the Rocky Mountains and the European Alps. They also enjoy mountain and gravel bicycling, hiking, and mountaineering. Dirk volunteers with the YMCA in his free time and actively supports organizations that conserve our mountains and parks. 

Celena Anderson

Vice President of People

Celena is a dynamic leader with more than 15 years of experience scaling human resource operational strategy. With a passion for people and organizational excellence, Celena is taking NFW’s high-performance culture to new heights as the business scales.  

Previously, Celena served as Director of HR Operations at Ajinomoto Foods, North America. At Ajinomoto, Celena’s oversight included nine manufacturing plants with more than 3,000 employees. Training, development, policy administration, and recognition programs were all central in her portfolio.  

Celena resides in Illinois with her husband and their two sons. She enjoys hiking and being outdoors. 

Oihana Elizalde

Vice President and General Manager

Oihana Elizalde is the Vice President at NFW and General Manager of the MIRUM^® Business Unit. Her deep expertise in material science and exceptional business acumen allows Oihana to span from research and development of new products on an individual scale to global commercialization.

With a special talent for problem solving through collaboration, Oihana has effectively developed synergy across marketing, sales, and R&D teams around the world. This global approach helps her meet even the most sophisticated of client needs effectively and efficiently.

As a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry, Oihana’s work has been cited in multiple books and over 20 scientific papers. She also speaks four languages, including German and Spanish.